Monday, October 5: News sources and bias: where do they fall on the spectrum?

News of the day: 

Irish court rules Subway loaves are too sugary to be called bread

Bread in Subway's hot sandwiches contains too much sugar to meet Ireland's legal definition for bread, the country's Supreme Court has ruled.

The judgment was handed down on Tuesday in response to a Subway franchisee who had appealed for a tax refund, arguing that its bread is a "staple" food and therefore subject to a 0% tax rate.

Five judges considered the case, determining that Subway bread has too much sugar in it to be part of this category, and is therefore subject to a higher tax.

"The bread supplied by Subway in its heated sandwiches has a sugar content of 10% of the weight of the flour included in the dough," Justice Donal O'Donnell said when delivering the judgment.

And moving on~~~~

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We have been exploring our personal biases, the objective being that when we recognize our own, we may more accurately write as responsible journalists. To that end, we are going to spend some time exploring various news sources, where they fall on the political / social spectrum and how this impacts their coverage of a story.

1) Let's take a look at the inforgraphic above.

      a. Note how NPR and The Wall Street Journal are placed in the center. What does that mean exactly?  How should we perceive the news from these souces?

     b. Now look at the two left leaning news sources. Why are some of the sources in both columns?  What differences to you see?

     c. Continue to look at the infographic. What other observations can you make?

Let's take a look at the following chart. What differences do you note in terms of where and what is placed on the political spectrum?

Most importantly, how should you ingest the news as a responsible consurmer?

Here are a few examples of major news sources and their so-called "bias" 

The following is from the Pew Report, which comes from The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world.

To get the full spectrum on current news there is ALLSides, which uses media bias rating to provide balanced news perspectives and issues across the political 

spectrum.

In the Middle

Common Ground: Centrist News Sources

• Wall Street Journal

  Daily business-focused newspaper based out of New York City.

The Wall Street Journal has a bias rating of "Center" according to AllSides. The Pew Research Center found that the Wall Street Journal is read by people of all political leanings and is the only news source that is more trusted than distrusted by people all across the political spectrum. There is, however, some debate but it has been accused of being biased to both the left and the right.

• BBC News

  The British Broadcasting Corporation News division produces television, radio, and internet news. The BBC is a public service broadcaster established by a Royal Charter of the United Kingdom.

The BBC News has a bias rating of "Center" from AllSides. According to Pew, BBC is more trusted than distrusted among the different ideological groups except for consistently conservative individuals who view BBC as about equally trusted as distrusted.

• USA Today

  American daily newspaper that provides both news and entertainment coverage.

USA Today has a bias rating of "Center" from AllSides. According to the Pew survey, USA Today is more trusted than distrusted among the different ideological groups except for consistently conservatives who view USA Today as more distrusted than trusted.

Almost Center News Sources

The following news sources are rated as "Center" by AllSides and are noted for stating an independent and unbiased agenda, as well as consistently providing balanced coverage (giving time to both sides of an issue). However, they are listed here as almost center because of audience distrust from conservatives.

Respondents to the Pew survey who are consistently liberal, mostly liberal, and mixed views, rated these sources as more trusted than distrusted. Mostly conservatives rated them as about equally trusted as distrusted; Consistently conservatives rated them as more distrusted than trusted.

• NPR

  National Public Radio is a U.S. private and publicly funded non-profit organization that syndicates to a network of local stations.
• PBS NewsHour

  The Public Broadcasting Service is a non-commercial U.S. television broadcaster and distributor.

Sources on the Left and Right

A key finding from the Pew survey is that conservatives have a higher level of distrust overall of news sources and consume a much narrower range of news sources. Liberal audiences trust and consume a broader range of news sources.

Therefore, there are more news sources that are rated or perceived as center-left/slight left leaning (especially mainstream sources); there are fewer news sources that are center-right. This represents the popular conservative discourse that the mainstream media has a liberal bias (and potential hostile media effect).

Towards the Left

These news sources are rated as "Lean Left" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly conservative and consistently conservative; and are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mixed, mostly liberal, and consistently liberal.

• New York Times

  American daily newspaper published since 1851.
• Washington Post

  American daily newspaper published out of Washington D.C. since 1877.

Far Left

These news sources are rated as "Left" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mostly liberal, consistently liberal; and are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly conservative, and consistently conservative.

• Huffington Post

  American news aggregator and blog founded by Arianna Huffington in 2005.
• Mother Jones

  American news and culture magazine first published in 1976.

Towards the Right

These news sources are rated as "Right" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly liberal and consistently liberal; and are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mixed, mostly conservative, and consistently conservative. Note that this represents a further bias leaning than the "towards the left" sources. There are no direct parallels on the right.

• Fox News

  American news television channel headquartered in New York City and created by Rupert Murdoch in 1996.

Far Right

These news sources are rated as "Right" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly liberal, consistently liberal; and are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mostly conservative, and consistently conservative.

• The Blaze / Glenn Beck Program

  News platform founded by Glenn Beck in 2010
• Drudge Report

  News aggregation site founded by Matt Drudge in 1996.

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