Bias What is it and How Do I treat it?

History is Written by the Winners?  History is the study of the past. But can it be complete and true?  Writing history means that selection and rejection of material will occur.  Who gets a voice determines how we understand and relate to our past.

Bias or Perspective  The ultimate goal is to record events as accurately as possible. However, one person’s opinion or perspective can be seen by others as a bias. Bias: an inclination or preference that makes it difficult to judge fairly in a particular situation.

Name and Claim  There are three types of bias: Unconscious bias - unaware of bias, often based on ignorance Deliberate bias - aware of bias, used for manipulation and based on prejudice. (Propaganda) Informed bias - aware of bias, makes it explicit in a statement, makes an effort to include all perspectives and be objective. This approach focuses on the use of reason.

 Some of the most common ways bias can be identified: Methods: What sort of materials did the historian examine? Is there a balance? Social Views: What does the author saw about the changes in society of the centuries? (Whig or Tory) Political / economics: Does the author argue that the world has been governed by economics as a tool of progress or as a tool of oppression. (Marxist) Language: What kinds of words are used. The words one says and writes can be a tool to empower or enslave. (Discourse)

Where Does it come From?  Every author carries with him or her influences, which make his or her work biased.  These things include:  personal history  societal standards and pressures  education  power

BC/AD to BCE/CE  Example of cultural bias B.C. = Before Christ A.D. = Latin for Anno Domini  “year of our lord” B.C.E. = Before Common Era

Word Choice  Can reveal bias.  Can be misleading.  What is the basic idea being presented?  Is there an easier or less suggestive way to get the information across?

Lyndon B. Johnson  "I hear the headlines on the radio, see them on TV and read them in the paper. When I hear from the men out there, I sometimes don't believe they are talking about the same situation."

Hockey Game Coverage The Denver Post  Injury begins Avs' tumble. The Detroit News  Wings are too much for Avalanche.

The War In Iraq  CNN’s Iraq page:  ~newsbias/cnniraq.htm ~newsbias/cnniraq.htm  Dar Al Hayat’s page:  ~newsbias/Dar%20Al %20Hayat.htm ~newsbias/Dar%20Al %20Hayat.htm

Same Story? The New York Times  Iraq forces suspension of U.S. surveillance flight USA Today  U.N. Withdraws U-2 Planes

Who Has it?  Beyond the author, every eyewitness or other source about an event the author might use carries the same biases.  The author is, in one sense, adding biases to biases.  So how can we know the truth?