Lesson 11 — Activity 3:

Reliability and Bias in the Media



Bias :

A tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others that usually results in treating some people unfairly.


In the media, as in most forms of communication, the opportunity exists for bias or stereotyping to influence content. While media outlets often claim to represent events objectively, we need to be aware of the perspectives they represent. Our ability to examine and recognize bias in advertising, entertainment, and the news is referred to as our media literacy. With so much of our lives spent in the digital world, it is important that we are able to make intelligent decisions about what we do and don't believe.

Stereotype :

A widely held but oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.



Why is it important to consider the sources of our information and entertainment?

As with all communication, we need to be aware that the mass media may not represent all points of view on particular topics. This may sometimes result in information being presented that may not be completely accurate. We want to be aware that we may not be getting a balanced perspective from which to make well-informed decisions and choices about the information we get.


For example, in recent years a lot of information in the news is about the "War on Terror." If we consider coverage of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001 and the war in Iraq that followed, we can see many examples of the opposite points of view of different mass media producers. For example, the coverage of the war on Iraq is very different in the United States than it is in Iraq in most cases. That is, many people who live in the United States want to see that the American soldiers are doing good things to help the people of Iraq. People who oppose the US involvement in Iraq are more interested in seeing the American soldiers involved in activities that are hurting the people of Iraq. The same event could be presented from either of these points of view and our impression of the event could be very different depending on the perspective we see.

Digging Deeper!

Click on Bias in the News World to learn about issues that we should be aware of when accessing information through the media.