Charles Chaplin's The Gold Rush

Charlie Chaplin is the first actor/director that I think of when I imagine the silent film era. through the use of mime, slapstick and other  routines, Chaplin would become iconic figure silent film comedy. One of his most famous films that pushed the envelope of special affects at the time would have to be The Gold Rush. Chaplin declared several times that this was the film that he most wanted to be remembered for.

When writing "The Gold Rush," Chaplin wuold get his first ideas from steroscope pictures of the Klondike gold rush. He was partiuclarly inspired by the images the miners scaling the moutain. Addionally he would be inspired by reading about how snowbound immigranst had to eat their own shoes to survive. Chaplin would take these very real happenings and apply it to his own comdey becoming legendary video clips and images today.

One the most notable aspects of the film would be that amount of special affect Chaplin and his crew would create during the making of this film.  For shooting the scene of the miners climbing the moutain, six hundred extras, were brought by train, to clamber up the 2300ft pass dug through the mountain snow. For the main the shots, Chaplin returned to the Hollywood studio, where he and his crew built  miniature mountain range out of timber, chicken wire, burlap, plaster, salt and flour. In addition, many miniatures were made shoot the scene of the cabin teetering over edge and the eventual scene of it being blown off. This also included making a miniature Chaplin for the scene of him hanging on to the door of the cabin on the edge of the mountain. The crew shot scenes so well that one can barley recognize the difference between life size and miniature. 

Today, The Gold Rush appears as one of Chaplin's most perfectly accomplished films. Though he himself was inclined to be changeable in his affections for his own work, to the end of his life he would frequently declare that of all his films, this was the one by which he would most wish to be remembered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold_Rush
http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/biography/articles/5-The-Gold-Rush

Internet Freedom

What is Net Neutrality

When we log onto the Internet, we take lots of things for granted. We expect that we'll be able to access whatever Web site we want, whenever we want to go there. We expect that we can attach devices like wireless routers, game controllers or extra hard drives to make our online experience better.

What makes all these expectations possible is "Network Neutrality," the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet. Net Neutrality means that Internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. It guarantees a level playing field for all Web sites and Internet technologies. But all this is being threatened by major corporations. The biggest cable and telephone companies would like to charge money for smooth access to Web sites, speed to run applications, and permission to plug in devices. These network corporations believe they should be able to charge Web site operators, application providers and device manufacturers for the right to use the network. Those who don't make a deal and pay up will experience discrimination, meaning their sites won't load as quickly, and their applications and devices won't work as well. Without legal protection, consumers could find that a network operator has blocked the Web site of a competitor, or slowed it down so much that it's unusable.

“The network owners say they want a "tiered" Internet. If you pay to get in the top tier, your site and your service will run fast. If you don't, you'll be in the slow lane.”

The problem here is that this is discrimination to those websites that cannot and do not want to pay. The Internet was designed as an open medium. The fundamental idea since the Internet's beginning has been that every Web site, every feature and every service should be treated without discrimination. That's how bloggers can compete with CNN or New York Times for readers. That's how aspiring musicians can build underground audiences before they get their first CD. Discrimination endangers our basic Internet freedoms.
The free-flowing Internet as we know it could very well become history. This means we could be headed toward a pay-per-view Internet where Web sites have fees. It means we may have use an advanced search engine just to find a website without a tax. The next generation of inventions will be shut out of the top-tier service level. Meanwhile, the network owners will rake in even greater profits.

http://murninghanpost.com/2010/12/22/controversial-compromise-on-net-neutrality/
http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality
http://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home
http://www.tristanx.com/net-neutrality-coconuts-and-you/

Do or Do Not...There is No Try

 

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was the last film in orginal triliogy by George Lucas. The film was directed by Irvin Kershner with George Lucas serving as executive producer. . Although this entire film is stunningly amazing, I was assigned to choose only a five minute scene of this master piece. The scene I have chosen is one of the sagas most famous and magical moments which fits the criteria of my assignment.

This particular scene depicts a wide variety of mise-en-scene and aspects that make the set come to life. Everything from a misty fog to real live reptiles roaming the set, the scene feels like something out of a discovery channel documentary. The over growth of trees that were built on to the set engulf the scene, enriching the area full of nature. This feeling can also be felt by also looking at the particular characters and how dirty they have become. In the scene, Luke Skywalker can be noted with a mucky sweaty look to relate to the climate and environment he has landed in. Another character would be R2-D2, who has accumulated a lot of the swampy mud all over its shiny hull. The lighting in the clip can be seen shining down from above as if the sun is fighting its way through lush swamp trees. The characters are the only ones that are illuminated while the trees cast shadows through out the rest of the jungle behind them. The diegetic and none-diegetic sounds play a very large role in this particular scene to simulate the emotion that is occurring each shot.

The sets for Dagobah were built five feet above the stage floor, allowing puppeteers to crawl underneath and hold up the Yoda puppet. The setup presented Frank Oz, who portrayed Yoda, with communication problems as he was underneath the stage and unable to hear the crew and Mark Hamill above. Later, Mark Hamill would describe how felt about being the only human truly on set. The rest were just a handfull of puppetiers, robots, and various reptiles.
The following is my shot list of what I see in each shot.

• In the first shot, we are greeted with Yoda and Luke already in a training session. The shot opens wide, largely due to be able to capture both characters in the scene. The view of the two characters is viewed between two trees, this gives the sense of being in the swamp.

• The second shot, we see R2-D2 and the crashed X-Wing in the background. This shot was a precursor note to the later scene of the X-Wing sinking further into the swamp.

• In the third shot, we see Yoda and Luke still in the training session, only this time Luke is using the force to levitate a rock.

• The following shot is a close up on the stone being levitated and stack onto another stone. The camera tracks the movement of the stone at an angle that appears to be the point of view of Luke.
• This shot is immediately interrupted by a close up of R2-D2 shouting warning noises. As the droid alerts Luke, he starts to turn towards off screen, which is assumed to be the ship, according to the next shot.
• The next shot reveals that X-Wing has almost completely submerged underneath the swamp water. The shot is wide and only captures the wing of the ship as it bubbles down into the water.
• The next shot is a close up shot of Luke who has lost his concentration and begins to lose his balance of Yoda and the force.
• To follow Luke's actions, a close up on Yoda is shown and displays him losing his footing and falling out of view.
• The pursuing scene shows a medium shot Luke completely falling on the ground with the diegetic sound of Yoda hitting the ground around him. The diegetic noise was made because the audience does not physically see Yoda hit the ground. A Frustrated Luke starts to get up, and is assumed to be looking at where his trainer has landed.
• After we see Yoda struggling to get up from the ground to relate to the fact that he just had taken a pretty far fall. After he has fully stood up, he looks in the opposite direction of the screen which gives the idea that he is looking back at Luke.
• The scene returns back to Luke who has just made his eye contact with Yoda and now focuses on the direction the sunken ship. He gets up and walks off screen in the presumed direction of the ship.
• In this scene, the camera is opened wide enough to capture Luke, who enters in from the right, the ship in the background, and R2-D2 who is in the foreground of the shot. To give the audience a better idea of where Luke is going to come from, R2-D2 is tracking Luke as he comes into view. In this scene, Luke can actually be seen stepping into the water of the swamp which add to the realistic feel the set gives.
• Here we are looking back at Yoda as he remarks to Luke's stubborn attitude. It is a wide shot which leaves plenty of head room above Yoda. This is done to give the audience the idea of height differences between Luke and Yoda. The angle that given would seem to come from a point of view of Luke or an average height person.
• The shot returns back to Luke and R2-D2 to show the communication and reaction of Luke to Yoda's remark.
• In this shot, we are given a medium shot of Yoda who is continuing his lecture to Luke. This was probably done to show the importance of his message.
• This shot is to continue the action of the conversation Luke is having with Yoda. Luke is talking to Yoda who is off screen but with the directions each one is facing, we are lead to believe they are right there talking.
• The medium shot returns, again to show the importance of the message Yoda is trying to convey.
• In this shot, we have a close up on Luke's face as he appears confused and turns back to the direction of the ship which is out of view.
• After Luke responds with his unmotivated line, A quick medium shot of Yoda is given to show the sharpness of his retort.
• Yoda's message is laid over this next close up shot of Luke returning quickly back to Yoda. This simply to keep the flow of the conversation and to make sense to the audience.
• One of the most famous lines in the entire saga is given in this medium shot of Yoda who is continuing his message.
• The shot returns back to Luke who is again appearing to be aggravated at the lessons he is being given.
• In this clip we see a different angle and medium shot of Luke who is still looking back to show the audience that he was moving his line of sight of Yoda to the ship. Luke gives off a sigh and extends his hand to the ship which off screen.
• A medium shot of the ships wing sticking out from the swamp is seen and appears to be rising out from the water. Bubbling of the water also adds to the action of the ship moving due to the force.
• A close up shot of Yoda's face is seen in this clip that shows Yoda's astonishment of Luke's potential ability to life the ship with the force.
• A close up of Luke still extending his hand towards the off screen ship is seen in this shot. As the shots rolls, the audience can Luke start to struggle by the way his facial expressions are being given.
• A close up shot of R2-D2 adds to the excitement of the clip to give the audience a sense of hope.
• A wide behind shot of Luke, the ship, and R2-D2 is seen to show the action that is occuring. R2-D2's whistles really set up the feeling the audience gets as the ship rises and falls back down to swamp.
• A close up shot of Yoda who was once giving a face of astonishment falls to a face of disappointment. This was all to show that Luke had failed at understanding Yoda's teachings.
• A medium shot of the ship returns and shows the ship completely sink underneath the water. The diegetic noise of R2-D2 again displays the emotion of the scene.
• A close up shot of Luke also returns to show his feeling of failure as he watches the off screen ship sink.
• A medium shot of Yoda at an angle of his height is follows. As it rolls, Luke enters from the right towards Yoda who is slightly off center. As Luke walks in, we can only see his legs, until he drops down to Yoda's level.
• As Yoda starts to lecture Luke, a close up is seen of Luke's face that shows his feelings and his response to Yoda's question by shaking his head.
• A close up shot of Yoda is now seen to continue the importance of his message. As Yoda continues on, he reaches over to the right to Luke, who is off screen
• The close up of Luke returns but Yoda's arm can be seen reach in to relate to his message.
• The following shots are of Yoda describing the force in particular elements of the nature around them. In the close up shots of Luke, the audience can see him looking at the objects Yoda is describing.
• In the last close up shot of Luke, we see his disbelief in his own abilities the look on his face, and he starts to get up from the ground.
• The next shot returns of the medium shot of both Luke and Yoda on the ground, as Luke starts to rise up. In Luke's full stance, his head and shoulders are cut off screen. Now as Luke rose up off screen, we can see Yoda's head follow where Luke's head is going to be off screen. This helps the audience understand when Luke starts talking to Yoda off screen. Once Luke delivers his retort, he walks towards the woods behind them and disappears off screen.
• In the next shot, the camera appears to be panning downward as Luke enters the screen from the right, still walking back into the woods. The camera does not follow Luke, but we can still see him walk to an area and sit down. This is to probably give the audience that feeling of wanting to be alone after failing something you have worked hard for.
• This medium shot of Yoda we can him raise his hand towards the direction of the ship which is off screen. We can also hear the music change from a sad melody, to a magical mysterious melody.
• The medium shot of the foggy swamp is seen with water bubbling all around the area of where the ship is assumed to have sunk.
• A close up of R2-D2 is shown with it giving of excitement whistles as we assume he notice the action that is taking place.
• R2-D2's whistles continue in this scene, which seems to have gotten Luke's attention from his sulking spot. Luke leans back and looks towards the camera which is assumed to be the direction of the swamp and starts to walk in that direction. Once he gets to a clearing from the trees, he suddenly stops as if he shocked to see the action taking place.
• A close upshot of Yoda follows with his hand still out reached and seems to lifting the ship with ease.
• A wide shot is now shown with Luke in the Background and R2-D2 in the middle. They appear to be looking at the area of where the ship is in the swamp.
• Finally a close up shot of the underbelly of the ship is shown rising from from the swamp. Once the ship has fully risen, Luke and R2-D2 are seen in the background looking in the direction of the ship.
  
  
  
• A medium shot of Yoda is shown with his hand mimicking the movement of the ship from out of the swamp to the direction of land.
• The wide shot of the camera under ship returns, only this time the ship is at a higher height, and all three characters are able to be seen. This shot was to show the audience of where everyones locations during this action.
• Another close up of Yoda is seen, with him still following the movement of the ship with his hand.
• A close up on R2-D2 is shot, with it giving off another progressive whistle. This is also done to show the mood of the clip.
• An over the head medium shot can be seen of Luke looking at the ship off screen. As he backs up, the shot turns to wide to allow the landing gear and part of the ship to be seen landing in front of him.
• A close up shot of Yoda with him finishing his action of moving the ship can be seen in this clip.
• The wide shot of Luke and the front of the ship follows with Luke in disbelief as he peers around the ship.
• The close up of Yoda returns with him giving off a sigh, probably to seeing Luke's reaction of what just happened.
• A tracking shot of Luke behind the back of the ship follows. R2-D2 is seen, slightly cut off screen, sporting positive whistles towards Luke who still is in disbelief.
• A wide shot of the ship, Yoda, Luke and R2-D2 precedes to show Luke walk from his position to where Yoda is positioned at.
• In a over the shoulder of Luke, we see Yoda give his line and reveals to Luke as to why he fails.

Journalism in Crisis

For years, newspapers have been one of Americas’ primary source of global, national, and local news. We rely on them for the information that we needed to understand what is happening in our world. But today, newspapers across the country, including in the north east region, are in crisis. Declining circulation and advertising revenue have led to staff cuts, less content, and even bankruptcy, putting in question the ability of the newspaper industry to continue providing vital information to the public.

It’s no secret that journalism has had to step down from the pedestal it was once on. In a way this descent has been, in part, a result of its own doing and in part because it has failed to keep up with the times. While technology has progressed, journalism has to a certain extent been unable to re-invent itself in the digital sphere and has simultaneously been unable to sustain itself in the analog sphere.

Journalism is being given tough competition by sites such as Twitter and Facebook, where traditional forms of news reporting do not matter anymore. What traditional media outlets can't do anymore, is cover breaking news. That is one of the fundamental problems facing journalism today. With reporting become by the second as opposed to daily, consumer’s habits have changed and unfortunately newspapers haven’t been able to keep up. But we are forgetting that there's a difference between information and knowledge, If a bomb goes off in Afghanistan, people can read about it instantly on Twitter but they won't be able to know what it means. Where did it come from? Who did it? What's happening over there? That is what journalism can do.

A new survey released as part of this year’s annual State of the News Media Report probes news consumption and habits on different digital devices, including how news consumers use social media. This report explores in more detail the findings as they relate to social media and news. It explores not only the extent to which social media are used to access news, but also how news behavior on Facebook compares with that on Twitter, and who these social media news consumers are.

Overall, the survey confirms that Facebook and Twitter are now pathways to news, but their role may not be as large as some have suggested. The population that uses these networks for news at all is still relatively small, especially the part that does so very often. Moreover, these social media news consumers have not given up other methods of getting news, such going directly to websites, using apps or through search. In other words, social media are additional paths to news, not replacements for more traditional ones.

In my opinion, for traditional journalism to survive, they need to evolve. They need to become more integrated into the internet or anywhere viewers are going to spend most of their time. People have become reliant on the internet and tasks being generally easier. They will not go out of there way to follow other news sources when it is already in their face on social networks. In the years to come, I expect to see a revolution of traditional journalism but hopefully in the right direction

Days of Heaven

Have you ever wanted to see what it might have been like back in the early 20th century? Well "Days of Heaven" easly transports the audience back to the thos rolling hills of wheat and grain loacted in the Texas panhandle. "Days of Heaven" is a romantic drama art film written and directed by Terrence Malick.  Although the characters in the film seem to be the main focus of the story, it is the cinematography of the film that truly captures the emotion and beauty of the story.

Days of Heaven’s cinematography is beautiful! Technically speaking, the film has many cinematographic aspects. With tremendous pans across the vast empty wheat fields. These are combined among fluid tracking shots, close-ups, and even time-lapse photography. Most of Days of Heaven was filmed during the early morning or late evening right before the sun had set, during what became known as "magic hour.” This was done to capture the silhouettes of the farm. Even the simplest shots had gorgeous detail and looks like it was preserved in a time capsule from the early 20^th century.

According to Almendros, the cinematographer of the film, he wanted to make a very visual movie. Almendros would go through hours just waiting for the sun to come up or go down to hit the “magic hour.” They happen to rehearse for hours through out the day that was not during this magical hour. Almedros also wanted to not only recreate the landscapes, he wanted recreate similar dynamic lighting when shooting inside buildings. “In this period there was no electricity. It was before electricity was invented and consequently there was less light. Period movies should have less light. In a period movie the light should come from the windows because that is how people lived.” (Almendros)

 

Although the film got a bad rap for when it was first released, it did win an Academy Award for Best Cinematography with an additional three nominations for the music, costume design and sound. Malick himself won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Despite initially unfavorable reviews, Days of Heaven has since become one of the most acclaimed films of all time, particularly noted for the beauty of the cinematography. In 2007, Days of Heaven was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

To film the scene with the locusts, where the insects rise into the sky, the filmmakers dropped peanut shells from helicopters. The actors had to walk backwards while running the film in reverse through the camera and achieve the effect. When it was projected, everything moved forward except the locusts.

http://www.amazon.com/Days-Heaven-Richard-Gere/dp/B00005KGN2

In A Galaxy Far Far Away

 Out of all the film companies to choose from, I had to go with Lucasfilm because of my relation to the company. Lucasfilm has become one of the world's leading film and entertainment companies. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, the company was privately owned, and a fully operational entertainment company. In addition to motion picture and television production, the company's global businesses include visual effects, sound, video games, licensing and online activity. Lucasfilm has revolutionized the entertainment and media department through it's own growth and invoations in ILM, Lucas Arts and Lucas Film Animation.

 

 

 

In the year of 1975, In preparation for his next feature - a space opera called Star Wars - Lucas wanted his film to include visual effects that had never been seen on film before. Dykstra brought together a small team of college students, artists and engineers who became the Special Visual Effects department on Star Wars. When making The Empire Strikes Back, Later, George Lucas take that team and create ILM or Industrial Light & Magic. They have since gone on to produce special effects for many other films.

As of 2009^[update], ILM has received 15 Best Visual Effects Oscars and 23 additional nominations. It has also received 24 Scientific and Technical Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ILM is currently the largest visual effects vendor in the motion picture industry, with regards to workforce, with more than 500 artists. ILM revolutionized the motion capture business when they invented IMoCap (Image Based Motion Capture Technology), which is the most advanced technique of motion capture currently available.

 

 

 

Later, George Lucas would go on to create the department of LucasArts. Which was focused on bring ineractive intertainment to many audiences. LucasArts went on tp work with Apple to develop and launch Mac Magic, a cooperative learning program that is integrated into classrooms across the country, and which earns the "Daily Point of Light" Award from President George Bush. LucasArts is dedicated to delivering deeply immersive, visually spectacular and engaging experiences that inspire and amaze generations.

Continuing to move forward, George Lucas created Lucasfiln Animation just recently. To put his next vision in motion, he created the animation company to pioneer the Star Wars Clone Wars animated series. So far, the show has been the number one hit on the cartoon network channel, directing itself to wide variety of aduiences. I personally believe that more adults watch the show versus children. Regardless, the show is just first of many animation projects that the company has introduced and with the Disney occupation, we will expect to see many more projects to come.

As you can see, George Lucas's films have helped to define the modern entertainment and media landscape and his innovations have fundamentally changed the way movies are made. By continuing to grow in other areas of media, we will always be able to trace it back to Lucasfilm and how George Lucas Started it all. Lucasfilm is and will continue to be one of the world's leading film and entertainment companies for years to come.

The Mise-en-scène of Blade Runner

During our last class, we all were mesmerized by the beauty of a film named Blade Runner. While watching the film, I could not help but pick out all of the elements that made up Mise-en-scene. Now Mise-en-scène is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a film production, which essentially means "telling a story” in a visually artful way through story-boarding, cinematography and stage design. In reference to film, mise-en-scène can be anything that appears before the camera   such as composition, sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting.

  

The elements of mise-en-scene can easly picked out in Blade Runner. It essentially makes up the entirety of the film. For example: lighting, costuming, set design, different shot angles, and diegetic sound and nondiegitic sound. Mise-en-scene creates the world to which the audience has been transported to. Mis-en-scene is to make the world that the audience is seeing become real.

The wide shot street scenes that are overcrowded with extras which are incorporating the loud noise of people speaking and the rain creates the gloomy feeling you get when watching blade runner. The set design also adds to bringing the world of Blade Runner to life. Each set seems to connect with eachother, incorporating elements that Ridelly Scott thought would dominate in the future.

To give off that old detective style look in the film, the lighting and smoke really help create this feeling. For example, Tyrells office has that orange color that resembles the old detective films. The smoke used in the film also refers to the detective films where excessive smoking was abundant. According to another blog on mise-en-scene, he or she  reffered Tyrell's room resemble candle light and imposes a Frankenstein theme on Tyrell. 

There are many themes I found in Blade Runner I found worthy poiting out. For example corporations seem to be ruling over the city; people seem to be practicually on streets; and massive air ships probe into buildings. According to an interview with Ridely Scott about the film, he stated that; “Control over the environment is depicted as taking place on a vast scale, hand in hand with the absence of any natural life, with artificial animals substituting for their extinct predecessors.” This explains the dark feeling you get from the film. The sense that the world is merley an artificial version of its old self.

As a digital film and video major student, this film has inspired me through out my life. As films are continually produced, many lack the quality of mise-en-scene elements that tell the rest of the story. Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is a shining example of telling a story just through the visual elements of the film alone.

http://ardfilmjournal.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/blade-runner-and-the-postmodern-use-of-mise-en-scene/

http://www.gradesaver.com/blade-runner/wikipedia/interpretation/  

http://aitken12media12.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/blade-runner-mise-en-scene-and-cause-and-effect/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_in_Blade_Runner

zomobo.net/Undefined_term

Bias and the Media

Media bias in the United States occurs when the media in the United States systematically presents a particular point of view. Claims of media bias in the United States include claims of liberal bias,conservative bias, mainstream bias, and corporate bias. Recently, my class had the privilege to watch a documentary called Outfoxed. The video focused on the Fox News Channel, and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, and claiming that the channel is used to promote and advocate right-wing views. My goal in this blog post is to disclose evidence on how media bias, particularly the Fox News Channel, and how it effects its viewers.

Since its beginnings, television in the United States has been intertwined with major political events and institutions to effects on campaigns and elections. Unfortunately, this leads to a great degree political bias and misinformation to its viewers. A recent study on Fox News shows that viewers of the channel are the least informed of all viewers. Researchers at Fairleigh Dickinson University conducted their test first on the local surrounding areas and second on a nationwide poll. The poll asked questions about international news (Iran, Egypt, Syria and Greece were included) and domestic affairs (Republican primaries, Congress, unemployment and the Keystone XL pipeline.) According to the study, someone who watched only Fox News would be expected to answer just 1.04 domestic questions correctly, a figure which is significantly worse than if they had reported watching no media at all. And people only watching “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” could answer about 1.42 questions correctly. But can viewers think critically and evaluate the credibility of what they see and hear?

Regrettably, the study from Fairleigh Dcikinson University and other surveys say it all. If you only consider mainstream U.S. television news outlets with major audiences, it really is true that Fox viewers are the most misled based on all the available evidence especially in areas of political controversy. In 2003, a survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland found widespread public misconceptions about the Iraq war. For instance, many Americans believed the U.S. had evidence that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had been collaborating in some way with Al Qaeda, or was involved in the 9-11 attacks; many also believed that the much touted “weapons of mass destruction” had been found in the country after the U.S. invasion, when they hadn’t. PIPA reported, “Those who receive most of their news from Fox News are more likely than average to have misconceptions.”

In today's political campaign, it has become very evident that people believe that the liberal media runs rampant throughout the news. In nearly every campaign and policy debate, at least one of the sides (and often both) make the claim that the news media is biased toward the other side. From what I have observed in the last week from watching multiple news sources, it seems to me that there are many more public interest groups representing liberal issues in Washington than those speaking on behalf of conservative issues. This may give rise to the belief in a liberal media and the idea of that particular news source is being controlled by a specific party. According to a study found on “thepoliticalcarnival.net,” studies show that Republicans are quoted 44% more than Democrats, and the coverage of Mitt Romney is significantly less negative than coverage of Barack Obama. The information given was compiled by the 4th Estate Project, which is simply a information organizing website that focuses on social influences of media. So why do people believe the liberal media?Because news consumers are responding to the increasing news coverage of liberal bias media claims, which have been increasingly emanating from the Republican Party candidates and officials. 

In my conclusion, I first would like to say that I have grown up in a very strong conservative family. I myself am a independent and do not particularly follow all of the ideologies that either party has. I say this so that my readers and followers do not take me as a liberal agent trying to sway your decisions. I have reported nothing but facts about the media and how it effects its viewers. From the research I have disclosed, you clearly see a misinformation and a media bias in news channels that advocate a specific political party and a sense of liberal media when there is none.

http://www.4thestate.net/

http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2012/08/09/chart-media-bias-in-election-2012-campaign-republican-voices-far-outnumber-democrat-voices/

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1067

http://features.journalism.org/campaign-2012-in-the-media/tone-of-news-coverage/

http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/IraqMedia_Oct03/IraqMedia_Oct03_rpt.pdf