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Directions

-Read the media bias example below (from a Nov. 21 post by Kyle Drennen at mrc.org).
-Read "Types of Media Bias" here or in the right column. Then answer the questions.

From a post by Kyle Drennen at mrc.org (original post date 11/21/13):
image1177[As of Nov. 21st] NBC News has completely censored any mention of the unfolding ObamaCare disaster for the last 72 hours. Not one word about the millions of Americans losing their health insurance nor the severe political damage that has been done to President Obama and the Democratic Party.

In that same time period, both CBS and ABC reported on major developments regarding the new law, including revelations that much of ObamaCare’s infrastructure was still unfinished and that the administration knew of serious problems with the HealthCare.gov website as early as March.

The last time ObamaCare was even mentioned on the air waves of NBC News was during Monday morning’s [Nov. 18] Today show, when White House correspondent Peter Alexander touted a “to-do list” of damage control for the President and former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs was given a platform to spin for his former boss.

So what has NBC covered instead?

  • In the 7 a.m. ET half hour of Thursday’s Today, back-to-back stories were featured of baseball player Alex Rodriguez storming out of an MLB doping hearing and Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn suffering a recent injury.
  • The lead story on Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News was about new regulations requiring seat belts on certain types of buses.
  • Wednesday’s Today managed to find time for an entire segment on First Lady Michelle Obama revealing her biggest fashion regret and describing her first date with Barack Obama in a BET interview
  • Nightly News on Tuesday included a full story gushing over Caroline Kennedy becoming the U.S. ambassador to Japan.
  • Tuesday’s Today began with co-host Matt Lauer interviewing disgraced Toronto mayor Rob Ford.
  • Monday’s Nightly News featured a report on the “family feud” between Liz and Mary Cheney over gay marriage.

NBC found time for all of this, and yet, could not find time to update its millions of viewers on a huge policy failure potentially impacting all of them.

Identifying Media Bias

To accurately identify different types of bias, you should be aware of the issues of the day, and the liberal and conservative perspectives on each issue.

Types of Media Bias:

Questions

1.  What two types of bias did NBC display by not reporting the most recent updates on ObamaCare?

2.  Over the same three days that NBC did not provice its viewers with any updates on the health insurance rollout, both CBS and ABC reported on major developments regarding the new law, including revelations that much of ObamaCare’s infrastructure was still unfinished and that the administration knew of serious problems with the HealthCare.gov website as early as March. Why do you think NBC chose to ignore this topic that will impact so many of its viewers? 


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

Answers

1.  NBC displayed bias by omission and story selection in choosing not to report on the most recent updates on ObamaCare.

2.  Opinion question. Answers vary.