How to Detect Media Bias and Propaganda
Only a small number of citizens are skilled in recognizing bias and propaganda in the news disseminated in
their country. Only a relatively few are able to detect onesided portrayals of events or seek out alternative
sources of information and opinion…the overwhelming majority of people in the world, untrained in critical
thin
News media bias is most profound when news media sources take on very specific political perspectives. Yet,
most Americans choose only news media sources that match their own political perspective. This creates what
many call “the echo chamber.” For this assignment, you must choose two news media sources with very
different perspectives. There are several political perspectives; the two most common are conservative (right
leaning) and liberal (left leaning). It is up to you to figure out the political perspective of the sources you are
considering. (Here are some links to help get you started: http://www.allsides.com/aboutbias
(http://www.allsides.com/aboutbias) ;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/thefix/wp/2014/10/21/letsrankthemediafromliberaltoconservativebasedontheiraudiences/?utm_term=.551a19b03773
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/thefix/wp/2014/10/21/letsrankthemediafromliberaltoconservativebasedontheiraudiences/?utm_term=.551a19b03773)
There are several formats from which to choose your sources; these include print (newspaper, magazine),
radio, television and the internet. You may choose your sources from any combination of these formats (i.e.
two internet sources OR one television source and one internet source).
2. CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC
You must choose one topic from the list below. You will then search your two news media sources for this
topic. You may need to further narrow your topic so that both of your news media sources are discussing an
important element of the topic (i.e. Gun Control might be narrowed down to background checks for gun
licenses). These topics are current, so be sure to find recent information presented by your two news media
sources (within the last six months). Choose ONE article/broadcast from EACH source (TWO in total).
1. Gun Control
2. Immigration/Refugees
3. NSA Surveillance/Wikileaks
4. Preemptive Strike (and/or Drone Strikes)
5. Samesex marriage
6. The National Budget/Debt
7. Iran’s Nuclear Program
8. Legalization of Marijuana
9. Russian Interference in Elections
10. Net Neutrality
11. N. Korean Nuclear Program
12. Healthcare Acts
13. Immigration policy
14. Abortion/Planned Parenthood
15. Tax Reform
If you have a different topic in mind, email me.
3. DETECTING BIAS
You will then critically analyze, by comparing and contrasting, how your two news media sources relay the
information concerning the topic you have chosen. You MUST use this site to help explain main areas of
analysis/BIAS http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/typesofmediabias/
(http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/typesofmediabias/) . Choose a MINIMUM of 3 main points of bias from
this site and use these to develop an indepth analysis of just how biased your sources are and how these
biases affect you AND our political process. Support these points! When looking for specific examples to
support your points, look for both verbal and nonverbal clues. Look at the visuals, the headlines, catchy or
loaded words/phrases, placement of article, whether each side (or various sides) are discussed, look at the
length devoted to each side. Look to see if names, events, places, organizations, etc. are explained in depth
(i.e. is there enough background information to understand the topic). Reread or relisten to the
articles/broadcasts/websites. Look for even the most subtle factors that might affect the reader/listener. The
deeper your analysis, the better it will become (and the higher your grade!).
4. FACT‑CHECKING
Check your two news sources for a variety of points each presents as “truthful” or as “fact.” The obvious
examples include actual numbers, but these can also be embedded into sentences and/or assumed. They can
appear as though they are supporting major points or they can appear as the major points themselves. You will
need to again critically listen to/read your two news media sources used above and find at least two “facts” or
“truths” from each of your news media sources. You will then need to try to factcheck these! This isn’t easily
done, so take your time and state whether each fact is true, mostly true, mostly false, or false. You must
support this with some credible evidence. A major part of this assignment is to have you search and find
credible sources.
5. ANALYSIS
Remember that this paper is an analysis. As such, you must present your findings and then use them to
analyze our political process. Without this important analysis, your paper is incomplete! With your findings
(biases, factchecking), examine both the short and long term effects on our political system. Be sure that your
concluding analysis (more than one paragraph) goes beyond the obvious (i.e. “all news media is biased”). You
might start by summarizing your findings (discuss and explain whether or not the reader/listener could make a
rational decision after reading/listening to both of these articles/broadcasts). But you MUST also bring in
information you have learned about our political process AND examine how your findings uncover the
relationship between news media and our political process. Be specific by making a few points and support
each point with a thorough explanation.
For example, examine what part the media plays in “polarization?” Examine how polarization affects our
process and analyze if polarization enhances our political process (i.e. political candidates, voting) or
not.
HINTS FOR WRITING YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Your assignment should be wellconstructed, should support a strong thesis and should logically lead to your
conclusion
Your assignment should begin with an introduction that states your topic, news media choices and your
thesis. This introduction should be clear and concise, but no longer than 1 paragraph.
The body of your assignment should be an analysis constructed around
the 3 or more points (biases) you have chosen to use to analyze your sources. Be sure that you
introduce the main point, (i.e. “bias by omission”)
explain it in your own words, (“bias by omission means that……”)
support it with specific examples from BOTH of your news media sources (cite your sources)
and explain how/why the source is biased and how it affects the reader/listener.
Be sure to use (and quote/cite) specific examples from your news media sources to support your
points of analysis. You should not use any additional sources or your own opinion for this portion
of your paper.
the two facts/truths you factchecked. Be sure that you
state the fact/truth you factchecked and in which source you found it
state what source(s) you used to factcheck and why these sources
rate the fact/truth as true, mostly true, mostly false, or false.
The concluding paragraphs that should be your examination of your findingsyour analysis as outlined in #5
above. Be sure that you
Provide a few points
Provide an indepth explanation of each of your points and
Analyze specific aspects of our political system that might be/are affected by media bias.
How to Detect Media Bias and Propaganda
