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Directions
-Read the excerpt below from the Nov. 8, 2010 post "Bungled Headline of the Day" posted at honestreporting.com's blog.
-Read "Types of Media Bias" in the right column. Then answer the questions.
Credit the Irish Times for today’s misleading headline:
“Police Demolition of Mosque Incites Riot as Israeli Arabs Vow to Rebuild”
You have to read the article to find out that the razed mosque was built without a permit, and illegally funded too. Not a very insightful headline. See AP [the Associated Press] for comparison:
“Israel Demolishes Illegal Mosque in Arab Town”
Read the original post at honestreporting.com.
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 does the headline “Police Demolition of Mosque Incites Riot as Israeli Arabs Vow to Rebuild” lead you to believe about the destruction of the mosque?
2. Why is it important for newspapers to provide accurate headlines for every news article?
3. Why do you think the Irish Times chose the headline that they did?
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.
Answers
1. The Irish Times’ headline leads you to believe that Israeli police destroyed a Muslim mosque for no reason. It implies that the Jewish government of Israel allows for random destruction of Islamic mosques.
2. Headlines can greatly influence readers’ opinions about the news. The importance of an accurate headline is that most people don’t read every word of every article; they often just skim the headlines. Therefore, those who read just a headline are not accurately informed when the headline misrepresents the story.
3. Opinion question. Answers vary.
