Media Bias
Bias can be described as preconceived prejudiced notions against individuals, groups of people, or things (Eberhardt, 2019). Media bias, on the other hand, refers to prejudiced or unjust reporting of certain standpoints or ideas by the numerous media outlets (Vance, 2017). In entertainment, social media, and even in the news, media bias can be seen through the information that different forms of media choose to report or pay attention to. One of the effects of bias in the media is that it leads to stereotyping. During Hurricane Katrina reporting, for instance, photos of two different people were captured wading through the water and carrying bags of food. The people – one black and one white – were presented differently in the media. While the white person was presented trying to find food for survival, the black person was presented to the audience “looting” a grocery. The report showed media bias.
According to an article written by Hamborg et al. (2018) titled “Automated identification of media bias in news articles: an interdisciplinary literature review,” media bias can strongly affect how the public perceives reported news or topics. The authors of the article discuss different forms of media bias and their effects on public perceptions. They then proceed to explain how media bias can be identified and minimized. For instance, they suggest that journalists should try to ascertain the trustworthiness of their sources (Hamborg et al., 2018). Consumers of media products can also minimize media bias by comparing news in different new reports. Additionally, consumers should pay attention to word choice and the pictures used in news articles because these can also be biased in many ways (Hamborg et al., 2018). A good example of how pictures can be biased has been provided in the preceding paragraph
References
Eberhardt, J. L. (2019). Biased: Uncovering the hidden prejudice that shapes what we see, think, and do. Viking.
Hamborg, Felix & Donnay, Karsten & Gipp, Bela. (2018). Automated identification of media bias in news articles: an interdisciplinary literature review. International Journal on Digital Libraries. 10.1007/s00799-018-0261-y.
Vance, L. (2017). Fake News and Media Bias. Greenhaven Publishing LLC.