Editing Media bias (section)

== Impacts of bias ==
Critics of media bias tend to point out how a particular bias benefits existing power structures, undermines democratic outcomes and fails to inform people with the information they need to make decisions around public policy.<ref name=":12">{{cite book |last=Lichter |first=S. Robert |author-link=Samuel Robert Lichter |title=The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication |date=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780199984350 |editor1-last=Kenski |editor1-first=Kate |series=Oxford Handbooks Online |location=Oxford; New York |pages=405 |chapter=Theories of Media Bias |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.44 |oclc=959803808 |quote=Much of the literature criticizes such biases for favoring the existing power structure, hindering civic participation or democratic outcomes, and failing to provide audiences with the information they need to make rational decisions about public affairs. Television has been the leading target of such criticism, but it frequently extends to other media as well. |editor2-last=Jamieson |editor2-first=Kathleen Hall |editor2-link=Kathleen Hall Jamieson}}</ref>

Experiments have shown that media bias affects behavior and more specifically influences the readership's political ideology. A study found higher politicization rates with increased exposure to the [[Fox News|Fox News channel]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=DellaVigna |first1=Stefano |title=Information and Public Choice: From Media Markets to Policymaking |last2=Kaplan |first2=Ethan |date=2008-06-06 |publisher=World Bank Publications |isbn=978-0-8213-7516-7 |editor-last=Islam |editor-first=Roumeen |language=en |chapter=The Political Impact of Media Bias |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ukOYOIZtZ7oC&pg=PA79}}</ref> while a 2009 study found a weakly-linked decrease in support for the Bush administration when given a free subscription to the right-leaning ''[[The Washington Times]]'' or left-leaning ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref name="Does Media Matter?">{{Cite journal |last1=Gerber |first1=Alan S. |last2=Karlan |first2=Dean |last3=Bergan |first3=Daniel |year=2009 |title=Does the Media Matter? A Field Experiment Measuring the Effect of Newspapers on Voting Behavior and Political Opinions |url=https://isps.yale.edu/sites/default/files/publication/2012/12/ISPS09-013.pdf |journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=35–52 |doi=10.1257/app.1.2.35 |jstor=25760159 |s2cid=12693998}}</ref>