When reading, watching, or listening to a news story, most of the general public is not thinking about whether that story may be biased or slanted. News stories can be influenced by the attitudes and backgrounds of reporters, writers, photographers, anchors, photographers, producers, and editors.

     You may wonder if this is really a big deal. It can be, if the audience of these stories takes what the writer or newscaster says as total truth. For instance, an anchor for one of the major news channels may not have been a fan of the current president or one of the presidential candidates during the 2004 election. The anchor could deliver certain stories with a tone or attitude that could reflect negatively on that candidate and the viewing public may in turn think negatively about that candidate.

     It is important for people, especially students to be educated in evaluating bias in the news. If they don’t they will not be able to critically evaluate information and use it in their research and assignments.

This Unit Covers 4 Areas of Bias in the News:

1. Newspapers
2. Magazines
3. Radio
4. Television