Media Bias

Forms of Media BiasWord ChoiceOmissionsLimiting of DebateFraming of the storySources

Word Choice

New Your Times USA TodayIraq forces suspension

of U.S. surveillance flights

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Iraqi fighter jets threatened two American U-2 surveillance planes, forcing them to return to abort their mission and return to base, senior U.S. officials said Tuesday.

U.N. Withdraws U-2 Planes

WASHINGTON (AP)-U.N. arms inspectors said Tuesday they had withdrawn two U-2 reconnaissance planes over Iraq for safety reasons after Baghdad complained both aircraft were in the air simultaneously.

Word Choice

The Denver Post The Detroit News

red wings 5, avalanche 3

Injury begins Avs' tumble

Red Wings 5, Avalanche 3

Wings are too much for Avalanche

Word Choice

St. Petersburg Time Dar Al-Hayat The Red Cross, one of the

few aid groups with staff operating in Iraq, hopes to negotiate access to the main power station, which is said to be under control of U.S.-led coalition forces. But neither local staff nor specialists in neighboring Kuwait have been cleared to go because of continued clashes.

War in Iraq

Iraq said its troops were battling U.S.-led invasion forces inside Nassiriya and on the city's outskirts on Tuesday and inflicting heavy casualties.

War on Iraq

Word Choice

The Denver Post The Detroit News

The Red Wings played the Flyers last night in a hockey game and they won 4-3.

The Red Wings executed a decisive win (4-3) over the tempered Flyers, in last night’s heated game of ice hockey

OmissionsDoes either article omit important

information? If so, to what do you attribute the omissions?

Are there questions either reporter should have asked that were not asked?

Did the information for the story come from a single source or from multiple unaffiliated sources? Were multiple sources necessary for a full understanding of the story?

Are you likely to have a different understanding of the issue depending on which of the articles you read? If so, to what do you attribute the difference?

Limiting DebateOne side is presented as the main way or only

way possible to get something accomplished.Other ways are not explored or the presented

way is not challenged by anything or anyoneDo you get the sense from reading the

article that their may be more than one way to view the events? In other words, does the article serve to limit or eliminate debate? Do you think that's justified given the situation described?

Story FramingConflict

Story is based off of the conflictConsensus

Emphasizes general agreementReaction

Features the reaction of one or more people within the story

WrongdoingInjustice or corruption exposed

Straight newsWho, what, where, when, how

Frame ExampleIf the politicians in Washington all support

going to war but a significant percentage of the general populace are ambivalent or opposed to such an action, Frame the article with a consensus frame,

based on the agreement between Republicans and Democrats.

Frame the article with a consensus frame, based on the general populace

Frame the article with a conflict frame focusing on the difference of opinion between politicians and the citizens opposed to the war.

SourcesWhere is the information coming from?

How many different sources were used?Who is being quoted?Are their any opposing sources used?

What influences Media Bias?GeographyObjectivityEconomic AffiliationsPolitical AffiliationsMediums