Media: A Critical View

+

+

Media: A Critical View

Using Media to Study World Issues

+Agenda:

Review of what is an ISSUE?

Defining “media”

Types of media bias

Steps for detecting bias

Detect it yourself!

+World IssuesWhat is an issue?

Issue: an important subject open to discussion or debate. In general, issues:Generate concerns about how the outcome will affect the well-being of the earth's environments and species;

Involve interrelated political, environmental, social, and economic aspects;

Have complex causes and complex solutions.

+Global IssueWhat is a global issue?

Global issues are significant issues relating to or involving most of the Earth. An issue is global if it:

Persists or is long-acting;

Is transnational or trans-boundary;

Affects large numbers of people;

Is an underlying cause of events;

Is connected to other issues that meet these criteria.

+Types of ISSUES – seminar ideasSPEEC

We will consider global issues from 5 distinct perspectives:

Social: interpersonal relations or relations between communities;

Political: power and control.

Economic :financial costs and benefits;

Environment: how we impact the environment and how the environment impacts us;

Cultural: shared knowledge, behavioral norms, values and beliefs that help people to live in families, groups and communities

+What is the Media? In general the term “media” refers to all the various

forms of mass communication

Examples: television, radio, newspaper, ads, commercials, billboards, online sources (blogs, YouTube channels, etc), and social media (Facebook, Twitter)

+Media and the study of world issues

Main source of information on world issues

Real-time now thanks to social media (Twitter, Facebook)

Great benefits, but also great challenges

TAKE 2

What challenges can arise from having such a huge amount of available information at our fingertips?

What factors do we need to consider when analyzing different media sources?

+What is bias? Prejudice in favor of or against one perspective, group,

organization, institution or individual

Examples?

+Six Main Types of News Media Bias:Gate-keeping Bias

• Declining to report on stories or keeping stories covered up

Coverage Bias Reporting on only

certain aspects of a story

Coverage only focuses on one stakeholder in the story or one perspective

+Types of BiasMainstream Bias

Reporting on stories that other media is reporting on, while ignoring others

Sensationalism Bias

Reporting on events that are unusual or rare, as if they are more common

+Types of Bias:Advertising Bias

Stories are covered-up, selected or modified to appease the advertisers

Corporate Bias

When the owners of the medium have an agenda or bias

+10 Steps for Critical Analysis1) What is the main message of the text?

2) What is its purpose (to inform, educate, persuade, entertain)?

3) Who is the author or creator?

4) What is their socio-political position?

5) With what social, political and/or professional groups does the author identify with?

6) Does the author have anything to gain from delivering the message?

7) Who is paying for the delivery for the message and where does it appear?

8) What bias can you detect in the text?

9) What data does the author/creator reference (facts, statistics, opinions)?

10) What conclusions can you draw from the text?

+Facts and Opinions

Facts

Be critical of how they are used

How was the data collected?

Who collected it?

Would someone else collecting it produce the same “facts”

What facts were not given as evidence (what is omitted)?

Opinions

Not all opinions are useful

People are not impartial

All opinions are biased!

Examples… 60% of teenagers spend an

average of 20 hours watching TV

75% of teens aged 12-17 own a cell phone