"Looking at the definition of bias more generally, it is the tendency to lean towards or against someone or something. The direction in which you lean can be influenced by factors such as your background, culture and personal experiences. Sometimes, bias is something you’re aware of, and this is known as explicit bias, but implicit or unconscious bias is something you don’t realize you have.

But what can biases actually do? Well, they can cause you to typecast people or groups, even if this social categorization is not factually accurate or reflective of your conscious views. For example, if a teacher has an unconscious bias that boys are better at sports than girls, they might always pick a boy to be the team captain, even if they might outwardly feel that girls and boys are equally as talented and enthusiastic about sports.

An unconscious bias like this would probably be the result of gender stereotypes that say boys like sports while girls prefer art, and societal norms that place higher value on male competitive sports than their female equivalent. There are many biases like this that people unconsciously act on, but this doesn’t mean that they’re bad people. Instead, biases form over our lifetimes, and we have to fully recognize them in order to tackle them."

Credit:
FutureLearn. (2021, December 30). Understanding media bias: How credible are your sources? FutureLearn.

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"Now we’ve discussed what bias is, we can look more specifically at the topic at hand. Media bias relates to the bias or perceived bias of journalists and news organizations in mass media. It normally implies a widespread bias that impacts the standard of journalism, rather than bias in the perspective of one journalist or article. 

Media bias can affect the selection of events and stories that get published, the perspective from which they’re written, and the language chosen to tell them. 

In most countries, media bias is thought to either lean to the left or right, meaning it either favors liberal or conservative politics. In some countries, media bias can go so far as to completely reflect the ideals of the governing body, for example, in North Korea. In cases such as this, media bias essentially becomes propaganda.

Although a lot of media contains unconscious bias, where journalists may be met with practical limitations to neutrality such as lack of access to all the facts, media also regularly contains explicit bias. This is where media outlets deliberately try to paint a certain image of an event, group or individual to achieve their desired outcome. This outcome may be politically fueled, or it could just be an attempt to make more money.

To learn more about media bias, you can take our Understanding Media: Introduction to Media Literacy and Representation course by the University of Newcastle Australia, where you’ll develop your media literacy and learn a range of analytical approaches you can use to understand and interpret media." 

Credit:
FutureLearn. (2021, December 30). Understanding media bias: How credible are your sources? FutureLearn.

To view full article Click Here