Media Flashcards
Is bias through omission easy to detect?
No, it is difficult to detect. Only by comparing news reports from a wide variety of outlets can the form of bias be observed.
Bias through selection and omission
An editor can express a bias by choosing to use or not to use specific news item. Within a given story, sone details can be ignored, and others included, to give readers or viewers a different opinion about the events reported. I’d during a speech, a few people boo, the reaction can be described as “remarks greeted by jeers” or they can be ignored as a “handful of dissidents”
Bias through placement
Readers of papers judge first page stories to be more significant than those buried in the back. Television and radio newscast run the most important stories first and leave the less significant for later. Where a story is placed, therefore, influences what a reader or viewer thinks about its importance.
Bias by headline
Many people read only the headlines of a news item. Most people can scan nearly all the headlines in a newspaper. Headlines are the most-read part of a paper. They can summarize as well as present carefully hidden bias and prejudices. They can convey excitement where little exists. They can express approval or condemnation.
Bias by photos, captions and camera angles
Some pictures flatter a person; others make the person look unpleasant. A paper can choose photos to influence opinion about, for example, a candidate for election. On television, the choice of which visual images to display is extremely important. The captions newspapers run below photos are potential sources of bias.
Bias through statistics and crowd counts
News media often use labels and titles to describe people, places and events. A person can be called “ex-con” or be referred to as someone who “served time twenty years ago drive minor offense “ Whether a person is described as a “terrorist” or a “freedom fighter” is clear indication of editorial bias
Bias through statistics and crowd counts
To make a disaster seem more spectacular (and therefore worthy of reading about), numbers can be inflated. “A hundred injured in air crash” can be the same as “only minor injuries in air crash,” reflecting the opinion of the person doing the counting.
Bias by source control
To detect bias, always consider where the news item “comes from.” Is the information supplied by a reporter, an eyewitness, police or fire officials, executives, or elected or appointed government officials? Each, may have a particular bias that is introduced into the story. Companies and public relations directors supply news outlets with puff pieces through news releases, photos or videos. Often news outlets depend on pseudo-events that take place mainly to gain news coverage.
Pseudo-events
Demonstrations, sit-ins, ribbon cuttings, speeches and ceremonies.
Bias through word choice and tone
Showing the same kind of bias that appears in headlines, the use of positive or negative words or words with a particular connotation can strongly influence the reader or viewer.
What are the 8 ways to detect bias in the news?
- Bias through selection and omission
- Bias through placement
- Bias by headline
- Bias by photos
