Confirmation Bias: the tendency to seek out or interpret information that supports your beliefs or rejects information that challenges your beliefs
News Media Bias: When assumptions or opinions favoring one side of an issue or event skew news reporting in a way that is unfair or distorting.
*News Literacy Project
Is it bias? Consider:
Headlines and story content
Politically-charged labels, adjectives, and verbs
Agenda of sources
Whether the placement of ideas and sources affects the story’s impact
How might the story change if told from another perspective
Photographs and captions and compare to stories connected with them
Which perspective data from polls and statistics seem to support
Media Rating Websites
Websites like Ad Fontes Media and AllSides can be helpful tools when determining bias in a media source, however, remember to think critically and evaluate these sources the same way you would any other media source. Ask yourself, are these organizations using journalistic standards? Always consider the fairness and accuracy of any content.
Know the difference
News: newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent or important events.
News informs
News believes the facts speak for themselves
News is objective and impersonal
Opinion piece: an article in which the writer expresses their personal opinion, typically one which is controversial or provocative, about a particular issue or item of news.
Opinion persuades
Opinion believes informed arguments speak for themselves
Opinion is subjective and personal
Editorial: a newspaper article written by or on behalf of an editor that gives an opinion on a topical issue.