Identifying and Understanding Different Types of Bias in News Reporting

Types of Bias

Bias by omission – leaving one side out of an article, or a series of articles over a period of time; ignoring facts that tend to disprove claims of a group, or that support beliefs by a different group; bias by omission can occur either within a story, or over the long term as a particular news outlet reports one set of events, but not another. 

Bias by selection of sources – including more sources that support one view over another.  This bias can also be seen when a reporter uses such phrases as “experts believe,” “observers say,” or “most people believe.”  Experts in news stories are like expert witnesses in trials.  If you know whether the defense or the prosecution called a particular expert witness to the stand, you know which way the witness will testify.  And when a news story only presents one side, it is obviously the side the reporter supports.  (Journalists often go looking for quotes to fit their favorite argument into a news story.)  To find bias by use of experts or sources, stay alert to the affiliations and political perspective of those quoted as experts or authorities in news stories.   If a story quotes non-experts, such as those portrayed as average citizens, check to be sure that about an equal number come from both sides of the issue in question.

Bias by story selection – a pattern of highlighting news stories that coincide with the agenda of one side, while ignoring stories that coincide with the opposing view; printing a story or study released by one group but ignoring studies on the same or similar topics released by the opposing group.  To identify bias by story selection you’ll need to know both sides of the issue. 

Bias by placement – Story placement is a measure of how important the editor considers the story.  Studies have shown that, in the case of the average newspaper reader and the average news story, most people read only the headline.  Bias by placement is where on a website (or newspaper) or in an article a story or event is printed; a pattern of placing news stories so as to downplay information supportive of either conservative views or liberal views.  

Bias by labeling – Bias by labeling comes in two forms.  The first is the tagging of one side with extreme labels while leaving the other side unlabeled or with more mild labels, or vice versa.  An example would be calling a group who oppose gun ownership “snowflakes” and a group that supports gun ownership “concerned citizens.”

Bias by spin – Bias by spin occurs when the story has only one interpretation of an event or policy, to the exclusion of the other; spin involves tone – it’s a reporter’s subjective comments about objective facts; makes one side’s ideological perspective look better than another.  To check if it’s spin, observe which interpretation of an event or policy a news story matches – the liberal or conservative.  Many news stories do not reflect a particular spin.  Others summarize the spin put on an event by both sides.  But if a story reflects one to the exclusion of the other, then you’ve found bias by spin.