Spotting Types of Media Bias is Easy with This New AllSides Resource

How many types of media bias can you name? Many people are familiar with sensationalism in the media, but they may not know that bias manifests in the media in multiple other ways as well. A new AllSides resource, 11 Types of Media Bias, helps you learn how to spot multiple types of media bias.

I wrote the majority of 11 Types of Media Bias during my stint as a fellow in the Poynter-Koch Media Fellowship. I worked with a group of other fellows in the program — writers and editors from the Saturday Evening Post, Stossel TV, and Abridge News — who helped to create this comprehensive list. The piece was reviewed by the program directors alongside a number of other journalism projects submitted by the fellows.

I became passionate about educating people about media bias after working for years as a writer and public relations professional. It was my job to read lots of media outlets and chat with lots of journalists every day, and I couldn't help but notice that these 11 types of bias often manifested in their writing. I hope this new AllSides resource helps other people learn to consume media critically!

The Poynter-Koch Media Fellowship is designed for aspiring and entrepreneurial journalists to refine their storytelling skills and accelerate their careers in media. Unique and central to the media fellowship program is understanding the crucial role of free speech and a free press in our society. AllSides is proud to have had multiple employees participate in the fellowship.

Journalism is meant to be impartial, objective, and fair, but often our modern media distorts information. The distortions happen in subtle ways that obscure information, confuse the reader, and/or twist the truth. Often, this is done to advance a partisan political agenda. This is why I created 11 Types of Media bias; it's also why those of us at AllSides work hard to provide over 600 media bias ratings and a media bias chart. By making bias transparent, we believe we can create a better informed populace that is armed with a broader view and an appreciation of different perspectives.

What do you think of the 11 Types of Media Bias? Did we miss any? As always, please feel free to share your thoughts, and don’t forget to spread the word about media bias by sharing 11 Types of Media Bias on Facebook.

Julie Mastrine is the Director of Marketing at AllSides. She has a Center bias.