If you don’t like your parents telling you how to think, then how would you feel if someone you’ve never met tell you how to think? The mainstream media has become increasingly biased and unreliable. Again and again, they have been caught twisting stories by imputing their ideas. Media bias can be very dangerous. As a teenager, you might not care much about the media, but realize that they have a large influence on things such as politics, that will definitely affect your life sooner or later.

Word choice is a key component reporters use to subtly inject bias into the news. Words are never created equal. Each word in a phrase or headline is chosen specifically to input their point of view, or bias. No matter what, the media will always be somewhat biased.We’re all human, and it’s understandable reporters would insert their views. However, reporters and journalists should be responsible and be conscious about how they write or report because they reach a lot of people, and could be influencing them heavily.

Being watchful about where you get your information from is critical. News networks such as Fox are more conservative, while networks such as MSNBC are more liberal. The difference between conservative and liberal is that conservatives want to maintain the status quo, while liberals are more favorable to progress or reform. Whichever belief you have, these ideas also show bias within different networks.

Also, when you consume your media has an effect on how concentrated media bias may be in reports. Some of the times when there’s more intense media bias is during elections, and during primetime. For example, during the campaign for the reelection of George W. Bush, the New York Times and the Washington Post would exaggerate, give misstatements, and tell outright lies of the Bush Administration and its campaign affiliates.  During prime time, it makes sense that networks would use more biased information because they have a much larger audience during this time, while people want to lay back and relax.

Do not fear, however, because there are many alternatives to the mainstream media. A poll by Farleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey shows that out of all the news channels that are out there, Fox News viewers are the least informed. On the flipside, listeners to National Public Radio (NPR) were better informed about international events. Fox News, being the leading cable news channel, means that a lot of people are being misinformed about the information they receive.

Also, statistics on NPR’s website suggests that they have a more educated audience compared to the average U.S. population. 67% of NPR listeners have a Bachelor’s degree compared to 27% of the rest of the population. It is not a coincidence that stations with the more educated viewers get better news because they are more watchful about what media they consume.

The Internet is probably the greatest source of information ever created. It has grown exponentially in the past decade, and has given us an immense amount of information at our disposal. All somebody has to do is look up whatever topic they want to learn more about, and choose the one that best fits their informational needs. One website that claims to be fighting an infowar is infowars.com. They only report news that’s documented, and give you links to where they found their information.

Wherever you decide to read or watch your media, be more wary about what reporter or a network’s bias is so that you don’t fall prey to it. The more informed you are, the less you can be taken advantage of by the media. Don’t believe everything you hear.