Bias is prejudice in favor of or against a particular person, thing, or group in comparison to another, usually in a way that is deemed unfair. As journalists, we are taught to eliminate all bias within our writing; ultimately, it is our job to report the facts, and remain fair, objective, and accurate all the while. In the end, our final copy should represent all sides of the story and leave no questions unanswered for the reader. When bias is present, the question remains: if a story only presents one side, how is a reader supposed to make an informed decision on how they feel about the issue?
For example, there have been several stories published recently surrounding the Canadian women Olympic hockey team, and their double digit wins over teams such as Slovakia, who they beat out 18-0 in the tournament's opening game. Stories have been circulating as to whether or not these type of wins signal a fair competition in woman's hockey at the Olympics. Three stories from three separate regions in Canada present very distinct views on this issue. These stories are examples of both biased writing, and covering a biased issue; some women on the Canadian Olympic hockey team feel that they are being attacked for such wins because of their gender, citing examples such as the junior men world championship where Canada outscored the opposition 32-0 in the first three games without any criticism. In an online article from the Edmonton Journal, the reporter is clearly biased against Canada's double digit wins, forming his argument primarily out of opinion. One statement in particular stood out: "The Olympic motto is supposed to be swifter, higher, stronger; not beat, crush, destroy. It was an ugly game . . . and it should never have been allowed to happen." On the other hand, in an online article from the Vancouver Sun, the headline promotes a very different point of view: "Canada the role model for other countries to follow." Although not as biased as the article from the Journal, this article is clearly in favor of Team Canada's wins, ignoring points of view as seen in the article from the Journal. Also, the same quote from Rene Fasel is used in both articles, but it appears to take on a different meaning in each -- the result of bias. The final article from The Globe and Mail's website (which linked to ctvolympics.ca), was definitely the most neutral out of the three because it addressed alternative arguments (backed by credible sources), and focused more so on the statistics behind the double digit wins, in respect to both Canada and their opponents.
I also tried to find an article from a Swiss newspaper to get their perspective on this issue; however, it was very difficult because there was literally a handful of articles on woman's hockey to pick from, which were mostly recaps of the games. This is yet another example of bias.
In considering all of the above mentioned articles, I suppose one could form a well-rounded opinion on the issue. However, a journalist should always work to achieve this through their article alone.
Image from: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/ourgame/images/minor_memories/wickenheiser-595.jpg
I like the perspective. Good job in finding a "hot-button" topic to discuss. You make a good point when you say each journalist should seek to have one single well rounded article.
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ReplyDeleteReally awesome blog post Pam!
The only errors I found were:
- I think the word “type” should have been “types” in this sentence in order to agree with “wins”:
“Stories have been circulating as to whether or not these type of wins signal a fair competition in woman's hockey at the Olympics.”
- I think “was” in “because there was literally a handful of articles” (complete sentence below) should have been “were”.
“I also tried to find an article from a Swiss newspaper to get their perspective on this issue; however, it was very difficult because there was literally a handful of articles on woman's hockey to pick from, which were mostly recaps of the games.”
Good job, I really envy your awesome writing!