Pepperdine students wrestle with news bias SAMANTHA TORRE | NEWS ASSISTANT The reporter sits at their desk, hard at work writing an article. First comes the objective information: who, what, when, where, why. After, the reporter looks through their notes and listens to their audio recordings to find the best quotes. Then, if it is clear, the reporter may add the possible consequences of the events. The reporter checks for spelling and grammar and, considering their article a job well done, sends it to their editor. But the reporter added something else along the way. Intentional or not, this addition threatens the validity of their story and the trust of the community. What is it? News bias. This bias can appear when a reporter leaves out a crucial source or uses a specific descriptor or when a newspaper chooses to highlight one story over another. These factors all contribute to the overall bias of a newspaper. News bias, Communication Professor Colin Storm said, can be divided into actual bias and perceived bias. It is the responsibility of the reporter to provide as unbiased a report as possible. Actual bias is the measurable bias of the newspaper, while perceived bias is subjective based on the view of the consumer. “Its original source is the idea that media have tendencies to lean one way or another and not be objective when it comes to a certain topic,” Storm said. “That could be a range of topics from political to sports to whatever — so the idea that they just are not acting as neutral arbiters of news.” Storm offered information on how experts examine news bias, while Pepperdine students shared their perspective on news bias and how it affects their reading of the news. What is News Bias? Software observes the amount of time spent on a topic or the phrases a newspaper uses to track actual bias, Storm said. To rate bias, web resource AllSides Media Bias Ratings uses surveys, editorial reviews and third-party analysis, which can include academic research or data. A news source that shows a mixed bias shows many different perspectives, according to AllSides. In contrast, a center-biased source, such as the BBC, does not express perspectives that favor one side of the spectrum predictably. “A media outlet with a Center rating may omit important perspectives, or run individual articles that display bias, while not displaying a lot of predictable bias in its content overall,” wrote AllSides in its Center section. Sources AllSides rated left-leaning, including the New York Times, are more likely to show favor for liberal policies, while Fox News, which AllSides rated as right-leaning, is more likely to show favor for conservative policies. Opinion sections for these sources are rated farther left and right respectively. The mixing of perspectives and news reporting pieces can contribute to the perceived bias of a newspaper, Storm said. “Perceived bias is what we the consumers think about the content that we see or hear or read or lis-
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The Pepperdine Graphic, If It Bleeds, May 10, 2021
ten to,” Storm said. Though opinion pieces can contribute to perceived bias, sophomore Anitiz Muonagolu, Perspectives editor for the Graphic, said opinion pieces allow writers to share their opinions and create spaces for discussion. To write an opinion piece, it is necessary for the writer to both research the issue and provide a solution or “explain” why the issue is important. “When formulating your opinion or even just being aware of how to make broader decisions of the world, you need opinion pieces because they would help put the news into certain contexts— contexts you need to make better decisions and understand why it matters,” Muonagolu said. Opinion pieces, Muonagolu said, are a way to create dialogue with the surrounding community about current events, both local and international. “Even though people can make their own decisions, there also needs to be a constant space where we can normalize changing it and gaining more information,” Muonagolu said. “And that only happens in opinion news.” Students Utilize Different Sources of News Junior Nicolas Armenta, president of Pepperdine College Democrats, said his top news sources are Al Jazeera, CNN and newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. “I definitely don’t just go to one source,” Armenta said. “I do what mostly every college student does now, which is looking at different sources, from both ends of the political spectrum, from different countries, in different languages, different opinions. It’s really important to get different perspectives.” Armenta said he became more aware of false news and media bias due to his role in providing information through the Pepperdine College Democrats. “I will never put anything out that is false, and I only use sources that I trust and the e-board trusts and we all go over it,” Armenta said. “I hold that really highly, and I’m very, very proud of my club for continuing to do that because it’s upsetting when I see other Pepperdine clubs not doing the same thing.” It can be easy, Storm said, to read one source
Nicole Wong | Staff Artist
