Directions

-Read the excerpt below from Noel Sheppard's March 10th post at NewsBusters.org.
-Read "Types of Media Bias" in the right column. Then answer the questions.

In the midst of plummeting ad revenues, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper has responded to reader feedback concerning its liberal bias by looking to add a full-time conservative columnist while promising to do a better job of making sure its news pieces are fairer. …

[The following] was announced Saturday by the paper’s editor Julia Wallace:

Two weeks ago, you heard from our publisher … about the economic challenges at this newspaper and newspapers across the country.

… I want to give you more detailed information on the content changes ahead in the next two weeks. I also want to respond to your questions to our publisher about what we are doing to make sure our news and editorial pages are fair and balanced. […]

Now … let me discuss the issue that generated the most questions and comments to our publisher. Some readers believe we do a good job of being fair in our coverage and providing a balance of opinions. A few think we’re too conservative. But many more believe that our editorial pages are too liberal and that bias seeps into our news coverage. We have heard you on the bias issue and are taking deliberate steps to address this.

On the news pages, we have several editors who are assigned to look for bias and balance issues in stories and headlines. This has led to fairer coverage – more care in our play of stories as well as more straightforward approaches in headlines and local and wire stories. We continually discuss this issue with our staff and will continue to put an emphasis on critical editing focused on fairness.

On the opinion pages, we are in a concerted march toward providing a rich marketplace of views, including liberal, conservative and others that defy labeling. We are in the process of selecting a new full-time conservative columnist. We have opened this up to the public and also asked you to let us know what you think of the sample columns from the finalists. We received 750 responses from people – giving us excellent feedback as we winnow the field. When this process is complete, we will have this new columnist three times a week, as well as Jim Wooten once a week, Bob Barr once a week, Cynthia Tucker twice a week and Jay Bookman twice a week, giving us a much stronger local columnist lineup than ever. Our new commentary editor keeps a running count of conservative and liberal columns on the pages to make sure we are balanced.

Kudos to AJC [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] for responding to its readers’ demands.

Although this seems like a simple business decision, as we don’t see many news outlets coming to such a logical conclusion, the paper is to be commended for recognizing what most in its business aren’t.

Read the original post at newsbusters.org.

Identifying Media Bias

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.

Types of Media Bias:

Questions

1. Are you surprised that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has acknowledged that there is liberal bias in its news reporting? Explain your answer.

2. Read the following responses to the Journal’s attempts to address reader opposition to bias in news reports.
a) What is the main point of the three reader comments?
b) Do you agree with the comments? Explain your answer.
c) Show a parent the “Types of Media Bias” list. Ask him/her to identify any types of bias he/she has noticed in your local paper.

  • “I don’t think it’s about adding a ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ journalist per se, I just think it’s about being objective and unbiased in the reporting. Report the story as it is, inform the public, don’t inject opinion, and let the public decide.”
  • “…saying that they think bringing one conservative to the EDITORIAL page shows how absolutely tone-deaf this paper is as to why nobody reads it anymore.”
  • “That would be awesome, to return to a time when reporters and journalists actually just DID THEIR JOBS, and let us simple-minded folks come to our own conclusions.”


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

Answers

1.  Opinion question. Answers vary.

2. a) The main point of each of the comments is that the problem isn’t with bias on the editorial page (those are opinions).  The paper’s problem is with its news reporting, which the majority of readers say has a liberal bias.
b) and c) Opinion questions. Answers vary.