Title: What Is News Media Bias? (Cognitive Bias)
Headings: News Media Bias
News Media Bias
Commercial Bias
Temporal Bias
Visual Bias
Narrative Bias
Fairness Bias
Test on Biases, Fallacies, and Other Cognitive Effects
See Also
"Using Numbers in Texting"

Content: The journalistic code demands fairness in reporting, and many news media outlets manage this by trying to add balance to every story. In particular, this affects coverage on politicians and politics. To prevent being biased to one side, the media often seeks a reaction from the opposing camp. As a result, new policy always looks controversial and politics always seems contentious. New positive policies or announcements are routinely undermined by the media, who feel compelled to seek an opposing view, which might become more influential than it should by dint of its media coverage. The BBC is so "fair", it often isn't fair, and its reporters and editors tussle with this idea constantly. For example, let's imagine that 99% of people think apartheid is inhuman and immoral and 1% think it isn't. A news programme covering this issue would present the idea as though it were a 50/50 debate (e.g., showing two street interviews with people against apartheid and two for). There is another dynamic at play: the workforce of the BBC is not representative of British society.