Wednesday's Biased Item - June 6, 2007
Kennedy Airport Terror Plot Doesn’t Make NY Times’ Main Section
Excerpt
Read the excerpt below from Newsbusters.org posted by Clay Waters on June 4, 2007. Then scroll down and read "Types of Media Bias."QUESTIONS:
1. What type of bias is the post below an example of? (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answer.)
2. Why do you think the New York Times did not put this story on page 1, or even the first section of the paper?
...the terror plot in New York City to blow up airport terminals and fuel lines at Kennedy International Airport didn't make the front page -- or even the national news section -- of Sunday's New York Times. Instead, it received a front-page "tease" and topped the Times' Metro section of regional news. By contrast, the Washington Post put the story on the front page, and the Los Angeles Times made it Sunday's lead item.
The story by Cara Buckley and William Rashbaum went to some length to downplay the seriousness of the threat:
"Mark J. Mershon, the assistant director in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation field office in New York, said all four men had 'fundamentalist Islamic beliefs of a violent nature,' although they appeared to be acting on their own and had no known connection to Al Qaeda.
"Law enforcement officials said that Kennedy, which handles roughly 45 million passengers a year and 1,000 flights a day, was never in imminent danger because the plot was only in a preliminary phase and the conspirators had yet to lay out detailed plans or obtain financing or explosives."
Later, the Times described suspect Russell Defreitas, a former cargo handler at the airport:
"One law enforcement official played down Mr. Defreitas's ability to carry out an attack, calling him 'a sad sack' and 'not a Grade A terrorist.' Comparing the case with the plot in which a group of men were arrested last month on charges of planning to attack soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey, the official said the New Jersey plotters 'were a bit further along.'"
Of course, the Times did its best to downplay the Fort Dix terrorists as well.
Go to NewsBusters.org for the original posting.
ANSWER:
The post is an example of bias by placement.
To accurately identify different types of bias, you should be aware of the issues of the day, and the liberal and conservative perspectives on each issue. (See our chart “Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs”)
Types of Media Bias:
Omission – leaving one side out of an article or a series of articles over a period of time... (read more)
Selection of Sources – including more sources that support one view over another... (read more)
Story Selection – a pattern of highlighting news stories that support one side of an issue over another... (read more)
Placement – the location in the paper or article where a story or event is printed; a pattern of placing news stories so as to downplay information supportive of one side... (read more)
Labeling – comes in two forms: 1. Tagging of person from one party or group with extreme labels while leaving the other side unlabeled or with more mild labels. 2. A reporter not only fails to identify a liberal or conservative as such, but also describes the person or group with positive labels, such as “an expert” or “independent consumer group”... (read more)
Spin – occurs when the story has only one interpretation of an event or policy, to the exclusion of the other. Spin involves tone- a reporter’s subjective comments about objective facts... (read more)
Previous Biased Items
- The NY Times: A Year-Long Analysis: Part 1
August 27, 2008 - Washington Post Ombudsman: ‘3 to 1’ Obama Front Page Advantage
August 20, 2008 - Poll Shows Majority of Americans Believe Reporters Try to Help Their Candidates Win
June 11, 2008 - The Great Media Depression
June 4, 2008 - The AP Maligns Our Soldiers On Memorial Day Weekend
May 28, 2008
