{"id":60,"date":"2023-11-21T14:10:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T14:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10674446\/?page_id=60"},"modified":"2023-12-07T10:59:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T10:59:57","slug":"project-2-journalism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10674446\/project-2-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Project 2 Journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Media Bias Research<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is bias? <\/strong> The tendency to lean towards or against someone or something. Sometimes, bias is something you\u2019re aware of, and this is known as explicit bias., but implicit or unconscious bias is something you don\u2019t realise you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

how does it affect the media and news we receive? <\/strong> Media bias relates to the bias or perceived bias of journalists and news organisations in mass media. It normally implies a widespread bias that impacts the standard of journalism, rather than bias in the perspective of one journalist or article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is its impact? <\/strong> In most countries, media bias is thought to either lean to the left or right, meaning it either favours liberal or conservative politics. In some countries, media bias can go so far as to completely reflect the ideals of the governing body, for example, in North Korea. In cases such as this, media bias essentially becomes propaganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does this shape our view? <\/strong> It can lead to censorship, It can be politically motivated, Extreme forms can mutate into propaganda, It can cause divisions in society<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is unconscious bias?<\/strong> unconscious bias is something you don\u2019t realise you have. An unconscious bias would probably be the result of gender stereotypes that say boys like sports while girls prefer art, and societal norms that place higher value on male competitive sports than their female equivalent. There are many biases like this that people unconsciously act on, but this doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re bad people. Instead, biases form over our lifetimes, and we have to fully recognise them in order to tackle them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TYPES OF BIAS: <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are hundreds of different types of bias that have been identified. These different categories of bias have multiple bias examples within them. Let\u2019s take a look at the main different types of bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive bias<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is the most common type of bias. Research suggests that there are more than 175 different types of cognitive bias. It refers to deviation from standards of judgement whereby you may create inferences, assessments or perceptions that are unreasonable. You may also recollect past experiences incorrectly. These perceptions may dictate a person\u2019s behaviour or attitude, either in a positive or negative way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prejudices<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A prejudice is a prejudgement or prior opinion that a person makes before they are given the relevant facts and information. When a prejudice takes place, this prejudgement is usually negative or unfavourable. Prejudices are usually based on factors such as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, social class or language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why should you try to eliminate biased thinking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Contextual bias<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This refers to when experts who have good intentions are vulnerable to making incorrect decisions, based on external influences or influences that are irrelevant or unrelated to the situation. This can result in a loss of objectivity and can cause the experts to develop subconscious expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contextual biases can be found in academia, research, forensic analysis, publications and court situations. Contextual bias can also occur in the media. It can influence how stories are selected and reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contextual biases are most commonly reported in law enforcement. Racial profiling and victim-blaming are both examples of common contextual biases. Gov.uk<\/a> reported that in 2019\/2020, there were 6 Stop and Searches for every 1,000 White people, compared to 54 Stop and Searches for every 1,000 Black people. This means Black people were 9 times more likely to be stopped by law enforcement than white people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest effects of bias is prejudgement, which can result in discriminatory practices. As some biases can be helpful and are used in heuristic decision-making, it is important to find the balance between helpful biases and negative, prejudicial biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOW TO RECOGNISE MEDIA BIAS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several ways you can recognise media bias. FAIR<\/a>, the national media watch group in the US, suggests that there are numerous questions you should ask yourself when consuming media in order to find biases. We\u2019ve detailed some of the most important questions below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n