Wednesday's Biased Item - June 13, 2007
What’s Wrong With This Headline?
Excerpt
Read the excerpt below from OpinionJournal.com posted by editor James Taranto. Then scroll down and read "Types of Media Bias."QUESTIONS:
1. What is wrong with the headline "Despite War, Army Draws Recruits"?
2. What type of bias is the post below an example of?
(Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.)
The Oakland (Mich.) Press has an upbeat story about military recruitment:
Kyle Thiel can't wait to join the U.S. Army and fight the "war on terror" in Iraq as part of an infantry unit.
"Ever since 9/11, that's all I wanted to do," said Thiel, 18, of White Lake Township....
The Army is enlisting far more soldiers than before the war, officials said.
"Pre-invasion, the military was in a different mode. The Cold War had ended and the Army didn't need to be at such full strength," said Army spokesman Jeff Landenberger.
"Now a lot of people come in strictly for patriotism. They want to be part of history," added Army Sgt. Aaron Stuckey, 28, of Birmingham.
The headline: "Despite War, Army Draws Recruits." Despite?
Go to OpinionJournal.com for the original posting from 4/17/07.
ANSWERS:
1. The headline told a very different story than the article. Editors not reporters are generally responsible for headlines, and they can greatly influence opinions about the news. The importance of a bias-free headline is that most people don’t read every word of every article; they often just skim the headlines. That meant the people who read just the headline got a very different impression from those who read the entire article . (this answer provided by Lynn Davidson in a June 8, 2007 post at Newsbusters.org)
2. The headline is an example of bias by spin
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
- When Watchdogs Snore: How ABC, CBS & NBC Ignored Fannie & Freddie
October 1, 2008 - AP: US ‘A Nation That Enshrined Slavery in its Constitution’
September 24, 2008 - Media’s Treatment of Hillary, Barack and Sarah
September 17, 2008 - Media Credibility Plummets
September 10, 2008 - The NY Times: A Year-Long Analysis: Part 2
September 3, 2008
