{"id":10041,"date":"2019-10-01T20:04:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T00:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=10041"},"modified":"2019-10-01T20:09:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T00:09:09","slug":"bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=10041","title":{"rendered":"bias"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let\u2019s provide an epilogue of sorts to one of our recent postings, which you\u2019ll note respectfully asserted that there\u2019s a difference between news and opinion, with \u201cnews\u201d sources often presenting information with a left or right bias as opposed to somewhere in between; the truth is secondary to the bias. The goal is to get us to rage \u2014 to keep our tribal fears and hatreds aligned \u2014 whether that be (as several noted)<\/em> about the latest economic legislation or the long term effects of the local school levy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be clear, everyone has bias. As one of my fave new websites, AllSides.com<\/a>, acknowledges, \u201cIt is part of human nature to have perspectives, preferences, prejudices, leanings, and partialities.\u201d The challenge, though, as they continue, is that \u201csometimes, bias \u2014 especially media bias \u2014 can become invisible to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does that happen? How can even the most gifted intellectual be so obviously fooled? And\u2026 dare we admit\u2026 not even know it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are all biased toward things that show us in the right. We are biased toward information that confirms our existing beliefs. We are biased toward the people or information that supports us, makes us look good, and affirms our judgments and virtues. And we are biased toward the more moral choice of action \u2014 at least, that which seems moral to us.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so while so-called \u201cnews\u201d sites\/resources cover the same issues, they will insert their bias in a way which often goes undetectable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AllSides.com<\/a> identifies 11 types of media bias:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Spin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Unsubstantiated Claims<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Opinion Statements Presented as Facts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Sensationalism\/Emotionalism<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Mudslinging\/Ad Hominem<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Mind Reading<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Slant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Flawed Logic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Bias by Omission<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Omission of Source Attribution<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Bias by Placement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We won\u2019t wrestle with all 11 this day (feel free to join me in thoroughly checking out the site),<\/em>  but the point is that bias takes multiple \u2014 often creative \u2014 forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spin, for example, is the use of \u201cvague, dramatic or sensational language.\u201d It is the manifestation of a journalist\u2019s straying from objectivity and thus may prevent an audience from getting an accurate perspective; note that the audience will not even know<\/em><\/strong> they don\u2019t have an accurate perspective. Words such as \u201ctirade,\u201d \u201ccrucial,\u201d or \u201clatest in a string of\u201d may be inserted\u2026 or words that imply bad behavior \u2014 \u201cfinally,\u201d \u201cconceded,\u201d or \u201cdodged,\u201d for example\u2026 also, words that stir something emotional inside of us, such as: \u201cmocked,\u201d \u201cfumed,\u201d or \u201cgloated.\u201d The words are typically not objective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, too, though, at unsubstantiated claims, statements that sound like fact, appear to be fact, but don\u2019t include specific evidence. Note one example from our current campaign season (which I can\u2019t believe extends for another 13 months\u2026 aye yai yai),<\/em> this as reported by the Washington Post:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst, [Sen. Bernie] Sanders complaint isn\u2019t that billionaires exist per se. After all, if America\u2019s household wealth were distributed evenly across the population, then every family of four would have a net worth of $1.2 million. Sanders\u2019s critique is that the United States\u2019 super-rich are symptomatic of a system that churns out a small class of extremely wealthy people who rule over the vast remainder.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looks like fact. Sounds like fact. And it\u2019s in the much read Washington Post. <\/em>But note there includes zero notation as to where the so-called \u201cfacts\u201d came from. Friends, I\u2019m no fan of the \u201cfake news\u201d chants, but it doesn\u2019t take a rocket scientist to discern that here is where the chants find their fuel.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My desire is to wrestle with the facts. My desire, as you know, is to have respectful dialogue in which we can sort through those facts. But one of the most prodigious problems we face as a country and culture today is the existence of this bias. Again, as said by AllSides: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBias can manipulate and blind us. It can put important information and perspectives in the shadows and prevent us from getting the whole view.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s commit to getting the whole view. Let\u2019s acknowledge the bias and our own, individual ability to be both blinded and fooled \u2014 without even knowing it. How refreshing to start the conversation there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026 as always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARA 
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s provide an epilogue of sorts to one of our recent postings, which you\u2019ll note respectfully asserted that there\u2019s a difference between news and opinion, with \u201cnews\u201d sources often presenting information with a left or right bias as opposed to somewhere in between; the truth is secondary to the bias. The goal is to get … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “bias”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10041"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10049,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041\/revisions\/10049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}