Mass media, the type of mass communication that includes newspapers, radio television, the internet and other similar venues, has become quite influential in our society today. In America, this form of communication has become the top way of sending and receiving news of local, national, and world events. In former eras much of the information would be spread by word of mouth, but the low cost of technology and the rise of the internet have abolished this, making mass media the most prevalent and influential information source in America (and many other countries, but for the purpose of specificity, America will be focused on). 

In order to understand how mass media influences society one must understand how bias works. Every news network, website, and even person inherently has a bias; if anyone ever says they are unbiased, know they are wrong. This is because no one lives in a vacuum, so previous experiences and thought processes influence how they receive and send information. Except when used in excess, bias should not be viewed as a bad thing, but rather something to be taken account of and recognized. 

Bias in mass media occurs in two ways: news that is omitted and the way news is covered. Because the amount of news in a given day is nearly infinite, a news station cannot possibly cover every event that takes place. Imagine a major news network like Fox or MSNBC trying to cover all the police reports in America during the presidential inauguration; it simply could not happen. The networks show their bias by covering one thing and ignoring another, in the process implicitly showing what they value and do not value. Again, this is not bad because it would be impossible to cover every piece of news, so everyone has a bias.

The second way bias occurs in mass media is found in the way certain media cover a news story. For instance, CNN and Al-Jazeera covered the American bombing of Baghdad in very different ways; one viewed it as an act of victory for the American people, the other as a tragedy for Iraqis. In this situation something close to a neutral bias can exist, but it can never be perfectly even.

So bias occurs in mass media, but how does that affect society? The simple answer is that society watches, and receives a great deal of information from, mass media. More than ever people’s opinions are being influenced by mass media. One can confirm or refute information very easily on the internet, but they usually go to sites that confirm their natural bias anyway. Although the internet has flooded people with information, it also limits the way information is accessed by letting people choose exactly what information they wish to obtain. A person can create a world centered around their own bias by only going to certain websites and ignoring others. People take cues on how to act and what to think from mass media, which influences society in ways one can see relatively easily. 

So mass media is inherently biased, and that bias trickles down to the people partaking of mass media. People are thus influenced by what they see and hear, and act accordingly. Because of this, mass media wields a great deal of power on the thoughts, values, and actions of society.