Thursday December 12, 2013 OBJ: SWBAT identify media bias in the reporting of several news stories, differentiate between fact and opinion, evaluate information for accuracy (separating fact from opinion) and distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information. Drill: Define Media, Define Bias, Define Media Bias. Where do we see it? What does it do? Homework:

Answers Media TV, Radio, internet, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, music. Bias Partiality, prejudice, predisposition. Factors that create bias political ideology, party affiliation, education, social class, nationality, gender, race, and ethnicity. Media Bias all writers, reporters, producers of news, and teachers for that matter have a bias when presenting a story.

Three Little Pigs What is the story of the Three little pigs? Once Upon a Time… (as a group tell the story). Fill in the Left side of the Venn Diagram with facts about the Story

Real Story of The Three Little Pigs Now read the True Story of The Three Little Pigs. Fill In the right side and middle of the Venn Diagram. In small groups identify the Biases found in each story.

What is the Significance of These Two Stories?

Ideal Media Functions in Democracies Provide accounts to the public of political events Contribute to the enactment of policy Guard against the abuse of governmental power

Alienated From Reality 99.5% of homes w/ electricity have TVs 95% watch some TV every day Ave Home: TV on 8 hrs/day Ave Adult: watches 5 hrs/day By age 6: more time watching TV than will speak to father for rest of your life

Importance of Television “Television news is news that matters” This is the primary source of political information in the U.S. For 60% -70% of the population it is the sole source Shapes the public’s conception of political life in pervasive ways Primary source of political information Incredible power to shape public thinking Are a number of “gatekeeping” concerns that determine what will become news

Media Bias and democracy A democracy is a form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodic free elections (it’s what we have in this country). Democracy has come to imply universal suffrage, competition for office, freedom of speech and the press, and the rule of law. This obviously give the media lots of independence and choice.

Bias through placement Page One – Teen shoots man at bus stop!! Page 35 – Teens collect turkeys to serve homeless

Bias through selection and omission Class choices: British Lit American Lit Not offered: African Literature

Bias by headline

Bias by photos, captions and camera angles

Bias through use of names and titles Bill Gates the ex con In 1977 the owner of Microsoft was arrested for driving without a license and not stopping at a stop sign. This wasn’t the first time he got arrested though. In 1975 he was arrested for driving without a license and speeding. In 1989 he was arrested for driving drunk but that charge was reduced later on.

Bill Gates the Multimillion Dollar Philanthropist

Bias through statistics and crowd counts Fifty people injured in Air Crash!

Only 7% of passengers sustained minor injuries 50 out of 700

To make a disaster seem more spectacular (and therefore worthy of reading about), numbers can be inflated. "A hundred injured in aircrash" can be the same as "only minor injuries in air crash," reflecting the opinion of the person doing the counting.

If 714 people were onboard, & 7% were injured this would mean 50 people

Bias by source control To detect bias, always consider where the news item "comes from."

The Eagles: Dirty Laundry Why do you think the song is entitled “Dirty Laundry” Why is Don Henley trying to say about the media, particularly the evening news? If this is a commentary on American Culture, What is Done Henley’s message? To what extent should Americans be concerned about the way the news is presented today? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzT10MSgKtU

Roles of the Media Gatekeeper - influence what subjects become national political issues, and for how long. EXAMPLE:   Scorekeeper - the national media help make political reputations, note who is being “mentioned” as presidential candidates and decide who the winners and losers are in Washington. This often leads to the coverage of presidential elections as if they were horse races (what happens during the primaries). Watchdog - Following closely the front-runner candidates, searching for any past or current history that will make news. Media maintains close eye on all important happenings of major candidates. EXAMPLE:   Agenda setter - TV news influence the standards by which government, presidents, policies and candidates are judged. Effect on Political Preferences? Research is lacking as to the true influence that media plays on public opinion. While TV may influence the political agenda to a certain degree, people are very unlikely to take cues from the media on issues that affect them personally. Media usually does more to reinforce beliefs than to change opinion.

Roles of Media In groups, come up with an example for each role.

Trends in News Coverage In your groups look over the trends in News Coverage worksheet. What conclusions can you draw about the current trends in media coverage? Positive and Negative. WRAP UP: What generalizations can you make regarding the current trends in news coverage. How did they affect the Presidential election of 2012? What do you predict about the news coverage in the near and long term future?