What sources do you use to find out about real world events?
In school we are repeatedly told not to believe everything we see on social media and should instead rely on well-known news outlets. However, it is important to acknowledge the increasing presence of media bias in these sources.
Media bias can be described as the inclination of certain sources to report on news through a viewpoint that generally favours either a political perspective or general ideology. This means that information from these sources might not be entirely accurate because the source chooses to report on the information through a specific perspective. It can be seen in the form of selecting specific facts or data that confirm the perspective and not including any facts that disprove it, using language that favours the perspective, or even intentionally wording and “framing narratives” to manipulate public perception.
Subjectivity vs. Objectivity
Although these concepts are more challenging to recognise within sources, it is important to take them into consideration when researching any complex topic or even reading the news to avoid being influenced by bias’. Subjectivity involves including specific and selective analysis, data, opinions into the piece instead of describing it as it is from a factual perspective. It refers to when someone’s judgement is impacted by personal experiences, opinions or beliefs which as humans is unavoidable, however should be limited in the media.
One example of subjectivity is your love for sushi while your friend finds it gross – a judgment you both made based upon experiences and preferences that would influence your perspective if you were creating media such as a food blog. People would then watch or read the blog and form opinions on sushi without trying it for themselves, because of the reporter’s personal bias. Scaling this concept up into the real world, subjectivity can create bias that the public then is influenced by.
Objectivity is when there is little to no favouritism towards a particular perspective.
Looking at the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart above, it’s clear that many popular outlets contain opinion based judgements and vary widely in reliability, with very few sources in the top band of thorough fact reporting or fact dense analysis.
Another more relevant example of being affect by possible media bias, specifically to Gen Z, is relying on information or opinions from our favourite influencers. While their judgment may be something to take into account it’s important to remember that they are also a person with personal biases that could influence the information and facts they choose to share through their public platform. Ask yourself, do you really think this or did you just hear it from someone famous you follow on Instagram?
As we broaden our understanding of the world around us the significance of reading about complex topics from several viewpoints – meaning information from several outlets or authors – is incredibly evident. We cannot base our opinions and judgements on biased information and must learn to rely on ourselves to interpret it.