Media bias

Extracted Attributes

• Definition

  A pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism.

• Primary Types

  Bias by omission, bias by spin, bias by placement, 'big story' bias.

• Academic Fields

  Journalism, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Peace Studies.

• Contributing Factors

  Market forces, ownership concentration, government censorship, staff selection, and audience preferences.

• Nations with High Government Bias

  China, North Korea, Syria, Myanmar.

Timeline

• Start of the period analyzed in Dave D'Alessio's meta-analysis of media bias in Presidential election coverage. (Source: Web Search: LibGuides at COM Library)

  1948-01-01

• Publication of 'A Measure of Media Bias' by Tim Groseclose and Jeffrey Milyo in The Quarterly Journal of Economics. (Source: Web Search: Helpful Professor)

  2005-11-01

• End of the period analyzed in Dave D'Alessio's meta-analysis of media bias in Presidential election coverage. (Source: Web Search: LibGuides at COM Library)

  2008-12-31

• Publication of 'Theories of Media Bias' by S. Robert Lichter in The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. (Source: Web Search: Wikipedia)

  2018-01-01

• Publication of the 'In brief: News media bias' report by the News Literacy Project. (Source: Web Search: News Literacy Project)

  2024-01-01

Media bias

Media bias occurs when journalists and news producers show bias in how they report and cover news. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening of the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an individual journalist or article. The direction and degree of media bias in various countries is widely disputed. Practical limitations to media neutrality include the inability of journalists to report all available stories and facts, and the requirement that selected facts be linked into a coherent narrative. Government influence, including overt and covert censorship, biases the media in some countries, for example China, North Korea, Syria and Myanmar. Politics and media bias may interact with each other; the media has the ability to influence politicians, and politicians may have the power to influence the media. This can change the distribution of power in society. Market forces may also cause bias. Examples include bias introduced by the ownership of media, including a concentration of media ownership, the subjective selection of staff, or the perceived preferences of an intended audience. Assessing possible bias is one aspect of media literacy, which is studied at schools of journalism, university departments (including media studies, cultural studies, and peace studies). Other focuses beyond political bias include international differences in reporting, as well as bias in reporting of particular issues such as economic class or environmental interests. Academic findings around bias can also differ significantly from public discourse and understanding of the term.

Web Search Results

• Media bias - Wikipedia

  78. ^ Lichter, S. Robert (2018). "Theories of Media Bias". In Kenski, Kate; Jamieson, Kathleen Hall (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 405. doi "Doi (identifier)"):10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.44. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-0-19-998435-0. OCLC "OCLC (identifier)") 959803808. Much of the literature criticizes such biases for favoring the existing power structure, hindering civic participation or democratic outcomes, and failing to provide audiences with the information they need to make rational decisions about public affairs. Television has been the leading target of such criticism, but it frequently extends to other media as well. [...] 76. ^ Lichter, S. Robert (2018). "Theories of Media Bias". In Kenski, Kate; Jamieson, Kathleen Hall (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 412. doi "Doi (identifier)"):10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.44. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-0-19-998435-0. OCLC "OCLC (identifier)") 959803808. ...much popular media criticism has posited that journalists' personal attitudes produce a liberal tilt in their coverage. Most scholarly studies have failed to support this conclusion, however, and the increasing public perception of liberal media bias has been linked to audience biases and strategic efforts by conservative elites. However, recent studies have rekindled this debate, while attributing biased coverage [...] 7. ^ a b Lichter, S. Robert (2018). "Theories of Media Bias". In Kenski, Kate; Jamieson, Kathleen Hall (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 403. doi "Doi (identifier)"):10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.44. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-0-19-998435-0. OCLC "OCLC (identifier)") 959803808. In academic circles, media bias is referenced more often as a hypothesis to explain patterns of news coverage than as a component of any fully elaborated theory of political communication.

• Media Bias & How to Spot It - Media Bias - LibGuides at COM Library

  Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008: Evaluation via Formal Measurement Accusations of partisan bias in Presidential election coverage are suspect at best and self-serving at worst. They are generally supported by the methodology of instance confirmation, tainted by the hostile media effect, and based on simplistic visions of how the news media are organized. Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008 by Dave D'Alessio, is a revealing analysis that shows the news media have four essential natures: as journalistic entities, businesses, political actors, and property, all of which can act to create news coverage biases, in some cases in opposing directions. By meta-analyzing the results of 99 previous examinations of media coverage of Presidential elections [...] Evaluating Media Bias Media bias has been a hot-button issue for several decades and it features prominently in the post-2016 political conversation. Yet, it receives only spotty treatment in existing materials aimed at political communication or introductory American politics courses. Evaluating Media Bias is a brief, supplemental resource that provides an academically informed but broadly accessible overview of the major concepts and controversies involving media bias. Adam Schiffer explores the contours of the partisan-bias debate before pivoting to real biases: the patterns, constraints, and shortcomings plaguing American political news. Media bias is more relevant than ever in the aftermath of the presidential election, which launched a flurry of media criticism from scholars, [...] Critical Perspectives on Media Bias What is media bias? Are all media outlets inherently biased? What does it mean for the news we receive? Media bias is a hot topic in the twenty-first century, when everyone and anyone can start a media organization and present content as news, but is all news created equal? Through critical essays and input from media insiders and watchdogs, students will explore what media bias is, how it affects the news they read and watch, and what they can do to make sure that they're not swayed by media bias when they ingest news.

• [PDF] Types of media bias

  Types of Media Bias ! Bias by omission – leaving one side out of an article, or a series of articles over a period of time; ignoring facts that tend to disprove liberal or conservative claims, or that support liberal or conservative beliefs; bias by omission can occur either within a story, or over the long term as a particular news outlet reports one set of events, but not another. To find instances of bias by omission, be aware of the conservative and liberal perspectives on current issues. See if both the conservative and liberal perspectives are included in stories on a particular event or policy. ! [...] Bias by spin – Bias by spin occurs when the story has only one interpretation of an event or policy, to the exclusion of the other; spin involves tone – it’s a reporter’s subjective comments about objective facts; makes one side’s ideological perspective look better than another. To check if it’s spin, observe which interpretation of an event or policy a news story matches – the liberal or conservative. Many news stories do not reflect a particular spin. Others summarize the spin put on an event by both sides. But if a story reflects one to the exclusion of the other, then you’ve found bias by spin. ! The above information is excerpted and adapted from How to Identify Liberal Media Bias by Brent H. Baker, Vice President for Research and Publications at Media Research Center. [...] Bias by placement – Story placement is a measure of how important the editor considers the story. Studies have shown that, in the case of the average newspaper reader and the average news story, most people read only the headline. Bias by placement is where in the paper or in an article a story or event is printed; a pattern of placing news stories so as to downplay information supportive of either conservative views or liberal views. To locate examples of bias by placement, observe where a newspaper places political stories. Or whenever you read a story, see how far into the story each viewpoint first appears. In a fair and balanced story, the reporter would quote or summarize the liberal and conservative view at about the same place in the story. If not, you’ve found bias by placement. !

• 35 Media Bias Examples for Students - Helpful Professor

  Haselmayer, M., Wagner, M., & Meyer, T. M. (2017). Partisan Bias in Message Selection: Media Gatekeeping of Party Press Releases. Political Communication, 34(3), 367–384. Hofstetter, C. R., & Buss, T. F. (1978). Bias in television news coverage of political events: A methodological analysis. Journal of Broadcasting, 22(4), 517–530. Mackey, T. P., & Jacobson, T. E. (2019). Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World. American Library Association. Merloe, P. (2015). Authoritarianism Goes Global: Election Monitoring Vs. Disinformation. Journal of Democracy, 26(3), 79–93. Mullainathan, S., & Shleifer, A. (2002). Media Bias (No. w9295; p. w9295). National Bureau of Economic Research. [...] Garz, M. (2014). Good news and bad news: evidence of media bias in unemployment reports. Public Choice, 161(3), 499-515. Groeling, T. (2013). Media Bias by the Numbers: Challenges and Opportunities in the Empirical Study of Partisan News. Annual Review of Political Science, 16(1), 129–151. Groseclose, T., & Milyo, J. (2005). A measure of media bias. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120(4), 1191-1237. Groseclose, T., & Milyo, J. (2005). A Measure of Media Bias. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120(4), 1191–1237. Haselmayer, M., Meyer, T. M., & Wagner, M. (2019). Fighting for attention: Media coverage of negative campaign messages. Party Politics, 25(3), 412–423. [...] Brandenburg, H. (2006). Party Strategy and Media Bias: A Quantitative Analysis of the 2005 UK Election Campaign. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 16(2), 157–178. D’Alessio, D., & Allen, M. (2000). Media Bias in Presidential Elections: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Communication, 50(4), 133–156. Eberl, J.-M., Boomgaarden, H. G., & Wagner, M. (2017). One Bias Fits All? Three Types of Media Bias and Their Effects on Party Preferences. Communication Research, 44(8), 1125–1148. Eberl, J.-M., Wagner, M., & Boomgaarden, H. G. (2018). Party Advertising in Newspapers. Journalism Studies, 19(6), 782–802. Entman, R. M. (2007). Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 163–173.

• [PDF] In brief: News media bias

  Be wary of media bias charts and ratings Bias charts and rating systems seem to provide an easy way to assess bias in news, but they often contain startling shortcomings. Some popular media bias visualizations are based on small samples of coverage that include opinion pieces alongside news reporting. They also mislead by comparing credible news organizations to sources that routinely push disinformation, propaganda and conspiracy theories. This falsely implies that journalists, hyperpartisans and conspiracy theorists are all part of the same community of practice. They’re not. [...] IN BRIEF News media bias People across the political spectrum often feel that “the media” is biased against their beliefs and values. But what counts as bias in news? And why do so few people feel that news coverage is slanted in their favor? Differentiate news from opinion The standards of quality journalism call for news reports — also called “straight news” or “hard news” — to be as free of bias as possible. But opinion columns, editorials and op-eds are not produced to be impartial — they’re supposed to express an opinion. “Big story” bias: Journalists’ judgment is clouded by their perceptions of an event or development as a major, important story.