1. Participation in Government Johnstown High School Mr. Cox
Media Bias
Participation in Government
Johnstown High School
Mr. Cox

2. Bellringer Respond to each of the following clips of news interviews
What issues are presented?
How do the interviewer/interviewee interact?
How could the interview/news story had been presented differently?

3. How Could We Begin to Research News Bias?
With what political party are reporters registered?
Search for a controversial current event, one that would divide the left and the right, and attempt to discern the angle played by the reporter /news outlet.
What would be a way of “biasing” a story?

4. Bias
What is bias?
Bias – the collective influences of the entire context of a message.
Media bias – the selection of events and stories that are reported, as well as how they are covered
There is no such thing as an objective point of view. No matter how much we may try to ignore it, human communication always takes place in a context, through a medium, and among individuals and groups who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially.
This state of affairs is neither bad nor good. It simply is.

5. Major News Outlets and their General Biases
Liberal Leaning
Conservative Leaning
Conservatives typically view these media outlets with skepticism
Major Networks News Division:
ABC, NBC, CBS
Cable Outlets:
CNN and MSNBC
Major News Paper:
New York Times
Huff Post
Liberals typically view these media outlets with skepticism
FOX News Division:
FOX News and FOX Business Channel
Talk Radio:
Rush Limbaugh
Major News Paper:
Wall Street Journal

6. Critical Questions for Detecting Bias
What is the author's / speaker's socio-political position? With what social, political, or professional groups is the speaker identified?
Does the speaker have anything to gain personally from delivering the message?
Who is paying for the message? Where does the message appear? What is the bias of the medium? Who stands to gain?
What sources does the speaker use, and how credible are they? Does the speaker cite statistics? If so, how were the data gathered, who gathered the data, and are the data being presented fully?