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An important focus for analysis of the news is new bias —
the degree to which a writer adopts an “objective,”
“un-biased” stance as a “neutral” journalist
who is presenting different, alternative perspectives on a topic
or issue. In some cases, writers may present only one, biased perspective
or leave out information related to alternative perspectives. They
may also emphasize certain aspects of an event while disregarding
other aspects of an event. |
Media-Awareness:
Bias in the News
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The FAIR
(Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) site provides some criteria
for detecting bias in news.
The following is an edited version of these criteria: |
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Who are the sources?
Media over-rely on “official” (government, corporate
and establishment think tank) sources.
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Is there a lack of diversity?
FAIR’s 40-month survey of Nightline found its U.S. guests
to be 92 percent white and 89 percent male. A similar survey of
PBS’s NewsHour found its guestlist was 90 percent white
and 87 percent male.
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From whose point of view is the news reported?
For example, many stories on parental notification of abortion
emphasized the “tough choice” confronting male politicians
while quoting no women under 18 — those with the most at
stake in the debate. Economics coverage usually looks at how events
impact stockholders rather than workers or consumers.
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Are there double standards?
Youth of color who commit crimes are referred to as “superpredators,”
whereas adult criminals who commit white-collar crimes are often
portrayed as having been tragically been led astray. Think tanks
partly funded by unions are often identified as “labor-backed”
while think tanks heavily funded by business interests are usually
not identified as “corporate-backed.”
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Do stereotypes skew coverage?
Does coverage of the drug crisis focus almost exclusively on African
Americans, despite the fact that the vast majority of drug users
are white? Does coverage of women on welfare focus overwhelmingly
on African-American women, despite the fact that the majority
of welfare recipients are not black?
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What are the unchallenged assumptions?
Often the most important message of a story is not explicitly
stated. For instance, in coverage of women on welfare, the age
at which a woman had her first child will often be reported —
the implication being that the woman’s sexual “promiscuity,”
rather than institutional economic factors, are responsible for
her plight.
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Is the language loaded?
For instance, media often use the right-wing buzzword “racial
preference” to refer to affirmative action programs. Polls
show that this decision makes a huge difference in how the issue
is perceived: A 1992 Louis Harris poll, for example, found that
70 percent said they favored “affirmative action”
while only 46 percent favored “racial preference programs.”
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Is there a lack of context?
Coverage of so-called “reverse discrimination” usually
fails to focus on any of the institutional factors which gives
power to prejudices such as larger issues of economic inequality
and institutional racism.
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Do the headlines and stories match?
Usually headlines are not written by the reporter. Since many
people just skim headlines, misleading headlines have a significant
impact.
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Are stories on important issues featured prominently?
Newspaper articles on the most widely read pages (the front pages
and the editorial pages) and lead stories on television and radio
will have the greatest influence on public opinion.
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A biased/slanted analysis of an event can be evident in how writers
or their editors select or omit certain topics or quotes, formulate
headlines, use photos, or employ data such as statistics or crowd
counts: |
On the one hand, some journalists argue that it is essential
for writers to adopt an “objective,” “un-biased”
stance in order to maintain a sense of credibility with readers.
If readers believed that the writer was reporting events based on
their own ideological perspective or political agenda, they would
discount the information presented. On the other hand, other journalists
argue that achieving total “objectivity” is difficult
if not impossible, particularly for reporters who are covering controversial
or political events, and that writers should make explicit their
own perspectives or agendas in their reporting. |
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