1. Canadian & World Issues www.CraigMarlatt.com/school
Global Media
Canadian & World Issues

2. Global Media Information Highway Propaganda Credibility of Resources
Perspective
Bias in Maps
Bias in the Media
Measuring YOUR Perspective
Propaganda
The Global Media
Manufacturing Consent and The Assault on Reason
Doublespeak

3. Global Media Television Analyzing the News
Is the Colbert Report a “news” show?
Toxic Sludge
Magazine
The Genocide in Sudan
Newspaper
Reported: “Beslan School Reopens”
Comparing Canada’s Newspapers
Hollywood
Hotel Rwanda
Online: the Drudge Report

4. Credibility of Resources
Paradigm
Facts
Opinions
Bias
Ethnocentricity
Propaganda
Doublespeak
Perspective

5. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

6. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

7. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

8. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

9. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

10. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

11. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

12. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

13. A Matter of Perspective
What do YOU see?

14. Bias in Maps
The Earth is a sphere (three-dimensional) and a map is flat (two-dimensional), so it is impossible to produce a map which combines the true shape, bearing, and distance.
ALL map projections misrepresent the surface of the Earth is some way. There are errors in distance and distortions in shapes.

15. Bias in Maps Cartographers try to preserve four things on a map.
Shape – an area’s shape is directly related to the actual shape in the real world
Area – an area’s size is proportional to its actual size in the real world
Direction – the lines of constant direction remain constant anywhere on a map
Distance – distance measured on a map are accurate

16. Bias in Maps
“A knowledgeable map reader, recognizing that a map is both a simplification and a distortion of reality, will look for clues to the cartographer’s purposes and biases.”

17. Bias in Maps Mercator Projection
Used for navigation since 1569, is most common
Compass direction along a straight line between 2 points on the map are accurate
Distortion in shape & size of regions (north is larger, tropics are smaller)
Polar regions are larger, equatorial regions are smaller
Still used by ships & pilots, in many atlases for school use

18. Bias in Maps Robinson Projection
In use from by National Geographic
Minimizes the distortion of size & shape of most regions
Badly compresses & distorts the shape of countries in polar region

19. Bias in Maps Winkel Tripel Projection Created by Oswald Winkel in 1921
Prime Meridian & Equator are straight lines while all other parallels & meridians are curved
Adopted by National Geographic in 1998, replacing Robinson as it better represents the size & shape of Earth features, especially in the polar regions

20. Bias in Maps Gall Projection Used in many textbooks
Shows area-accurate view of the world
Land mass size accurate, shape distorted

21. Bias in Maps
Which one is “reality”?

22. Bias in Maps
Which one is “reality”?

23. Bias in Maps
Which one is “reality”?

24. Bias in Maps
Which one is “reality”?

25. Bias in Maps
Which one is “reality”?

26. Bias in Maps
Which one is “reality”?

27. Bias in Maps
Which one is “reality”?

29. Distortion: the distance between lines of latitude are not equidistant, Greenland is NOT the same size as most of Canada…

30. Distortion: the distance between lines of latitude are not equidistant

31. Bias in the Media
Every media story we see, hear, or read is the product of reporters, editors, camera crews, TV anchormen and women – people who hold points of view which may be different from our own; people who choose what events to cover, who to interview, and what words and pictures to use.
In other words, the media story which is presented to you is not necessarily “the truth,” but rather one person’s or a group of people’s idea about the truth.

32. Bias in the Media
Our news is brought to us by a surprisingly small number of organizations.
3 major TV news services use microwave and satellite to relay their camera footage to TV networks all over the world.
Viznews (British)
UPIIN (British-US)
CBS Newsfilm (owned by VIACOM)

33. Bias in the Media Think you’ve never heard of VIACOM? VIACOM owns:
Broadcast International
Think you’ve never heard of VIACOM?
VIACOM owns:
CBS Productions
Blockbuster
Paramount Pictures
CBS Entertainment
CBS Television Network
MTV
Infinity Broadcasting
Viacom Television Stations Group
BET
Paramount Television
Paramount Home Entertainment
Viacom Outdoor
King World Productions Inc.
United International Pictures (UIP)
Famous Players
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI)
CBS Enterprises
Simon & Schuster
United Paramount Network (UPN)
King World International Productions

34. Bias in the Media
Okay, but Canadians get their information from the Canadian Press, right?
Canadian Press (CP) gathers up news from across Canada to be used in Canadian newspapers. But for its international coverage, CP relies on its agreements with foreign companies which allow it to “Canadianize” wire stories – changing the American spelling and adjusting other minor points – and print them as CP stories.

35. Bias in the Media
This means most of our international news is reported from an American or European viewpoint.
Here is the emphasis on “international” news that we see in Canada:
US 34%
Europe 28%
Asia / Australia 17%
Latin America 11%
Middle East 6%
Africa 4%

36. Bias in the Media
September 1, 1983: A Soviet interceptor plane blows up a Korean passenger jet. The New York Times Editorial, “Murder in the Air”:
“There is no conceivable excuse for any nation shooting down a harmless airliner… no circumstance whatever justifies attacking an innocent plane.”
July 3, 1988: US forces blow up an Iranian passenger get. The New York Times Editorial?
“While horrifying, it was nonetheless an accident… the onus for avoiding such accidents in the future rests on civilian aircraft: avoid combat zones, fly high, acknowledge warnings.”

37. Bias in the Media
In each of these examples, what factors could have caused the difference in media coverage?
Which government involved is a friend of the United States?
Which isn’t?
Would you expect to see a similar lack of balance in the Canadian media?
Why or why not?

38. www.adbusters.org/spoofads Bias in the Media
Some people are trying to undo the effect that media has on us, such as “Adbusters” Magazine.
On the next few slides are a few examples of their advertizements.

41. Nearly 50% of automobile fatalities are linked to alcohol.
10% of North Americans are alcoholics.
A teenager sees 100,000 alcohol ads before reaching the legal drinking age.

45. Bias in the Media
Go online and find 2 articles from a newspaper to show 2 different examples of articles or editorials on international topics:
One which you consider to be a good one: balanced, containing good factual material, and unbiased;
One which you consider to be an example of bad news coverage: unbalanced, distorted, lacking sufficient information, etc.
Write a 1 page, (max. 300 words) response where you refer to these 2 articles, pointing out the differences between good and bad news coverage.

46. Measuring YOUR Perspective
Complete the questionnaire
Record your answers in the appropriate column on the answer sheet
Map your score on the chart

47. The Global Media
Exposure to media has become a major factor in shaping the economic, political, social, cultural and environmental make-up of the world.
Not everyone has equal access to media and an information gap exists between rich and poor, and between the more powerful groups in society and those who are marginalized individuals cannot address serious issues if they are unaware of their underlying causes and interconnections.

48. The Global Media
In a democratic society, information should be designed to help people become well informed and better able to protect themselves.
There are so many opposing claims and ideas in all types of information that it is hard to tell rhetoric from reality.
Accurate well balanced information allows individuals to form opinions and to make informed decisions on whether and how to take action.

49. The Global Media But what is the quality of the information received?
Information itself is a resource. To be used effectively, it has to be turned into knowledge and understanding.
A wide variety of views about issues must be studied and challenged before analysis of the issues can be effective.

50. Manufacturing Consent
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988)
Noam Chomsky
Edward Herman

51. The Assault on Reason
The Assault on Reason (2007)
Al Gore

52. Doublespeak
Doublespeak is language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning.
NCTE awards an annual “doublespeak award” for particularly brutal usage of doublespeak by various officials in the U.S.

53. Doublespeak
Is it really????????????- 1983

55. Think doublespeak only happens in the United States?
When Eaton’s was still around…

57. Television
Analyzing the News
Toxic Sludge is Good for You

58. Magazine
The Genocide in Sudan

60. Newspaper Reported: “Beslan School Reopens”
Comparing Canada’s Newspapers

61. Hollywood
Hotel Rwanda

63. Hollywood
Shake Hands with the Devil

65. Hollywood
Blood Diamond

67. Notes to take… (write down everything to the end..)
Doublespeak: is language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning.
Really it is a form of propaganda; find nice ways to say bad things… .

68. Examples of Doublespeak..
Economics:
Companies do not “fire thousands of loyal long term employees”: They downsize
We don’t have depressions anymore, instead we have economic slowdowns (recession) and downturns (depression)

69. Examples of Doublespeak..
Military:
surgical strike = precision bombing
laying down a carpet = saturation bombing
collateral damage = civilian deaths during bombing raids
Friendly Fire= mistakenly killing your own soldiers
- Pat Tillman Story

70. 7 Steps to sniff out Bias
Who wrote the information? An individual or organization
Why? Are they involved in the event?
Do the arguments and evidence support only one side of an issue?
Are generalizations and simplified solutions used to explain complex points of view to the point of being inaccurate.
Cont’d…..

71. 7 Steps to sniff out Bias
Are emotion laden adjectives used? For what purpose?
Are stereotypical comments used?
If a counter argument is given, are they developed and presented as thoroughly as the original argument

72. Ethnocentricity
is making value judgments about another culture from perspectives of one's own cultural system.
The ethnocentric individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own particular ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language, behavior, customs, and religion.
These ethnic distinctions and subdivisions serve to define each ethnicity's unique cultural identity
News is reported from your regions viewpoint..

73. Media
Mainstream:
TV, mass communication organizations, Newspapers, Time/Warner Commications (CNN), CBC, CBS etc)
Tend to have more accountability and follow views held by the general population

74. Alternative Media
Alternative Media: - small, not affiliated with large corperations
- Special interest magazines/ Ezines/ Websites with leaning to specific social or political perspective - are biased by definition
- do not have the same “moral” responsibility that main stream media are given…
- Internet (Drudge Report, Colbert Report, TMZ)
- Greenpeace - The Ecologist Magazine

75. Bias in the Media
Go online and find 2 articles from a newspaper to show 2 different examples of articles or editorials on international topics:
One which you consider to be a good one: balanced, containing good factual material, and unbiased;
One which you consider to be an example of bad news coverage: unbalanced, distorted, lacking sufficient information, etc.
Write a 1 page, (max. 300 words) response where you refer to these 2 articles, pointing out the differences between good and bad news coverage.