Mar 21, 20227 min read

Media Bias is Tricking You

Why You Should Pay Attention To Media Bias

Media Bias, Explained

Did you know that the global consumer spends over 7.5 hours a day with media on average? As a society, we consume a lot of different media! We rely on it as a source of entertainment, where we get our work done, how we interact with our friends and family, and where we get our news from. Most of us often assume that what we’re consuming is pretty reliable.

However, this assumption isn’t accurate, as media bias is rampant across all the three main media channels: broadcasting, publishing, and the internet. For this reason, I’m here to show you how you can consume media with a more critical eye.

It is almost impossible for an individual or outlet to have no biases whatsoever, but some media outlets will take this to the extreme and publish extremely biased content.

To help you better understand media bias, we’ll talk you through the most common types, why it can be a problem, and offer some advice on how to recognize it more easily.

What is bias?

Bias is the tendency to lean towards or against someone or something.

Sometimes, bias is something you’re aware of, and this is known as explicit bias, but implicit or unconscious bias is something you don’t realize you have.

The direction in which you lean can be influenced by factors such as your background, culture and personal experiences.

What is media bias?

Media bias relates to the bias or perceived bias of journalists and news organizations in mass media. It normally implies a widespread bias that impacts the standard of journalism, rather than bias in the perspective of one journalist or article.

Media bias can affect the choice of events and stories that get published, the perspective from which they’re written, and the tone of language selected to tell them.

In most countries, media bias is thought either to favor liberal (lean left) or conservative (lean right) politics. In some countries, media bias can go so far as to completely reflect the ideals of the governing body, for example, in North Korea. In cases such as this, media bias essentially becomes propaganda.

Although a lot of media contains unconscious bias, media also regularly contains explicit bias. This is where media outlets deliberately try to paint a certain image of an event, group or individual to achieve their desired outcome.

How To Recognize Media Bias

There are several ways you can recognize media bias. FAIR, the national media watch group in the US, suggests that there are multiple questions you should ask yourself when consuming media in order to find biases. Here are just a few questions to get you started:

Who are the sources? In the article you’re reading, where is the journalist getting their sources from? Are all of the sources corporate and government-based, or are there any progressive, public interest, minority or female voices being referenced?

From whose point of view is the media reported? Perspective is everything. Often, political coverage focuses on how certain issues affect politicians or corporations.

Are there double standards? Check for double standards by finding a parallel examples or citing similar stories that were covered in a different way. For example, are similar stories about men and women written in the same way?

Is there a total lack of context? Stories without context can often paint a false picture of society or certain groups within it. For example, crime may be going up in a certain area because poverty is increasing, but this connection might not be explained.

Is there diversity? Looking at a particular media outlet, how diverse is their workforce compared to the communities they serve?

Different Types of Bias

There are countless different types of media bias, but with help from AllSides, a media outlet that provides media bias ratings, balanced news and diverse perspectives, I’ve briefly explained 11 of the most common biases.

Spin - This is a type of media bias where the journalist strays away from objective fact and instead puts dramatizations or places it out of context.
Slant - When journalists only tell part of a story and try to play up one particular angle, this is known as slant.
Opinions presented as fact - This is when journalists suggest that subjective statements are factual, or present their opinions, assumptions, or beliefs as objective.
Unsubstantiated claims - This is when the journalist makes claims without using data or evidence to prove their point; this can often be seen in article headlines.
Sensationalism - A tactic often used by tabloid journalists, sensationalism is when information is presented in a shocking or over-dramatic way to lure in readers. Also known as click-bait.
Bias by omission - If a media outlet chooses not to write certain stories, or they leave out relevant information or perspectives on purpose, this is bias by omission.
Mind reading - Sometimes, journalists will write assumptions about what members of the public or individuals are thinking, and these assumptions are often wrong.
Flawed logic - This is when journalists arrive at conclusions that are not justified by any of their previous points or any evidence, in an attempt to misrepresent the facts.
Bias by placement - Media outlets can reveal biases through which stories they deem most important. Which is the front page story and which is only a small paragraph at the back?
Omission of source attribution - Where a journalist sources their story is very important, so if they omit their sources, they might not be presenting reliable information.
Ad hominem - This is when journalists make a personal attack against an individual rather than addressing their position in the argument or issue at hand.

Main Issues Media Bias Causes for Its Consumers

There are other factors at play that can affect your consumption of media and lead to you consuming biased information or even forming new biases.

Echo Chambers

If you’re in a cave and you shout out, all you’re going to hear is your own voice echoing back to you. It is the same with virtual echo chambers – when your online community is made up of like-minded people, you will generally keep hearing your own opinions being reflected back to you.

This is why it can be productive to have wide virtual networks. Following people with different views on social media and reading different news sources can allow you to get out of the echo chamber and be exposed to a broader range of perspectives.

The act of staying within our echo chambers is similar to the concept of confirmation bias, where we only watch or listen to media that confirms our views and opinions. While it might be more comfortable to consume media that demonstrates the same interests and worldview as yourself, it’s not very conducive to learning.

Filter Bubbles

Another issue related to social media, we enter filter bubbles when machine learning algorithms deployed by social media platforms like Facebook select the information that we see based on our past behavior. This means that we are unknowingly viewing filtered information most of the time, even though we might think that we’re getting the full picture.

Seeing filtered information and becoming isolated from disagreeable stories means that we become more biased in our worldview. We might believe that more people share the same politics as us than is actually true, and we might be less willing to have productive conversations with those who disagree with our opinions.

What you can do about media bias

Be aware! Know the news source you frequent, is it right leaning, left leaning, or center? Try to find to find news from both sides and the middle.

If you’re interested in checking for media bias in popular media outlets, there are several media bias charts available to take a look at. Two media bias charts I have found are the AllSides chart and the Ad Fontes chart.

AllSides chart focuses solely on political bias, placing sources in one of five categories moving from left-wing to right-wing. They also have a website that indicates the political leaning of the news source for the topic being reviewed.

The Ad Fontes chart indicates political bias and also measures reliability. It looks at factors such as whether an outlet uses fabricated information or original reporting to help measure how reliable a source they are. Ad Fontes Media is a public benefit corporation with a mission to make news consumers smarter and news media better.

Both media bias charts get good reviews, though the Ad Fontes chart paints a better overall picture of the reliability of news sources. After all, political bias isn’t the only factor to consider. Both charts were formed from reviews by analysts of different political leanings and professions.

I have looked into both of the bias charts and made changes to where I get my news and how I make my analysis of said news I consume. Let me share my process with you. I would say I lean to the left...but really I believe in inclusion, diversity, respect, civility.

With the help of Ad Fontes, I have identified the 'Middle - Fact Reporting' news source and this is the Associated Press. I immediately began getting news directly from them, in addition to articles on Apple News Plus, and a few News Shows on MSNBC. I also tune in to Fox News on an infrequent basis.

Now, when I read articles from New York Post or The Atlantic or Wall Street Journal, I look them up on the Ad Fontes chart and consider how the political slant might have changed the story or might have left out facts. I usually look for another story from an opposing leaning news outlet. I try to read at least 3 articles on every 'big' or controversial topic. Thanks to AllSides, I am easily able to find the media outlets that cover the same subject just from the differing political views.

I would like to see you, my friends, do this. I would like to have dialogue on some of these topics. Will you join the dialogue?

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