Confirmation Bias

Confirmation Bias, is something that many people chose to ignore when receiving their news. Some news outlets have been known for their bias opinion on reporting the news to their audiences, but this has not caused a drop in viewers or ratings for these organizations. It is known that if you are more conservative or affiliate with the Republican party you tend to like Fox News, and on the other hand if you are more liberal or affiliate with the Democratic party you tend to like CNN.

When investigating the two websites it was clear to see how the reporting and choice of words varied between the organizations. The topic chosen was the one with Donald Trump and how he did not agree with the GOP process. The article on CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/12/politics/donald-trump-rages-against-the-machine/ , a typically liberal style news focus, was titled was Donald Trump rages against the machine. The article on the Fox News website, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/04/11/as-trump-targets-gop-process-speculation-swirls-around-alternative-candidates.html , a typically conservative style of news focus was titled, As Trump targets GOP process, speculation swirls around alternative candidates. From the titles alone you can automatically see a difference in the angle of the story at hand.  CNN does a good job of making Trump seem harsh and unreasonable to their audience, and Fox News does the opposite of that by playing down Trump and his statements.

Within the articles you see how CNN talks about Trump and what he is doing upfront, whereas Fox waits till closer to the bottom to discuss anything negative Trump said. The first few lines from the CNN article are “ Donald Trump is issuing a dire warning to his supporters: You're getting ripped off. "The system, folks, is rigged," Trump told supporters at a rally Monday night in Albany, New York. "It's a rigged, disgusting, dirty system." In the first few sentences alone you can see the angle CNN is working. They are expecting their readers and viewers to be more liberal which of course means they can make Donald Trump appear to be a harsh crazy guy. On the other hand, you have Fox news who start the article with, “As Donald Trump ratchets up his complaints about the Republican nominating process — one he enthusiastically joined last June — the uncertainty in the tightening battle between him and Ted Cruz is kicking up renewed speculation about the possibility of alternative candidates entering the fray.”  While the article eventually quotes Trump they wait till closer to the end to point that out. Fox News typically has conservative followers, some of which may be Trump supporters so they fill the first half of their news story with other information.

Confirmation Bias is evident in the way both Fox and CNN present their news. Both of the news outlets published stories on the same topic but in two different ways. They used what they already knew, and produced stories that their audience would like the best, with CNN catering its liberal clientele and Fox catering to its conservative audience. It is clear to see how the people who just receive information off of one of these sites would be using the information presented to reinforce their political views.