Title: How do you tell when the news is biased? It depends on how you see yourself » Nieman Journalism Lab
Headings: How do you tell when the news is biased? It depends on how you see yourself
How do you tell when the news is biased? It depends on how you see yourself
Does the quest for balance in news stories open journalists up to claims of bias? It’s all about the framing.
The hostile media effect
You see bias when you see yourself as part of a group
What’s a journalist to do?

Content: What’s a journalist to do? The first defense against accusations of bias is to report fairly. But the hostile media effect pretty much guarantees that some stories are going to be hated by just about everyone, no matter how they’re written. I suppose this is no surprise for any journalist who reads the comments section, but it has implications for how news organizations might respond to such accusations. This research also suggests that the longstanding practice of journalists hiding their personal affiliations might actually be effective at reducing perceived bias. But only up to a point: To avoid charges of bias, the audience needs to be able to see the journalist as fundamentally one of them. This might require getting closer to the audience, not hiding from them. If we each live inside of many identities, then there are many possible ways to connect; conversely, it would be helpful to know, empirically, under what conditions a journalist’s politics are actually going to be a problem for readers, and for which readers.