...Detecting Media Bias Hum/111 University of Phoenix August 2, 2013 Media bias is the bias of journalists and other people working within the media industry. These reporters are supposed to report facts and remain bias so the public is receiving factual information and not information formed by opinions. While reporters do report facts and information they are given, they also report interviews of witnesses, who will give their personal opinion, which is hearsay. The case of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, in Florida, has been taking over the media. From the time of the crime, all through the jury selection and the trial, every aspect of our media has been taken over by this case. Zimmerman was accused of murdering Trayvon Martin, a teenager, during a patrol of a neighborhood watch. While the media outlets were providing the facts they were given, they were not reporting all of the facts. Not all were accurate, and a lot of the information that was being reported was based on what other people thought, or the opinions of others. During the trial, new information was given while some information that had been reported at an earlier date was left out. The media reporters are reporting what they are given, but at the same time on shows such as CNN, there are several people, normally other journalists, that are giving their own personal opinions on the case. These shows are aired live, on national television; this gives the public factual information but also the...
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...RUNNING HEAD: DETECTING MEDIA BIAS Detecting Media Bias University Of Phoenix HUM/114 June 16, 2013 Detecting Media Bias On April 15, 2013 at exactly 2:49pm, Boston time, two handmade pressure cooker bombs exploded, killing 3 and injuring over 200 innocent spectators. According to National News reporters across the globe, the bombs exploded 3 seconds apart and about 210 yards near the finish line. The city of Boston was in complete devastation. Many victims lost limbs from different parts of their bodies. There was nothing but cries of pain, confusion and unawareness as to what was really happening in America. At this point, the media begin to play the blame game and assume the unknown. Even though, President Obama spoke out to the US, acknowledging what happen but at the time he was oblivious of who could have possible did such horrible act of idiocy. Based on research, there was a 12 preposterous cases of media bias after the bombing streamed through the different types of media forums. For example, Wolf Blitzer from CNN News, stated, “It is a state holiday in Massachusetts today called Patriots’ Day and, uh, who knows if that had anything at all to do with these explosions.” Other well-known reporters, tied the Boston bombing to an Al Qaeda terrorist attack. Inclusive to the faulty reports and assumption without the actual facts, many American citizens were in a frantic. There is an ole saying that says, you can’t believe everything that you hear, and this story...
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...Detecting Media Bias Detecting Media Bias The recent news article I have chosen is the standoff that is happening in Southern Nevada between the Federal Government and Cliven Bundy, a local rancher. The Federal Government claims that Bundy has not paid grazing fees for the last 20 years, Bundy feels that he does not have to because his family have worked the land since the 1880’s, which would give him rights to the land (Fox News, 2014) . The report by Fox News on their website appeared to be accurate, but it was clear that they were definitely siding more with Mr. Bundy than with the Federal Government. There were only comments and statements from Mr. Bundy himself or his supporters. When I checked the same story at CNN’s website, they had statements from both side of the issue. The report mentions how Bundy’s family called for assistance from Militia and his supporters after a couple acts of violence from law enforcement, his son was shot with a stun gun and his sister was pushed to the ground. There was no mention in the Fox new report, that the Bundy family and their supporters confronted rangers, and that a police dog was kicked and officers being assaulted, incidences that were reported on the CNN website (CNN, 2014). The report is clearly only reporting and favoring one side of the story, where as other news agencies are reporting a more balanced story. The Fox news report is putting a lot of emphasis on to the rights and treatment of Mr. Bundy, stating...
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...Detecting Media Bias HUM/114 Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving November 12, 2012 Dr. Mark Spinler Detecting Media Bias The importance of making critical evaluations of news stories comes to play in the recent story about actor Kevin Clash who has resigned from the Sesame Workshop after alleged sex allegations against two youths at the time. This story is about allegations made towards Mr. Clash that he had sex with an underage youth. As Mr. Clash announced his resigning, another lawsuit was being filed in federal court charging Mr. Clash with sexual abuse of another youth. Sesame Street went on the record to say that the controversy surrounding Mr. Clash’s personal life has become a distraction and that he can no longer be effective in his job. The following day, Mr. Clash’s first accuser recanted his charge and said that his encounter with Mr. Clash was as a consenting adult. The news was not completely clear and the investigative methods were not sufficient in either depth or breadth. We do not know why the first accuser had recanted his statement nor do we know what is happening with the second allegation. We have to assume that all of the facts, as the reporter knew them, had been included in the story. However, with the first accuser recanting his story, it leads us to believe that Mr. Clash may have settled with him out of court, which was not mentioned in the article. We also do not know if the second accuser is truly a victim or if...
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...Detecting Media Bias Part B HUM/114 November 1, 2012 Jacqueline Novak Detecting Media Bias Part B How might you use the strategies for applying creativity to problems and issues in addressing * * this topic? Why do you think these strategies might be effective? * Couple of strategies one would apply, when writing about Nadya Suleman (Octo-mom), to make the story still interesting, is by using less persuasion (bias), and more reasoning. Applying creativity, such as emphasizing factual information and being positive to the news article, addresses the same issue without being negative towards one human’s actions. This could set motivation for another set of audience, and serve as a motivational tool. There is so much negative feedback and finger pointing towards others, people do not stop to think and look at their behavior and choices in life. For example, Nadya Suleman filed for bankruptcy and she is getting bashed and belittled, but how many other Americans have filed for bankruptcy do to the economic meltdown? Another example, Ms. Suleman went into a rehab center, instead of this being an encouragement and a reality check for her self, and applaud her, the news made a bias on how she is a pill popping horrible porn star mother of fourteen children. Persuasion for poor thinkers is an excellent tool to attract media bias. How might you use the strategies for promoting curiosity in addressing this topic? Why do you think these strategies might be effective...
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...Detecting Media Bias My favorite search engine is Google and I have decided to use it to find information on our current situation of the government shutdown. I chose only one of the websites that popped up from my search of “current government shutdown”. The article that I am using for this project is from Harry J Enten, theguardian.com, Friday 4 October 2013 11.24 EDT and it is titled Americans blame Republicans most for the government shutdown, but it's very relative: practically everyone thinks Congress, the Democrats and President Obama all stink, too. I do think that the reporting of the news story was very clear and accurate, with sufficient depth and breadth. Even though the title of this article is Americans blame Republicans most for the government shutdown, the author was not trying to persuade anyone into believing in any certain way. I feel that most, if not all of the facts that are known about the government shutdown, are presented within this article. The bottom line in this article is that more Americans disapprove than approve of the job being done by all three actors in the dispute over the federal budget. The three actors are; President Obama, Democrats and Republicans. I do believe that all of the known facts about the shutdown were addressed in this article. I also think that within the article, there were many alternative perspectives and worldviews mentioned. I do not think that there were any questionable assumptions implicit in the story, because...
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...Detecting Media Bias The goal is that 80% of Americans will sign up for health-care via the Internet website will likely not happen anytime soon. The story was clear, accurate, and to the point. Facts were reported, that there are flaws in the system. Whether it be that some cases are just too complicated for the website to handle, or that the website itself has issues which is not allowing people to progress through the necessary steps to get health-care coverage. The story did not give alternative perspectives, or world views, it is a one sided story. There was many questionable assumptions within the article. The assumption was that 80% or 1 in 5 people will have complications with signing up, those numbers would clearly be different depending on which agency the information was gather from. Officials had many months to get the Healthcare.gov website up and running yet it had been proven it has failed at the start of the program which did not allow people to sign up in a clear and timely matter. The website should have been tested with a soft opening so that the issues could be worked out long before the actual launch. This would have given officials time to make the necessary corrections to the website. It’s important to remain clear minded, unbiased and focus on the facts, when critical evaluating any written work even a simple story as the one that is simply discussed here. Getting a full understanding of any story means reading the full story and making judgment only...
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...Detecting Media Bias Use your favorite Internet search engine to find a recent headline news story in one of the following areas: local or national politics, economics, or business news. Write a 350- to 700-word paper clarifying the importance of making critical evaluations of news stories. Use the following questions to help develop your paper: · Was the reporting of the news story clear and accurate, with sufficient depth and breadth? · Were some facts reported while others were ignored? · Did the story consider alternative perspectives and worldviews? · Were there any questionable assumptions implicit in the story? · Were any implications ignored while others were emphasized? · Why is it important to make distinctions when undertaking a critical evaluation? · How would you evaluate this story if it were on the television news versus reading it online? What about on the radio? I have located an article that discusses a CNN/Thumbtack survey that discusses how small business owners have been impacted by the government shutdown. The news story was very accurate and in depth, since the information given comes from a survey that was conducted to 100 businesses. This news story considered different alternatives. They covered how many different business such as contractors such and janitors that worked in federal buildings are not allowed in the federal and government facilities...
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...Detecting Media Bias Nolan Tisdale HUM/111 9/15/2013 James Williams, PhD, DM, CHE Detecting Media Bias The article titled Lawsuit targets Medicaid expansion in Arizona, discusses the latest lawsuit filed by Legislators to targeting the federal Healthcare Reform Law. This article was posted on September 12 2013, on the Fox 10 Phoenix website. The subject of the article is the Lawsuit filed by 36 Republican legislators to target GOP Gov. Jan Brew’s plan to expand Arizona’s health care program. Having a clear understanding that Fox News identifies itself with, and targets the conservative Republican audience, it was very important to take this into consideration when determining the creditability of the story. It was important to observe the author presenting the facts in a clear and accurate manner, and paying extra care to detail. The fact that the author did not leave the facts to interpretation by making vague or over the top statements, leads one to believe that the article was not written in a bias manner. The story was presented in a manner that clearly identified and represented the perspective of all the parties involved in the discussion. The author describes the suit filed by 36 Republican legislators and a pair of citizens, through the Goldwater Institute, and the grounds on which these opponents of the Medicaid expansion plan believe they are filing the suit, while giving equal time and consideration...
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...Detecting Media Bias The news is everywhere reporting important, and sometimes not so important, information to people all around the world. Society relies on honest news reporting to inform them of what is happening in their communities and the world around them. This is what makes the critical evaluation of news stories so important. There are many factors one should consider when critically evaluating the authenticity of a news story. Bias can sometimes be hidden and people should be aware of what to look for. Some of these are: was there a clear and accurate reporting of the story, were some facts omitted, and were there any questionable assumptions made. The headline I chose is “Tennis player penalized for speaking Spanish at state match” (Associated Press, 2013,). After performing some research on the story, I found that this coverage of the story did not provide a clear and accurate reporting of the story. I feel this way because I found another headline, “Tennis player told 'English only'” (Ayres, 2013, NMAA says incident led to change in rule) that held more truth to include what I discovered was omitted from the first headline I read. This lead to what I consider to be some questionable assumptions made by the author of the first headline. In the first headline, “Tennis player penalized for speaking Spanish at state match” (Associated Press, 2013,) it is stated that after twice being warned of speaking Spanish instead of English, the player decided a third time...
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...Detecting Media Bias Katie Smet 111 Oct 6, 2013 Kathy Moore Detecting Media Bias I read article from Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, “Sensenbrenner wants health law, debt debate dealt with together”. I personally feel that this story was unclear with no sufficient depth to it. The story did have one person view, but it had nothing to do with the issue on the topic. I feel that everyone has to use their own critical evaluation about this topic; I know headline. I have notices that headlines can be a trap to get you to read the article a lot of people are fed up with the lock out and everyone is pointing fingers at the other there. I am not pointing fingers are at anyone but I am sure not against, this lock like others are. I am glad that someone is finally going to put there foot down about the way the goverment spends moneys. When it does the government gets to chose if I have to have health care or not. I Really do not go the doctor, so why should I have to have health care that I cannot afford. I am already living pay check to pay check. I have a feeling their will be more job open because people are not going to be able to afford everything I just taking about the basic needs, and the gas to get to work, Plus we have special needs child on top of it so things are already hard for us. I feel that this story is right that if they want Ombacare then they need to know how it is going to be fund without spending more money. Everyone thinks that Republicans...
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...Detecting Media Bias For this assignment I found an article on Fox News website under politics, the title is called “Illinois nanny city now requiring $50 trash cans”. After utilizing the five strategies for critical reading skim, reflect, read, evaluate, and express your judgment. I found three main fallacies in this article. The three fallacies are clarity, evidence, and viewpoints. Here are my findings on the article. The article was not clear, because it failed to give me a complete view or enough information on what exactly is going on. I had to look elsewhere to figure out what exactly they were talking about. However, the article was accurate because some of the facts where across multiple websites that I encountered. The article states residents in the city of Bloomington, Illinois will have to buy a $50 trashcan and they emphasis on the 96-gallon size. The city council approved of up fronting the cost, but will past the cost on to residents (Fox News, 2013). I feel the article ignored some of the key facts, for example: Will the cost of the trashcan be applied to their bill or will the monthly trash services be increased? In addition, it did not state when would all this take place for the residents. According to Fox News, “‘The city looked at best practices and safe work conditions for the employees and made the choice to go with (automated collections)’, Alex McElroy the assistant to Bloomington’s city manager, told Illinois Watchdog” (Fox News, 2013...
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...Detecting Media Bias HUM/111 Critical and Creative Thinking February 9, 2014 The article I chose for my critical evaluation was in the Seattle Times, published December 4, 2013, titled “Call for $15 Minimum Wage Moves North to Seattle”. While all parties mentioned in the article agreed on 1) The minimum wage in Seattle does not cover the cost of living, and 2) The city’s minimum wage does need to be addressed. They do not agree on the details like how quickly to move on it and how to put it into place. The article was accurate in the information that was reported, but some information was ignored. For example; Will an employee who is making $15 today ($5.81 more than the current minimum wage) be forced to take, what would essentially be, a pay cut or would that person have their salary raised to match that of the $15 minimum wage co-worker? Another point only showing one side of the issue, the mayor, talking about phasing in the new wage, was quoted as saying, “[starting with] city workers and extending to employees of national fast-food chains and retailers”. Another side of this would be the fairness issue to the employees that aren’t affected by for years, while the minimum wage is phased in, or at all, if some businesses are exempt. A person could not afford to continue living in Seattle if they could never reach the imposed $15 minimum wage. The news article did not cover alternative views such as, local and surrounding area business owners and...
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...How to Detect Media Bias and Propaganda HUM 111 May 27, 2012 How to Detect Media Bias and Propaganda News report, our United States President, Obama, is running his campaign based on negative statements against his opponent Romney for the 2012 presidential campaigns. Republican consultant Dave Carney says, “its hyperbole every election to say, ‘This is the most negative election ever’. It is brought up that Romney as well has run hostile ads as well as stating that Obama serving a 2nd term would do serious harm to the economy and individual freedom. (Greenblatt, 2012) Here are some tough questions with answers that may help give an example on how to detect media bias and propaganda. How might you use the strategies for applying creativity to problems and issues in addressing this? First, let’s define problems and issues, they both refer to situations that challenge our ingenuity; however, an issue also tends to divide people into opposing camps, each sure that it is right and the opposition wrong. Following are important ways to apply creativity. (Ruggiero, 2012, p.100-103) First, take a novel approach of the above news report. I would rule that both Obama and Romney, with their hostile campaigns, would have to create a positive campaign for each other. Stating may the best man win. Secondly, devise or modify the process or system. The way campaigns have worked for many years’ leaves me to believe that the process is to feed our country with negatives about their...
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...It is essential for news media to be fair and accurate with everything they report, as they hold tremendous power in setting cultural guidelines and in shaping our political views. As terrible as it is to say, a lot of them will use this to their advantage trying to push their opinions on an audience, instead of giving us the information to decide. I decided to find a recent headline in politics since the elections are coming up soon. You would be surprised how many media sites express their opinions more than the facts. You’d be more surprised at how hard it is for someone to detect bias in politics because they feel the same way. The recent headline I found was with fox news, titled “Social conservations claim Obama’s gay marriage endorsement could unite right”. Even someone who doesn’t know how to look for a bias can see one right in the headline. They know that this headline will anger anyone that opposes gay marriage, even though the article itself has nothing to really do with the endorsement. As you read the article, you can clearly see where fox news stands with this issue, as well as with the president. It’s clear that they are trying to persuade their audience, as they use way more opinions than facts throughout the reading. The story is clear and accurate with the parts they want you to hear, it lacks depth and fails to report how the people pertaining to the issue feel and how they will be affected. It repeatedly quotes political figures that are against the endorsement...
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