Throughout American history, media and propaganda have controlled the opinions of citizens. Since there are only a few sources that report national and worldwide news, the people believe nearly everything that the news stations report. This creates a dangerous situation because news stations can report falsified or dramatized new stories in order to attract viewers. Many news stations have been blamed for relaying biased news on politics to the public, something that is frowned upon by all media personnel. A fiction text that relates to this current day issue is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, which tells the story of a nation led by a gruesome government that controls all its districts and the media. The government provides all information that the media report, helping them sway and dominate the minds of the people they govern. Recently, an election took place that captured the attention of millions. Many believe that numerous news stations favored certain candidates and reported news that favors one political party’s beliefs. Biased media in politics controls the minds of citizens by reporting false or swayed news stories that favor certain parties, this must be stopped so the people can get the true information and develop opinions based on non-biased news. 

At the beginning of the novel, Katniss Everdeen and all the other citizens of District 12 gather in the middle of town to hear the announcement of the tributes that will fight in the annual Hunger Games. This event is televised, recorded, and then played days before the Games to display the timeline of how the tributes made it to this point. Katniss Everdeen volunteered herself as tribute during the announcement ceremony because her sister was chosen randomly to fight for her district. Being the most dramatic event during the announcement ceremony compared to the other districts, this was televised all over the nation, making every citizen aware of the amazing sacrifice Katniss made for her sister. The first thing she is asked in her interview is about the sacrifice she made for her sister, “It’s about your sister. We were all very moved, I think, when you volunteered for her at the reaping. Did she come and say goodbye to you?” (Collins). This marks the first time media bias is shown in the novel, and how the government feeds off dramatic events in order to lure the public in to their event. Although it is incredible that Katniss volunteered to take her sisters place, many other tributes, from the lower districts, volunteered themselves because they’ve been preparing their entire lives to fight in the Games. The government’s goal is to make the media display the Hunger Games as something to be celebrated, creating a belief that the slaughter of children is justified to keep peace as a nation. This is similar to the way the media presents information on elections today. News stations cover numerous candidate’s whereabouts and report unimportant stories about where the candidate was that day, when they could be reporting on more important news that impacts more people directly like the economy or local developments. Many news stations feel passionately towards a political party, especially in this past election. This is similar to The Hunger Games because the media only reports news on the Hunger Games when it is occurring. Choosing what to report and what not to report has extreme bias on the viewers because the media can choose what they think is important, not what the people think is important. 

The turning point in this novel is when Katniss and Peeta take the media advantage from the government into their own hands by creating a love story to capture the attention of the nation. “’Well, there uh…there is this one girl that I’ve had a crush on forever,’ Peeta says… ‘Thanks. But I uh… I don’t think winnings gonna help me at all. Because she came here with me.’” (Collins). In some ways, this helps their chances of survival by gaining sponsors to help them during the Games, but also moves them closer to their goal of alerting the public that the government is basically murdering children to keep peace. By giving the audience someone to root for, even if it isn’t their own district, it allows them to comprehend that they don’t want these kids to be killed. By alerting the nation of the governments control on the media and the nation as a whole, the people become aware that not everything the media reports is true or in the best interest of the people. This book relates to today because people are beginning to become aware of the bias in the media through internet articles and obvious bias. A recent article displays statistical research stating that many people believe that certain news stations are biased, favoring certain political parties and candidates. The data shows that more people believe news stations favor the Democrats than Republicans, but also that the most biased network is Fox News, one that many people is pro-Conservative. Articles like this are informing people that media bias needs to stop, and that the public deserves to know the all the information. 

A common occurrence throughout the book is the Capitol’s short temper for attitudes and plans that don’t follow their objective. Up to this point, no tribute has ever questioned the government and threaten the future Hunger Games. The President seeks total control over the nation, people that don’t follow his plan are forced back on track. For the most part, the tributes in this Hunger Games are the same, except for Katniss, who want to make a difference. Although Katniss is positive in her mission to make a difference, she knows the danger and lack of control she has when she gets into the Games. “The attack is now over. The Gamemaker’s don’t want me dead. Not yet anyway. Everyone knows they could destroy us all within seconds of the opening gong.” (Collins). The President attempts to use the media in order to do this by creating situations during the Games that attempt to injure or kill Katniss. Yet the public can’t seem to understand that the President and the government control the settings in the Games, and that they can choose to kill tributes whenever they feel necessary. This is similar to the media today because although many people believe that the media is somewhat biased, they continue to believe nearly everything reported. Although many people point out the flaws in the way politics is reported, there is no other place to find legitimate sources of information regarding politics. The public of Panem is similar to the citizens of the United States because they are innocent and helpless, not being able to know all the information due to poor reporting and biased opinions of the media, and also those that control the media. 

Until the recent campaigns for the 2016 election, media bias wasn’t as obvious in their support for one candidate, but still existed for nearly every news station. During Bush’s term, Fox News viewers supported Bush’s policies regarding Iraq more than viewers of ABC, CBS, NBC and many other popular news stations. This is ironic because the reason for creating the Fox News channel was to create a fair, unbiased channel for viewers. Similar to Fox News, President Snow and the government are thought to create a fair Games so every contender has an equal opportunity to win, yet when Katniss ventures off far away from other contenders, they create a forest fire that wounds her badly. “Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy.” (Collins) This is another example of the control the government has on the Games and country as a whole. Not only can they affect the environment and situations that occur during the Games, but also let the citizens believe they are unbiased to what happens during the Games. Many districts, like One through Five, never question the Capitol’s authority and judgement because they are frequent winners of the games. This can be related to many viewers of biased news stations that don’t realize they are biased because they express concerns that are in line with their own beliefs. Many Conservatives believe that the upper middle class should not be taxed more because they have a higher annual salary. So when they hear a news story on Fox News that expresses how great the President-elect will be because he will decrease taxes on the upper class, they will be satisfied and continue watching that news station. When in reality this is bad for many lower income households, who will not watch Fox News because of reported information like this. In The Hunger Games, when District Three wins numerous Hunger Games in a decade, they won’t question the reason for the Games because they have been satisfied with recent results. Citizens in both The Hunger Games and today’s society never seem to notice a problem until it directly effects them or contradicts their beliefs, which does help solve the problem of limiting the media bias presented to the people by news stations. 

This novel’s characters are similar to candidates in an election for a variety of reasons. In the past election, both candidates relied heavily on the media through commercials and biased reporting in order to convince the public that their opposition had unforgettable flaws. For example, Donald Trump repeatedly reminded American citizens that Hillary Clinton is untrustworthy, and should be put in jail for the release of confidential information. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton pointed out Donald Trump’s inexperience and radical claims while campaigning. Both of these candidates needed the media to report on the issues of their competitor in order to win this election, and in the end Donald Trump became the President-elect. Tributes, in this situation, are not much different from presidential candidates by the control of the media in order to get their names out to receive sponsors while in the Games. Katniss’s and Peeta’s love story, the baby, and Katniss’s rating were all objectives from the District 12 team to gain sponsorships through playing the media. The baby and love story were fake stories in order to sway the public to support their tributes. This differed from the President’s plan, which led to numerous events to end the focus on Katniss, and get the nation back under their control. The reason the District 12 team had to work so hard to have their recognizable tributes is because the lower districts always get the better rankings because they are more prepared for the Games by training years prior to participating. The media almost always projects these more trained tributes to win the Games, rather than the poorer nations like Districts Ten through Twelve. Biased media plays a huge role in the winner of the Hunger Games by publicizing certain tributes more than others, and making them more relatable or attractive to the nation’s citizens. This explains the reason District Twelve has had only one winner of the Games prior to this Hunger Games, and why certain districts have had consistent success in the Hunger Games. This directly relates to the huge impact media has over presidential elections in the United States, and why candidates believe control of the media wins each election. 

Political figures are held to extremely high standards by the public, one weary comment can create a lot of negative judgement. Recently, President-elect Donald Trump was bashed numerous times for racist, sexist, and radical comments during his campaign. These comments made many citizens believe Trump wasn’t suited for the presidency, yet through advertisements and struggles from the opposing party, Donald Trump won the election. This once again relates to the importance of being on the media’s good side, getting the positive support nationally that is needed to win an election, or even a battle of 24 teenagers to the death. Instead of two candidates in a political race, Katniss and Peeta take some control of the media tributes. Actions like the love story and fire suits made them fan favorites, adding attention to the tributes that President Snow did not want to become popular. Katniss’s personality on television and actions in the Games make her extremely personable to many, while also causing problems in the front office of the Capitol. After the death of Rue, Katniss sparks hatred for the government through a grieving period where she created a tomb of flowers while crying and singing. This added attention and gave her many new supporters, while also throwing shade towards President Snow. Katniss gaining attention is similar to Donald Trump gaining attention from his controversial comments. Although the media tried to make the negative comments a big deal, Trump gained attention and support as he paved his way to an unexpected victory, similar to the unexpected victory of two victors from District Twelve. 

The 2016 election will be remembered throughout history as one of the worst, yet entertaining elections of all time. Donald Trump changed the way candidates campaign and gain support by attracting as much attention as possible to himself. This is similar to Katniss in a sense that she changes the way people view the Games by creating intriguing scenarios and not feeding in the President Snow’s plan. Katniss ruins the objective of the government by recommending Peeta and her eat poisonous berries to not give the President his lone victor. In response, they announce that both contenders will win, folding to Katniss’s possible bluff. Two victors had never occurred before, and the media focused on how adorable Katniss’s and Peeta’s love for each other were. After all the doubt displayed by many citizens on their chances of winning at the beginning of the novel, Katniss and Peeta proved them wrong and won the Hunger Games. The win was similar to the magnitude of Donald Trump’s victory; ironically, the media began to support Donald Trump although they were very surprised. 

Throughout the novel, there are numerous examples of how the government controls the media by supporting certain tributes and many other things, allowing them to control the minds of nearly all their citizens. The media in this novel supports the government entirely, and never says anything that could be harmful to President Snow’s regime. In today’s media, many news stations have their own political views and support one political party while bashing another one. The news that they report contains bias towards a political party, and many citizens have begun to notice. New data has proven that many citizens believe most news stations are somewhat bias, yet that doesn’t change the information they believe because nearly every news station is somewhat biased, reporting similar news. This is a problem that needs to stop, but will be difficult to remove because of the mass number of media networks. Networks rely on dramatic events or likable information to keep viewers, and many viewers of similar networks contain the same political views. This allows networks to express their beliefs through the news they report, and the people that agree with them will continue to watch their news. Being in a democracy, many people believe that all information should be told so they can make decisions and form opinions based on all the facts. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in today’s world, and definitely not in The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins shines light on the problems with the media in today’s world, while also creating an intriguing plot that describes the beginning of a revolution against an oppressive government. Media bias needs to be diminished from news reporting because it doesn’t tell the whole story, and doesn’t allow citizens to develop true opinions on important issues.