{"id":14305,"date":"2009-03-23T06:47:46","date_gmt":"2009-03-23T12:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=14305"},"modified":"2009-03-23T06:42:50","modified_gmt":"2009-03-23T12:42:50","slug":"how-to-recognize-news-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/03\/23\/how-to-recognize-news-bias.html","title":{"rendered":"How to recognize news bias"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a nice little compendium at WikiHow: How to Recognize Bias in a Newspaper Article<\/a>. It applies to other news\/information than just newspapers, of course, including TV news and Internet news. Scare quotes, unsourced statistics, selective time frames for comparison, missing facts, use of labels or emotionally-charged jargon, etc., it’s all here. Should be required reading in civics classes (if anyone teaches civics any more).<\/p>\n

The one element that’s at all questionable is item #11:<\/p>\n

\n

Look for at least two sides to every story.<\/strong> A good reporter will allocate adequate space in the story to present facts and figures supporting all sides of an issue. Ask yourself if all sides of this argument or dispute would agree that their views were represented fairly? If not, the story may show bias.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the one hand, and on the face of it, that’s hard to argue with. And one-sided articles are often a good warning flag of bias.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, not all sources, or sides, are created equal. In a science article on the origins of the moon, discussions with astrophysicists and selenologists and the like are probably of more value than interviewing Rev. Fred Firkins who thinks the Moon was shot up into the sky by Atlanteans as a time capsule for their civilization, which NASA already knows but is keeping secret. Firkins has an alternative viewpoint, but a good journalist will exercise some judgment in considering how credible it may be. Ignoring alternative views may be unfair and biased — but treating them as the same as other viewpoints is equally misleading, if not more. And, yes, the same applies to arguments about evolution vs. creationism.<\/p>\n

Which in turn reminds me of this article<\/a> by Amanda Gefter. It focuses on how to detect “a hidden religious agenda” in scientific articles, and there’s not an observation it makes that doesn’t sound spot-on. Well worth reading — though you can’t read it at The New Scientist<\/em>, where it was originally published, because it got yanked from the web after mysterious “complaints” (rumor being that some creationists threatened to sue for libel, though there’s nothing there that strikes me as libelous).<\/p>\n

Which, I suppose, makes the point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a nice little compendium at WikiHow: How to Recognize Bias in a Newspaper Article. It applies to other news\/information than just newspapers, of course, including TV news and Internet news. Scare quotes, unsourced statistics, selective time frames for comparison, missing facts, use of labels or emotionally-charged jargon, etc., it’s all here. Should be … Continue reading “How to recognize news bias”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fourth-estate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128494,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/03\/this-school-system-needs-a-lesson-in-civics-particularly-the-first-amendment.html","url_meta":{"origin":14305,"position":0},"title":"This school system needs a lesson in civics, particularly the First Amendment","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 3-Nov-15 11:40am","format":false,"excerpt":"I just don't get it.I mean, I understand the desire to evangelize (though good works tend to be more effective, in my experience, than preaching). But the folks who go all tribalistic with their Christianity (or any other religion or ideology, but we'll stick to the Christianity in this instance)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33435,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/04\/30\/a-splendid-civics-lesson-from-the-gop-to-todays-youth.html","url_meta":{"origin":14305,"position":1},"title":"A splendid civics lesson from the GOP to today's youth","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 30-Apr-13 8:13pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Though it is legal (indeed, constitutionally mandated, per the Supreme Court) for college students to register and vote in the college communities they are temporarily attending, that just doesn't sit right with some state GOP legislatures. So they keep trying to find ways to discourage it, like:- Not letting parents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3191,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/07\/26\/civic_education.html","url_meta":{"origin":14305,"position":2},"title":"Civic Education and Citizenship","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 26-Jul-02 8:17am","format":false,"excerpt":"A long and interesting article about the decline of \"civics\" in our public education -- and some of the fallout thereof. While the author gets at times a bit rah-rah...","rel":"","context":"In "Fourth Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Fourth Estate","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/fourth-estate"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9480,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/06\/28\/do_you_have_wha.html","url_meta":{"origin":14305,"position":3},"title":"Do you have what it takes to be a citizen?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 28-Jun-06 1:50pm","format":false,"excerpt":"MSNBC provides twenty sample questions: When immigrants want to become Americans, they must take a civics test as part of their naturalization interview before a Citizenship and Immigration Services officer....","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49875,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/19\/stay-classy-new-hampshire-gop.html","url_meta":{"origin":14305,"position":4},"title":"Stay classy, New Hampshire GOP","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 19-Mar-15 3:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"As a group of 4th Graders sat in the gallery, the bill they had proposed -- as an educational experience -- to name the red-tailed hawk the New Hampshire state bird instead became springboard for a Republican rep to attack abortion (\"It grasps them with its talons then uses its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138065,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/04\/there-oughta-be-a-law.html","url_meta":{"origin":14305,"position":5},"title":"There Oughta Be A Law!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 4-Mar-19 6:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/twitter.com\/18965459\/status\/1102732913206910976 This Constitutional Law Moment brought to you by This Is Why We Need More Civics Education. Yeesh. https:\/\/t.co\/bwreHhSeWP Diamond and Silk are, of course, bestest buds of both the President and headliners at last weekend's CPAC. They are not, however and quite clearly, lawyers.","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/constitution-we_the_people.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/constitution-we_the_people.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/constitution-we_the_people.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/constitution-we_the_people.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}