In the past, television and printed news was measured by its ability to present the facts as plainly as possible. By suppressing the views of journalists, it was easier for the public to hear about events and form their own conclusions. While this practice definitely made for interesting dinner conversations, if a media house were to attempt such a thing today it would not hold the attention of viewers for very long. Put simply, the times have changed. People want to interact with commentators and hear the opinions of others as events unfold. Given the fact that people also have a tendency to listen more to those they agree with, it's not surprising that bias is what helps ensure that news sites have regular readers.
If you take a look at how people respond to top news, the combination of sensationalism and in-depth analysis has proven to be an effective one. With the recent popularity of blogs and blogging, readers initially started turning to these writers to read both trending news and viewer comments. Different paradigms appealed to different individuals and the rest was history. Popular news sites and print news organizations have simply caught on to what draws readers in and started incorporating it into their own reporting.
While this state of events definitely has its good points, these relatively recent changes do have their negative aspects. For one thing, since objectivity doesn't have the kind of value that it used to, most sites will try to trade on how quickly they can get the facts out. As a result, news outlets are often so busy trying to break the story first that they don't always properly source their information and journalists can become unethical in their practices. What this means for "old-school" readers is that it's a lot harder to receive lean and fact-based reporting. This might not matter much to you, but it's something that can and does bother some people.
Bias in news reporting can also be a good thing. There are some writers who have a talent for helping you look at things from a different perspective. Though pretty much anybody can string together a few words it takes something more than that to really communicate with other people. Adding the internet and blogging to the equation has opened up lots of opportunities for these talented individuals. Embracing the human tendency to receive information and comment on it allows all kinds of individuals to experience the news together. Perhaps that explains the popularity of bias. It helps reveal personality.
People can easily detect bias in their online news sites by comparing the reporting of breaking news stories. When a story breaks, open two browsers. Point each browser to a different story. Then compare. You'll be surprised at what you find.
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