Unbiased

"Unbiased" means different things to different people. While some believe being unbiased to be a good thing and worth striving for depending on the context and situation, others argue it's impossible not to have bias.

Being unbiased can mean not taking or showing a stance or position on an issue, or not taking a side in a conflict or disagreement, or not allowing one’s personal opinions to sway their judgement.This can open up space for others to not be unduly influenced in making their own judgments and decisions.  

A bias is defined as a tendency, trend, preference, partiality, or inclination. Therefore, to be unbiased is to show no tendency, trend, preference, partiality, or inclination.

Some use the term "unbiased" with a positive connotation, implying that an absence of bias or prejudice is a good thing. They see bias as something to be avoided when resolving disagreements, particularly when it comes to the news media. Judges and juries, for instance, are expected to be “unbiased” in determining the guilt or innocence of alleged lawbreakers. Without the expectation of objectivity, this group argues, many important institutions could not be trusted.

Others argue that being unbiased — being completely free of a particular standpoint — is a philosophical impossibility. They argue bias is inherent in human nature and in the mind's ordering of information, with total neutrality being impossible to attain. Rather than being free from having a perspective, some believe acknowledging, articulating, and making transparent our biases allows for a more fair and "neutral" atmosphere to emerge. People trying to be neutral may say something like: "I’m impartial on the issue, but an advocate for the process of [dialogue, mediation, negotiation, etc]." 

Whereas neutrality can be seen in a negative light ("The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis." - Dante), the term can also have positive connotations, denoting fairness, equality, and balance, for some in the modern era.

AllSides' position is that everyone is biased, and it's impossible to rid ourselves of bias in totality. Bias in news media can be mitigated, however. It is part of human nature to have perspectives, preferences, and prejudices. But sometimes, bias — especially media bias — can become invisible to us. This is why AllSides provides thousands of media bias ratings and a media bias chart.