Forms of Media Bias
TEN FORMS OF NEWS MEDIA BIAS
Ideological Bias: the degree to which a news source leans to the liberal or conservative side; there are elements of both liberal and conservative biases, and they vary with media forms
The Two-Party Bias: the concentration of coverage of Democrats and Republicans, ignoring minor parties or treating them as a novelty or trivial
The Adversarial Bias: the tendency to portray stories as a he-said, she-said argument with two (and only two) valid sides, rather than doing a more careful analysis, considering alternatives and compromises, etc.; it is partly due to lazy reporting and partly due to the media's fear of being labeled as biased for one side
The Rushed Bias: the trend in telling the story more quickly, more briefly, and without as much editing and fact-checking due to competition with the new media (especially social media and non-professional news sources)
Commercial Biases: favoritism shown to the media's corporate owners and its advertising sponsors; the media is a for-profit business today whereas in the past, network news often lost money but were the jewel of their network
Infotainment: the blurring of information with entertainment, due to more intense competition with non-professional news sources, and especially with comedy and visual information
Sensationalism: news that appeals to the senses rather than purely to the intellect, including exaggeration and hype, visually appealing and simplistic quick stories--often containing drama, greed, sex, violence, personalities, crime, humor, etc.
The Reliance on Pundits: the tendency to overuse a small class of professional commentators and spokespersons-- often media-savvy politicians, journalists, celebrities, writers, consultants, pollsters, attorneys, etc. ("the usual suspects") at the expense of a wider swath of observers that might have a broader or more unique view
The Anti-Incumbent Bias: the tendency to treat current office holders or well-known politicians more suspiciously, more harshly, and with a tougher view than challengers or new politicians that are less well-known; this negativity discourages candidacies and leads to a journalistic "feeding frenzy" when an incumbent is accused of wrong-doing
The Patriotism Bias: favoritism shown to a country by its journalists, especially regarding conflicts or crises involving foreign relations; American journalists tend to assume that American values and interests are legitimate, the American military posture is defensive, the American political, economic, and social system is superior or more deserving, etc., whereas other countries' actions are suspect