Bias in Media

in #bias4 years ago

A lot of people don't really understand how news media sources can be biased. They ask "Don't they just tell us the news? How is that biased?". They show their bias in so many ways by choosing what news to share and what to ignore, what details to include and even what questions to ask. For instance, on NPR recently a Bernie supporter was asked "Aren't you worried if Bernie wins it will hurt the Democrats down ticket?". They were biased because they didn't ask any Biden supporters that. Or any Bloomberg supporters. They only asked whether Bernie would hurt the party. That's negative coverage that wasn't given other candidates.

So moving forward I am going to try to call out and catalog bias like this when I see it. Today's story comes from a local news source, although they are just sharing a AP story. The AP created the bias, they are sharing it. The story speaks to the 5 remaining candidates in the Democratic primary process, along with little blurbs about each. These paragraphs on each candidate call out their positions, well, except for one candidate which skips that and instead calls out challenges. Specifically:

"But she will have to overcome obstacles both old and new" and then it lists out contentious acts, both which I don't see as significant as all, especially compared to the other candidates obvious skeletons.

Tulsi Gabbard is the only candidate they offer negative coverage of. All the candidates have obstacles, and some have straight up scandals in their past. I'd suggest that Tulsi has the cleanest record of any, yet she is the one singled out for negative coverage. That's very telling bias.

Stay sharp out there- modern media is constantly trying to shape your thoughts and opinions.