FAIR: Detecting Bias In News Media

As a progressive thinker, I try hard to get as much information about an issue as I can, from all perspectives, before deciding where I stand.  It's hard to do, as there is bias everywhere in the media.  Media has tremendous power in setting cultural guidelines and in shaping political discourse.  It is essential that news media are challenged to be fair and accurate. FAIR (fairness and accuracy in reporting) is media watchdog that tries to keep our media fair and balanced.  It's a tough job, but at the very least they are making us aware of media we're consuming that is biased.  The first step in challenging biased news is documenting bias.  Here are some questions to ask yourself about the news you consume.

Who are the sources?  Media over-rely on "official" (government, establishment think tanks) sources.  For instance, FAIR found that in 40 months of Nightline programming, the most frequent guests were Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, Elliott Abrams and Jerry Falwell.  Progressive and public interest voices were grossly underrepresented.  To portray issues fairly and accurately, media must broaden their spectrum of sources.

Is there a lack of diversity?  What is the race and gender diversity at the news outlet you watch, compared to the population it serves?  How many producers, editors and decision-makers at the news outlet are women, people of color or gay or lesbian.  The media should be as ethnically diverse as the community it serves.  FAIR's 40-month survey of Nightline found its U.S. guests to be 92% white and 89% male.  A survey of PBS's NewsHour found its guestlist was 90% white and 87% male.  Demand that the media you consume reflect the diversity of the public they serve.

The issue of bias in the media is so important, I will stop here and pick up the topic next week.  Regardless of your political point of view I think we can all agree that without the facts, we cannot make an informed decision.  The only way to get the facts, is to listen  and read a variety of media.  I have no respect for anyone who says that they heard such and such on Fox News, so it must be true.  On the other side, anyone who gets all their information from MSNBC is also not getting the full story.  Let's pick this up later.  I will talk in my next blog on the topic about double standards, skewed coverage and loaded language.