1. Tiered Lesson: Detecting Bias in the News
Essential Question: Is there such a thing as “bias-free” news?
UNDERSTAND
News varies according to perspective.
Bias is a barometer for the credibility of news.
All news is biased in some way.
KNOW
Definition and traits of bias
Examples of manifestations of bias in the news DO
Analyze news for evidence of bias.
Induce characteristics of bias.

2. Ongoing Assessment: Detecting Bias Define bias.
Review the homepage of CNN.com.
(1) CIRCLE one headline you believe suggests bias.
Explain why.
(2) STAR one headline you believe is unbiased.
How can someone tell if news is biased or not? What are the “signs” or “red flags”?

3. Detecting Bias in the News
Tiered Lesson:
Detecting Bias in the News
Teacher sorts headlines into one “mother” T-chart of headlines students said were biased/unbiased.
Teacher shares key words & phrases students used in responses to question 3. Pair and share with neighbor to discuss. Make changes to T-chart as necessary and be able to explain why.
Teacher pairs share their “switches” with another pair. Discuss “false dichotomy” of biased/unbiased as a class.
Teacher assigns one of three task cards, based on readiness, as indicated by the Ongoing Assessment. (Completed individually, in groups, or both.)

4. Yellow Task Card Headlines from March 19, 2003
“War Imminent as Hussein Rejects Ultimatum” (New York Times)
“Butcher Tells U.S.- Come and Get Me” (New York Post)
“Sadaam Scorns U.S. Ultimatum” (New York Daily News)
“Baghdad Rejects Bush’s Warning” (ArabicNews.com)
Circle the words in each headline that you feel most strongly reflect a biased point of view. Be prepared to explain why you think those words reflect bias.
Rank the headlines in order from most biased (1) to least biased (4). Explain why you ranked them in that order.
Do you think it’s clear how each news source feels about the war? Why or why not?

5. Blue Task Card
Headlines from March 19, 2003
“War Imminent as Hussein Rejects Ultimatum” (New York Times)
“Butcher Tells U.S.- Come and Get Me” (New York Post)
“Sadaam Scorns U.S. Ultimatum” (New York Daily News)
“Baghdad Rejects Bush’s Warning” (ArabicNews.com)
Characterize the tone of each headline (1 word only). Be prepared to explain your characterizations.
Rank the headlines in order from most biased (1) to least biased (4). Explain why you ranked them in that order.
What was each paper’s position on the war, as best you can tell from its headline? What additional information in each story would you need to better decide?

6. Green Task Card
Characterize the intent of each headline. Be prepared to explain your characterizations.
Rank the headlines in order from most biased (1) to least biased (4). Explain why you ranked them in that order.
One of these headlines is from an Arabic news source. Decide which one, and explain your choice. (Come show your answer to Mrs. Hockett when finished.)
Headlines from
March 19, 2003
“War Imminent as Hussein Rejects Ultimatum”
“Butcher Tells U.S.- Come and Get Me”
“Sadaam Scorns U.S. Ultimatum”
“Baghdad Rejects Bush’s Warning”

7. “More than 900 people attended the event.”
“Oh yeah?”
“An unbiased statement states the facts!”
“More than 900 people attended the event.”
“Fewer than 1,000 people showed up at the event.”
“About 950 people attended the event.”

8. Detecting Bias Notes Selecting and omitting information
People booed during Obama’s speech:
“remarks greeted by jeers” vs. “handful of dissidents””
Names and Titles
“ex-con” vs. someone who “served time 20 years ago for a minor offense”
Story placement
American journalists burying news about genocide of Jews during WWII in back pages
Statistics and crowd counts
“100 injured in air crash” vs. “only minor injuries in air crash”
Headline
Butcher Tells U.S. - Come and Get Me
Source control
Who was/wasn’t interviewed? Coverage prompted by PR?
Word choice/tone
“For two years, a Brooklyn thug sat in jail awaiting trial for a cold-blooded murder...”
Photos and captions
Katrina pictures

9. A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen) 9

10. FUTURE TASK
Read three teacher-provided articles that cover the same national news story.
YELLOW: (EASY TO SEE DIFFERENCES) New York Times, New York Post, and Fox News.
BLUE (A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT TO SEE DIFFERENCES): L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post
GREEN (MOST DIFFICULT TO SEE DIFFERENCES): Reuters, Associated Press, United Press International
Rank the stories from most to least biased. Be ready to defend your ranking.
Respond:
What about doing this was easy? Challenging? Why?