Bias has a distorting effect on how facts are presented and interpreted by different audiences.
National news networks must make decisions about what stories to run, how to present what
happened, and what order to tell those stories in. Bias can be a powerful factor in how the news is
reported. Your paper should be at least 2500 words.
Prompt
Select two national news shows (do not use local news shows) that air on the same day from two
different major networks (from networks such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc. Do not choose local
news shows). Note the similarities and differences between each network in terms of which stories
both networks report, which stories are covered by one and not the other, and what differences there
are in the stories they choose to report.
Summarize the stories and the way they were reported including a note of body language, word usage,
and omissions.
Explore the historical issues of bias in both news sources and how that might affect coverage.
Discuss how viewers only watching one of these sources might get a different sense of current events
than one watching the other.
Discuss what steps each source could take to reduce their bias.
