How to Evaluate News Stories for Media Bias

For consumers, one of the most irritating things about news is how biased news outlets and sources can be. It can be frustrating when you just want to get an unbiased take on an issue and make your own decisions. Unfortunately, media bias isn’t something that can be easily avoided. But by keeping certain things in mind, you can get past slanted news and come to your own conclusions. To find media bias resource, visit this website.

Overcoming Your Own Biases

First, you have to make sure to keep your own biases in mind. The two most common biases people have are implicit and confirmation bias.

Implicit bias is more subconscious and might cause you to gravitate more toward one side of an issue even if your typical beliefs lean more the other way. Implicit bias is often informed by the environment you’re used to and your previous understandings of how the world works.

Confirmation bias is when you tend to gravitate toward information that confirms your current belief system and leads you to not seek evidence to the contrary. Once you have your own biases in mind, you can look out for common types of media bias.

Identifying Media Bias

Here are some common forms to watch out for:

Corporate: If a media outlet is owned by a corporation or parent company, their objectivity toward these organizations and their interests might be compromised.

Partisan: This is evident when a news outlet always favors one side of the aisle, whether that be a political party or other type of interest group.

Demographic: You will often see this type of bias when a news outlet only presents information from the lens of one demographic or the demographic they primarily serve.

Neutrality: Be aware of this type of bias, when a news outlet claims neutrality on an issue that is already proven or fact, for instance, taking a neutral stance on climate change when climate change already has empirical evidence to prove its existence.

Constantly scanning for media bias can be exhausting, but it’s the best way to stay informed. Having news aggregators that collect sources from all sides can help make parsing the information a bit easier.

Read a similar article about entertainment news here at this page.


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