2.11 The Media and political communications

Bias is a preference, opinion or attitude that favors one way of thinking or feeling over another. Bias affects how people see events and people around them.

Bias in media or political communication can occur in various ways.

A journalist or politician can choose to select or leave out certain information in order to persuade the reader to favor one opinion over another.

Bias also occurs through the placement of information. If information is featured in large or bold type or in very small type, the author is sending a message about how the information should be viewed. This technique often occurs through headlines and titles on websites.

Another way that bias appears is through word choice and tone. If a news story, advertisement or campaign pamphlet contains mainly positive or mainly negative words about a subject, this will persuade the audience to think or feel a certain way.

Finally, bias occurs in the way data and statistics are used. For example, during a campaign speech a candidate may share only positive data about their accomplishments rather than the negative in order to convey positive messages to the reader.