Reutian Slip
Wednesday's Biased Item - May 20, 2009
Directions
-Read the excerpt below (from James Taranto's May 14th "Best of the Web" post at opinionjournal.com.
-Read "Types of Media Bias" in the right column. Then answer the questions.
Question(s)
1. Scare quotes are quotation marks used to express skepticism, (or occasionally derision) concerning the use of the enclosed word or phrase. Do you think Mr. Taranto is fair in his assertion about Reuters non-use of scare quotes? Explain your answer.
2. Do you think this example displays bias against the U.S. by Reuters News Service? Explain your answer.
Excerpt
"Ex-FBI Agent Criticizes Harsh Terrorism Tactics," reads a Reuters headline.
Huh? Is it news that a former cop is criticizing terrorism? Are there gentle terrorism tactics? And since when does Reuters use "emotive" terms like terrorism?
Ah, it turns out the headline is just a slip of the tongue - [a typo]. They meant harsh interrogation tactics. Then we noticed this:
The hearing occurred amid increasing calls by human rights groups for more investigation and perhaps even criminal prosecutions of Bush administration officials for the techniques denounced by critics as illegal torture.
"Torture" is such an emotive word [it causes strong feelings]; wouldn't Reuters style call for scare quotes? Nah, scare quotes are only for the "bad" Americans.
(Read the Reuters' article here.)
Read the original post at OpinionJournal.com. (Scroll halfway down the page.)
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
- With Our Miracle Diet, You Can Slim Down While Gaining Weight!
March 3, 2010 - The World’s Biggest Story, Everywhere but Here
February 24, 2010 - NBC and ABC Opposing Reports on Same Story
February 17, 2010 - The Emperor’s Old Clothes
February 10, 2010 - CBS Exposes Congress Wasting Money
February 3, 2010
