Bias Discussion due in four hours
xla28
Bias.pptx
Analyzing for Bias
Identifying implicit arguments and acknowledging a creator’s background
People are Biased Against Bias
Bias has a bad reputation, and while there are many good reasons for this, some of them are misguided. How come? Well, we are all biased in one way or another - we all have our own backgrounds, economic, racial, social and so on, and those things make up who we are, influence our preferences, and color how we see the world, which is generally pretty great!
If you’re waiting for a “however…” you’re in luck! HOWEVER, the problem with bias is that it involves a prejudice that is usually unfair or skews the truth so that it aligns with a person’s worldview. This isn’t much of a problem if it influences your personal preferences for things like the kinds of fruit you like, your favorite sports team, or music, etc. HOWEVER…
The Problem with Bias
When it gets applied to concepts like “the truth” or influences someone’s perception of whole groups of people unfairly, that’s prejudice (literally, judging someone in advance, without the facts).
Bias is at the root of all kinds of problems: politicians lying to their supporters, journalists skewing facts, police saying someone committed a crime (when they have no proof), redlining, discrimination in hiring – these actions are all influenced by bias.
Let’s Focus on Bias in the Media
Bias in the media is often (not always!) one of the easier forms of bias to identify. As media outlets become more polarized, they’ve developed biases that let them appeal to certain groups of consumers. This is fairly apparent in news outlets like MSNBC and Fox News.
In the following chart, taken from “AllSides Media Bias Ratings,” we see a spectrum from left to right. What’s interesting to note is that even the chart is biased! Why? Because a person or group of people made it. That doesn’t mean we have to toss it out or that it’s “wrong.” It’s a matter of perspective. Have a look:
Many people mistakenly read “center” as meaning “no bias.” It’s an easy trap to fall into, but the center also has a point of view it’s championing.
It might help to think of it this way: the left and the right are biased in favor of some kind of change, while the center caters to the status quo, or the way things currently are.
Where’s the Center?
What one person views as “the center” might be the same as another person. For example, someone from Europe, which has a different media ecosystem, might view many of the outlets in “the center” as being further right, ditto the two “left” columns.
But for the most part, all of these outlets report more or less “the facts.” It’s actually fairly uncommon to find something totally made up in any of these types of major sources. That doesn’t, however, mean they are always reliable!
As we’ll see in the pop quiz in a few pages (ungraded!), bias can usually be found in how an outlet covers a story, and what they choose to cover. Sometimes facts are omitted, which isn’t quite the same as lying, but it’s definitely something to watch out for.
It’s not just limited to news media. We encounter bias in the movies watch (America: good; whoever we’re fighting: bad), the books we read, commercials, crazy uncles, video games, apps, and so on.
That’s all great. How do I identify it in a text / artifact?
If you’re lucky, they’ll tell you outright. Find an “about us” button or a masthead and you’ll usually learn a lot about a source, whether it’s news media, academic, or otherwise. Be careful though, some sites and outlets claim to be “fair and balanced” when they most certainly are not.
Compare. How does a media outlet portray an issue or an event compared to a sampling of other sources? Is there a consensus? Are there differences? If so, what do those differences suggest?
What kind of facts and evidence do writers use to back up their claims? Do they have any at all? If not, that’s a red flag. If a text includes quotes from a source—is that source reputable? For instance, are they an expert in their field or just someone wearing a suit?
It may seem obvious, but if the article is trying to convince you to think of something in a particular way, it’s biased.
Look up the author / writer / creator. What’s their background like? Where do they work / where have they worked in the past? For instance, if someone who worked for Chevron up until a month ago is writing about how great the oil industry is, you’d be right to be skeptical or more critical.
How do I identify (part 2)
Look Around! Are there ads on the site or in the pages? What sort of products are being advertised? For instance, if there are a bunch of ads for the NFL your source might lean conservative, because NFL watchers tend to be more conservative. If there are a bunch of ads for the NBA it might lean more liberal, as NBA watchers tend to be more liberal.
No ads? Well this is either a good thing or a bad thing. This could mean that no companies want to do business with this outlet because they don’t want to be associated with it. OR it could mean the source is member-supported, or part of an academic institution.
Time for a pop quiz
Let’s say there’s a news story about a farmer who dies when several crates of oranges fall on him.
Outlet A reports the story like this:
Local farmer, John Appleman, 72, died over the weekend when a tower of orange crates fell on him. Police have not named any persons of interest and do not suspect foul play. – By Alex Newsman
Outlet B reports the story like this:
Local farmer, John Appleman, 72, died a grizzly death when a tower of orange crates snuffed the life out of him. Untold numbers of hardworking farmers are dying in orange crate-related deaths, but Big Orange Industry doesn’t want the painful truth exposed. Police have not named any persons of interest and do not suspect foul play but that could change at any time, if new evidence comes to light. – By John Appleman Jr.
Which one is biased? If you went with “Outlet A” you might want to re-read this power point! “Outlet B” is definitely the “biased” one here, and not just because it seems like Mr. Appleman’s son wrote the article.
Artist’s rendering of the tragedy
What makes “Outlet B” biased?
A) It sensationalizes. By adding adjectives like “grizzly” and employing metaphors like “snuffed the life out” the goal is no longer to just provide information, it’s also trying to entertain readers and appeal to your emotions.
B) It editorializes. The article claims that “hard-working” farmers are dying because of orange crates. This seems highly unlikely, and without a source we’d be right to question this claim. Adding that the farmers are “hard-working” is meant to get us to sympathize more, i.e. the public generally sympathizes with people who work hard, at least on paper. A farmer’s work ethic is not relevant to the story here.
C) It’s vague. ”Untold numbers” is an imprecise phrase with slippery meanings. Taken literally, it means “numbers that are not told,” taken metaphorically, it means “thousands +.” Many readers who aren’t careful would default to the more common, metaphoric, understanding of the phrase instead of the literal one.
D) It speculates. Notice at the end of the sentence about police, the writer seems intent on leaving the door open that the police might change their mind and open a criminal investigation. While it’s technically true, they don’t offer any reasons or evidence for why the police might suddenly change their mind, which in this case, seems very unlikely.
