Third Post Assignment

CST #3-Rights and Responsibilities
The Catholic Church teaches that there is a right to the common good, personal responsibility as well as social rights. This Catholic Social Teaching teaches that we must face problem in society with a strong moral vision and look out for those who do not have the privileges that we do. In relation to media bias, the reporters and members of the media all have the responsibility to report accurately and to not skew the news reports. It is the right of the public to the common good, and media bias leads the public away from that common good. Media bias is based on the individual gains of the biased reporter and is not based on the common good. When the media intentionally changes our perception of the truth, it leads to a society lacking the third CST.

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CST #4- Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
The Catholic Church also teaches a communal goal to respect those that do not have the means that the wealthy have. We are called on to follow in the foot steps of Jesus Christ and to give respect, dignity and assistance to the poor and vulnerable. In our project, the poor and vulnerable people are those who are persuaded by the media to change their point of view. It does not promote human dignity to lie about the news and to change the truth in order to meet your own economical, social or political goals. It is a specific goal of the Catholic Church to promote the welfare of those who cannot help themselves. This goal is contrary to media bias because bias does not have the assistance of the vulnerable in its overall goal.

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CST #5-Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
Catholic Social Teaching #5, the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, proclaims the need to respect employees and the work that they do. The Church calls on us to make sure that all of our actions are geared towards the respect of these workers. The primary purpose of work is the acquisition of property to ones self. We need to acknowledge this purpose and to assist employees in their pursuit of necessary property. This CST relates to media bias because of the actions taken by reporters. Those who employ reporters and ask them to slant the news are actually taking their human dignity and are not respecting their right to be employed in a just job.

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CST # 6 – Solidarity
Catholic Social Teaching #6 has to do with solidarity. In this teaching, the Church emphasizes that we are all one human family. Because of this, we are all responsible for the well being of all other humans. The commandment of love thy neighbor is a major factor in this CST. When relating this teaching to media bias, the line connecting them has to do with the growing realm of communication. Today, news can be spread instantly across the internet and through television. This information can travel across the world in a matter of seconds. If the news is biased, it can affect the views of millions of people. That can have a large affect on the views and ideas of people. Since we are all called to help each other as a global community, media bias can affect the solidarity of our world.

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CST # 7 – Care for God’s Creation
Catholic Social teaching #7 focuses on how we must care for the world God has provided for us. God created a beautiful, wonderful place for us to live, and it is our job, as a people, to maintain his creation. In the injustice of media bias, CST #7 is relevant to the far reaching hand of the media. News can reach all over the world in a matter of seconds, and can have a dramatic affect on it in the same time. If people function off of slanted reports from news media, it can possibly affect important decisions that could lead to the damaging of our planet.


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Second Post Assignment

Catholic Social Teaching and the Problem of Media Bias

The problem of media bias is where the reporters allow personal prejudices and political agendas to influence the accuracy of their reporting.

CST #1-Life and Dignity of the Human Person
In the Catholic Social Teaching about the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, the church proclaims that the human life is sacred. All societies are called upon to ensure the protection of human life and dignity because we are all created in the image of God. There are many threats to human dignity such as racism, ignorance and blind hatred towards many groups. The church calls on us to be mindful of these threats and to do our best to curb these threats. Our subject can be related to the Life and Dignity of the Human Person because in skewing the truth, reporters effectively misguide the public. This intentional misguiding of the public hurts human dignity because it uses the public as an instrument to achieve political, social or economic goals at the expense of the people.




CST #2-Call to Family, Community, and Participation
Catholic Social teaching #2, the Call to family, Community, and Participation is centered around the importance of relationships. It teaches that human dignity can only be recognized within the context of our relationships. As a community, how we shape our society directly effects human dignity. It also teaches that everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the common good of the society. This can be related to media bias through the idea that the world news audience is a community. This community involves the audience, and the members of the news and media. This means that the members of the media have a responsibility to provide the viewers with accurate stories, for the common good. If these stories are biased, it can be a detriment to the audience, and the community as a whole. In turn, this would damage the dignity of the audience by misleading them with biased reporting. The bias in the media can have a direct effect to the call to community because it can hurt the world community of news viewers.

Introduction

Through this project, our group wishes to better inform our peers about the bias that has infiltrated most forms of media in the United States. The media bias in question includes but is not limited to personal, political and economic bias. We believe that media bias qualifies as a form of social injustice because the reporters have been given the responsibility to inform the public accurately about the news. In this situation, biased news reporters hold power over the public in that they can shape and distort our views in order to better suit their needs.

Bill Keenan: I am interested in investigating media bias because I am intrigued with the messages hidden within the news. I hope that with our project, we can convince the public to take a serious look at the validity of their trusted news sources.

Domenic Noto: I am very interested in media bias because it is very prvelant in the world today. Millions of Americans watch the news every night, and can be affected by media bias.