Presentation was presented by the student of Replica, Mass comm departrment. Supervisor and resourse person: M Ahmad Sheikh Ex. Deputy Controller, Head of National Broadcasting Service. Lahore. Pakistan

2. Group members are
Irum nadeem 03
Aneera younas 60
Maryum iqbal 73
Jahangir Ahmed 09

3. Bias
What is
bias ?
“ Bias is a one side view which a person may have
some reason or motivation to see things in a certain
way.”

4. Bias
 At one time or other we all complain about "bias in the media." The
fact is, despite the journalistic ideal of "objectivity,“ (without bias or
prejudice) every news story is influenced by the attitudes and
background of its interviewers, writers, photographers and editors.
 For example:
If two people had a fight in the school yard, each one would report
the incident according to his/her point of view. Other people who saw
the fight might also have a certain bias or point of view when they tell
the story, depending on the experience they brought to the fight, and
their feelings about the people involved in the fight.

5. Bias in the News
Objectives:
To understand what the terms
‘media’ and ‘bias’ mean
To discuss the role of THE
MEDIA
To learn how to spot bias in the
news
To consider how media bias is
linked to politics
To consider the ‘rights and
wrongs’ of media bias

6. Bias in the news
 No matter how objective the news agency is there will be some bias
in the news.
 Not all bias is deliberate.

7. Bias found in the news
Consider these two sentences in a news story:
 “A crowd of more than 900 attended the protest.”
 “Fewer than 1,000 showed up to protest.”

8. How to Detect Bias in the News
Every news story is affected by:
thoughts
opinions
background
of these people:
interviewer
reporter
photographer
editor

9. Types of bias
 Bias through selection and omission
 Bias through Placement
 Bias by photos and camera angles
 Bias by spin
 Bias by names and titles
 Bias by selection of sources
 Bias by headline
 Bias by statistics and crowd counts
 Bias by word Choice & Tone

10. Bias through selection and omission
 An editor can express a bias by choosing to use or not to use a specific news
item.
 Within a given story, some details can be ignored,
and others included, to give readers or viewers a
different opinion about the events reported.
 Bias through omission is difficult to detect. Only by comparing news
reports from a wide variety of outlets can the form of bias be observed.
For example:
If, during a speech, a few people boo, the reaction
can be described as "remarks greeted by jeers" or
they can be ignored as "a handful of dissidents."

11. Bias through placement
 Usually, the stories that are chosen
to be put first are seen as more
important.
 Stories in the back of the paper or
at the end of the news broadcast
are seen as less important.
For example:
 If a story about the disaster in Karachi is on the front page of the
paper, it will be seen as more important.
 If the story about Karachi disaster is buried at the back of the
paper, it will be seen as less important.

12. Bias by photos and camera angles
 Some photos can make the subject look serious,
attractive, healthy, etc. and other photos can be
really unflattering and make them look silly, ugly,
sick, etc.
 The images of someone in
the news can influence how
we think about them.

13. Bias photo
Compare these…
To these……

14. Photos Bias
Which picture is positive and which is negative?
Camera angles and sound can also influence how
something is interpreted.

15. Bias by spin
 One sided interpretation of an event.
 Emphasizing characteristics of a policy favourable to left
wings without noting aspects favourable to right wings.
For example:
 Party spokesman who talk with reporters after general
elections in connection with justifying the win of
controversial candidate.
 A political press agent or publicist employed to promote a
favourable interpretation of events of journalists

16. Bias by selection of sources
 This bias can also be seen when a reporter uses such phrases as
“experts believe”, “observers say”, or “most people think”.
For example:
 When a reporter says “most experts believe….”, he often means, “I
believe….” .quoting an expert by names does not necessarily add to the
credibility of a story, because the reporter may choose any “expert” he
wants. The same goes for the use of politicians or “man on the street”
interviews.

17. Bias through names and titles
 News media often use labels and titles to describe people, places
and events.
 A person is described as a ‘terrorist’ or a ‘freedom fighter’ is a
clear indication of editorial bias.

18. Bias by headline
 Many people read only the headlines of a news items. Most peoples
scan nearly all the headlines in a newspaper.
 Headlines are the most read part of a paper.
 They can summarize as well as present carefully hidden bias and
prejudices.
 They can convey excitement where little exists. They can express
approval or condemnation

19. Bias by source control
 To detect bias, always consider where the news
 item "comes from."
 Is the information supplied by a reporter, an
eyewitness, police or fire officials, executives, or
elected or appointed government officials?
 Each may have a particular bias that is introduced
into the story.

20. Bias through Statistics and crowd counts
Numbers and statistics can be
manipulated to change the way
we think about them.
For example:
Describing disaster story on radio or tv numbers can be inflated. “A
hundred injured in air crash” can be the same as “only minor injuries
in air crash” reflecting the opinion of the person doing the counting.
During elections campaigns numbers game is very common. Biased
report of commercially paid reporters has been noticed on my
occasions

21. Bias by word choice and tone
 The words and tone the journalist uses can influence the story.
 Using positive or negative words with a particular connotation
can strongly influence the readers or viewers
.
For example:
 “The politician presented his well-thought
out and intelligent plan to Congress.”
 “The politician presented his shoddy
and disorganized plan to Congress.”

22. Word Choice

23. What isn’t bias
It falls into categories:
Editorials or opinion columns written by known as fair independent,
on staff member of a news paper of broadcast media.
Stories or statements that make the conservative side look bad, but
are accurate.
Non-policy stories on a specific event that don’t have to be balanced.
Panel discussion comprises representatives of all groups.
If anchor / presenter behaves like public representative.
Clean from editorializing.