bias in printmedia

A detailed Summary of bias in printmedia

Print media provides its readers with information, but what the reader very often does not recognize is the bias within the articles. Bias is not so easily recognized. Writers have the gift to blend the bias in with their work. It is so well done, that in order to see the bias, one must thoroughly analyze the article. A person must also know what the types of bias are and how they are used. There are many different types of bias that are used in health related articles such as statistics and crowd counts, word choice and tone, and through omission. Print media demonstrates these types of bias in many articles.

One method of bias being used is print media is through statistics and crowd counts. A writer can manipulate the reader into thinking that the results are very high or very low in some cases. In The Toronto Star on October 23, 1999, the article " Pregnancy biggest threat to women, V.N. says" uses statistics to give an estimation, " an estimated 585,000 women do every year". This article explains how pregnancy affects many women. By using this statistic, it gives the reader an approximation, but not an exact number. This is used to make the reader think that the statistic is very high. Another article in The To

One of the strongest types of bias is through omission. It is easy for a writer to leave out facts, whether they are important or not. By leaving out certain facts in an article, it only gives the reader one side of the situation. A writer can either give the good side or the bad. Very rarely will a reader get both sides of the product or incident. The Globe and Mail, on October 7, 1999, demonstrates this bias in the article " To your health", by printing about how alcohol can "help repair liver damage", but what it does not print are the negative effects alcohol can have on people. The readers read the good in drinking, but they do not see the other side effects of doing so. The Toronto Star, on November 1, 1999, in the article, "Chronic sleep debt may raise risk of diabetes", also uses bias through omission. This article talks about how less sleep can harm a person's health, especially the younger generation. When the actual study is done, the only people tested were young males, eliminating the females and the elders; "the study involved 11 healthy young men". Although the study is done, the only results given are for young men. The body of a man and a woman are different; therefore, both need separate results, as well as elders. By only printing the results of the men, the article has eliminated the women and the elders. Eliminating certain information ca

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Approximate Word count = 930
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics