MS Media Bias: You Be the Judge: Home

  To Do:  Go to one of the fact checking sites and check out a story....

To DO: Use the handouts to explore a topic of your choice to see if you can detect bias in any of the links...

Try this lesson about distilling Fake news to misinformation, disinformation, etc from The Sift

How do images selected relate to bias in the news?

BIAS: A positive or negative attitude toward something, often based on preconceived viewpoints or prejudices, rather than evidence.

Bias can be detected even at the level of  word choice...for example:

 Look at these examples of synonyms with quite different connotations...

Egostistical   (negative)                                                Scrawny  (negative)

Proud   (either negative or positive)                             Underweight (either negative or positive)

Confident   (positive)                                                    Slender   (Positive)                                                 

Media news sources contain ideological messages and have social and political implications....

Why is it important to discuss bias when it comes to news sources?

How might the choices that writers, editors, and producers make, consciously or unconsciously,  lead to a biased view of the subject they are covering?

Look at the articles and take note of some differences in the way a topic is covered.

In particular notice...

• Headlines - language chosen, names of parties involved, what is the first message?
• Photos and captions - are they positive, negative, neutral?
• Information covered in the first, and subsequent paragraphs - what is being discussed, what might be left out?

How do they compare?  Do you see how choices were made differently?  How so?  What point of view might the article be leaning toward?  How can you tell?  Is the article simple factual, or do you detect a point of view?  

Source: www.mediasmarts.ca @ 2012