Media Bias

What Types of Media Bias Are There?

Researchers have identified two distinct types of media misinformation. Overt media bias is when a news organization deliberately misrepresents events or data in order to shape public opinion. Instances of overt bias are rare. Often, bias is more subtle, like a news organization choosing only to report stories that make one side of the political aisle look good. Such bias is often called partisan or ideological slant, and is more common. Even more subtle forms of bias exist. Slant can also make its way into media coverage by framing, or how a story describes events. Framing involves selectively gathering facts (accurately reported, but including only a portion of relevant information) to promote a particular interpretation of an event.

People who study media bias think about it as a three-legged stool: distortion bias is when the media purposefully misrepresents facts, content bias is when a news organization gives more attention or coverage to one political side of the aisle than the other, and decision-making bias is when a journalist or editor is influenced too much by their personal preferences.

One way to measure distortion bias is by looking at the ideological position of news media in the language used and comparing that to language used by politicians, specifically members of Congress. If the commentary, storyline and word choices used match those of conservative members of Congress, these newspapers could be labeled conservative-leaning and vice versa. One way to measure content bias is to study variation in the intensity with which topics are covered by news media, which political figures are spotlighted or featured as guests, and the tone when these topics are written about. Decision-making bias can be measured by focusing on differences in story content across reporters.

Just How Biased Is The Media?  

Excluding high-profile mainstream news outlets which are of common conversation in today’s society, most studies find that relatively few media outlets are consistently, overtly, biased. Most organizations are considered centrist, modestly leaning to one side of the aisle or the other. Comparing the content and activity of regional broadcast news and newspapers to the ideological profiles of elected officials and Supreme Court justices tells us that most news organizations are in the middle of the ideological profiles of politicians. A study of newspapers found that newspapers tended to lean to the left on social issues and to the right on economic issues, but that an average of the ideological positions of newspapers fall in the middle of the left-right spectrum. Some news media organizations, however, have clear ideological or partisan slants. For example, Fox News is considered a right-leaning news organization, and CNN and MSNBC are considered left-leaning.

National surveys find that compared to the general public, a higher percentage of reporters are politically liberal (or Democrats). A 2013 study of journalists found that 50% identified as independent, while 28.1% identified as a Democrat, 7% identified as a Republican, and nearly 10% identified as another party. However, the political leanings of reporters in many cases reflect their local community, so highly Republican areas have a higher percentage of conservative reporters, and highly Democratic areas have more liberal reporters.  

Insofar as bias exists, it may reflect market forces. Reporters and editors also face strong incentives to write stories that attract an audience. Television broadcast news organizations rely on advertisements for revenue, which means the more viewers you have, the more revenue you make. Advertisers spent an estimated $504 billion on advertising at ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs alone in 2020. Under these conditions, media outlets face strong incentives to alter coverage to attract an audience. In this way, overt bias and slant reflect the opinions of the American public, and the fact that most people look for media coverage that is consistent with their ideological or partisan beliefs.  

Does My Choice Of Media Sources Affect What I Learn About Politics And Policy?

How people think about politics, candidates, and policy issues can be influenced by how news stories are written and what news media organizations decide to cover. Researchers have found that viewing news stories that match up with a person’s already-held political beliefs or opinions can make that person hold their beliefs more strongly. Similarly, researchers have documented that individuals tend to consume news that aligns with their partisan identity, and rarely consume political news that does not align with their political beliefs. News audiences with the most extreme political opinions often choose to consume partisan-slanted media, which can lead to audiences holding more extreme positions on issues.

What Can Americans Do To Find Better Media Coverage?

Deliberation, discussion, and exposure to information and alternative arguments are important in receiving the best media coverage. The best way to recognize outright bias and more subtle slant is to think about how they may be at play in any news article you read or program you watch. The best way to guard against framing by news organizations is to read articles about the same topic from multiple sources and see how the authors and organizations approach the topic differently.

To ensure access to fair, complete, and accurate political information in the long-term, Americans can read and support (pay for) media outlets, particularly at the local level. The work journalists do, sometimes connected to network news, but often found in local newspapers, local radio news, and local television news, helps us keep elected officials accountable by providing information about complex topics and situations from different viewpoints. Considering journalism as a resource essential to a healthy, thriving democracy, might help to ensure we can consume information from multiple sources that are less driven by national market forces.