Media bias

Journalism
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Social impact
News media
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Media bias occurs when journalists and news producers show bias in how they report and cover news. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening of the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an individual journalist or article.[1] The direction and degree of media bias in various countries is widely disputed.[2]

Practical limitations to media neutrality include the inability of journalists to report all available stories and facts, and the requirement that selected facts be linked into a coherent narrative.[3] Government influence, including overt and covert censorship, biases the media in some countries, for example China, North Korea, Syria and Myanmar.[4][5] Politics and media bias may interact with each other; the media has the ability to influence politicians, and politicians may have the power to influence the media. This can change the distribution of power in society.[6] Market forces may also cause bias. Examples include bias introduced by the ownership of media, including a concentration of media ownership, the subjective selection of staff, or the perceived preferences of an intended audience.

Assessing possible bias is one aspect of media literacy, which is studied at schools of journalism, university departments (including media studies, cultural studies, and peace studies). Other focuses beyond political bias include international differences in reporting, as well as bias in reporting of particular issues such as economic class or environmental interests. Academic findings around bias can also differ significantly from public discourse and understanding of the term.[7]

  1. ^ Sucháček, Jan; Sed’a, Petr; Friedrich, Václav; Wachowiak-Smolíková, Renata; Wachowiak, Mark P. (November 8, 2016). "From Regional to National Clouds: TV Coverage in the Czech Republic". PLOS ONE. 11 (11): e0165527. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1165527S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165527. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5100950. PMID 27824947.
  2. ^ Mackey, Thomas P.; Jacobson, Trudi E. (2019). Metilerate Learning for the Post-Truth World. ALA Neal-Schulman. ISBN 978-0-8389-1776-3.
  3. ^ Newton, K. (1989). "Media bias". In Goodin, R.; Reeve, A. (eds.). Liberal Neutrality. London: Routledge. pp. 130–55.
  4. ^ "10 Most Censored Countries". Committee to Protect Journalists. May 2, 2006.
  5. ^ Merloe, Patrick (2015). "Election Monitoring Vs. Disinformation". Journal of Democracy. 26 (3): 79–93. doi:10.1353/jod.2015.0053. ISSN 1086-3214. S2CID 146751430.
  6. ^ Entman, Robert M. (March 1, 2007). "Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power". Journal of Communication. 57 (1): 163–173. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00336.x. ISSN 0021-9916. S2CID 43280110.
  7. ^ Lichter, S. Robert (2018). "Theories of Media Bias". In Kenski, Kate; Jamieson, Kathleen Hall (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 403. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.44. ISBN 9780199984350. OCLC 959803808. In academic circles, media bias is referenced more often as a hypothesis to explain patterns of news coverage than as a component of any fully elaborated theory of political communication.