In this day and age of ever-increasing hostility and tension between differing political views, some Republicans feel that they can’t get a word in edgewise without backlash.
Nightly news shows such as NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight have made it a habit to show at least 10 minutes of Trump before moving on to other national or world news. Major channels such as these are viewed by both sides to receive news about the events of the world, so they shouldn’t display a blatantly apparent bias in their broadcasts, yet have been doing so since President Trump’s inauguration. When these outlets speak their minds and clearly show bias towards a certain part of the population, they are praised and rarely criticized. If conservative media were to do the same, like FOX News does on a daily basis, their reporters are shamed, their opinions thrown out and sometimes are viewed as white supremacists.
A study done by The Washington Post found that while the vast majority of journalists claim to be Independents, just 7.1 percent of journalists were Republican, compared to the overwhelming 28.1 percent of journalists that claimed to be Democrats. This leads to significantly fewer conservative news outlets than liberal ones, making news more homogeneous and more likely of slanted stories.
Politics in the media reflect the daily struggle of certain opinions not being heard. Even voicing unpopular opinions to people on campus can be a disaster waiting to happen. A simple discussion in class on potentially controversial issues can lead to the majority banding together to silence the minority opinion.
The problem doesn’t just lie within students but is also shown in the faculty. A study done by Econ Journal Watch found that upon studying the voter registration of faculty at 40 leading U.S. universities, out of 7,243 professors, 3,623 were Democratic and 314 were Republican. For people that agree with the opinions of the professors, this is not an issue. However, for the slim number of people who are looking for better educations at liberal arts colleges while still maintaining their morals and core beliefs, this could pose a threat to the efficiency of their learning.
Social media is another target for criticism of unpopular opinions. Ever since the controversy about President Trump’s tweets began, no one even remotely agreeing with his opinions can say so without the whole situation blowing up. Facebook has been known to repeatedly censor conservative views, not allowing them to post due to “hate speech.” They claim that they equally judge Democrat and Republican views, yet mainly conservative posts are deleted for not “following the Facebook Community Standards.”
When the Founding Fathers added the First Amendment to the Constitution, they never intended for society to end up like this. The right to free speech is still stated in the Constitution, therefore it should apply to all views, conservative or liberal, no matter how far to one side. If people just stopped to hear each other out, maybe more would get accomplished.
Charlotte Caldwell is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Charlotte? Email her at cc670717@ohio.edu.
