This is how media bias works

From John Lott, Jr. we have:

The AP provides another example of how media pushes an anti-gun agenda

It is usually pretty hard to definitively identify media bias. Often pressed for time, reporters are just unaware of opposing opinions or facts. And there is no way for readers to tell what information has been left out. But an Associated Press article, which appeared in hundreds of papers from the Los Angeles Times to the Houston Chronicle, provided a unique peek at how the media selectively picks anti-gun information in order to push for gun control.

The Associated Press article edited-down a 441-word version of a longer, 1,000-word article that appeared in the Indianapolis Star and a quote from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. While the original articles in the Star and Journal Gazette were balanced, the AP cut down the piece by systematically excluding one side of the argument — any information that concealed handgun permit holders are law-abiding and don’t pose a risk to others.

If someone appears to be reporting facts and is anti-gun you can almost be certain that if you dig to the original source you will find someone along the way was selecting their facts to match their conclusions.

Deception is an essential component to further their agenda.

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One thought on “This is how media bias works

  1. Selection bias is a hell of a drug.

    And one that is inherent in news reporting.

    Given the news /has/ to pick certain stories to report, and others to not report.
    And then has to pick what elements about a story to report. That’s a function of having finite resources to work with and far more “news” than any publication can cover.

    Thus it is exceptionally easy for selection bias to serve an overt, or unconscious ideological bias.

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