Spotting Bias
Understand the uses of objective and subjective language, and identify bias.
Read this first
Bias hides in word choice and in what gets left out. Both are worth hunting.
Words you need
- Objective
- Neutral and factual. No feeling attached.
- Subjective
- Shows the writer's opinion or feeling.
- Bias
- Leaning one way, often without saying so.
- Omission
- Something deliberately left out.
Worked example
e.g. Find the bias: A mob of protesters swarmed the square, disrupting hard-working locals.
- Step one: look at the naming words. Mob, not group.
- Mob makes them sound dangerous. That is a loaded choice.
- Step two: look at the verbs. Swarmed, not gathered.
- Swarmed is what insects do. It removes their humanity.
- Step three: look at who gets the kind words. The locals are hard-working.
- Step four: ask what is missing. Why were they protesting?
- That omission is the strongest bias of all.
- Rewrite it neutrally: Protesters gathered in the square.
Check naming words, verbs, and what is missing.
Practice
Naming words, verbs, then what is missing.
1Which is objective: the crowd or the mob?with a picture
AnswerThe crowd.
2Name one place bias hides besides word choice.with a picture
AnswerIn what is left out.
3The council wasted $2m on a so-called upgrade. Find two biased words.with a hint
Need a hint?
Look at the verb and the doubting phrase.
AnswerWasted and so-called.
4Make it neutral: She admitted the plan had failed.with a hint
Need a hint?
Admitted suggests guilt.
AnswerShe said the plan had not worked.
5Why is omission harder to spot than a loaded word?on your own
AnswerYou cannot see what is not there. You have to ask what is missing.
6Can a text of only true facts still be biased?on your own
AnswerYes. Choosing which true facts to include is itself a choice.
Think about it
1
Why does bias work better when hidden?
One good answerReaders resist open opinion. A loaded word slips past unnoticed.
2
Is all bias dishonest?
One good answerNot always. Every writer chooses words. The problem is bias dressed as neutral reporting.
Common mistakes
Bias means the writer is lying.
No. Every sentence in a biased text can be true. The lean is in the choices.
Only opinion pieces are biased.
News reports carry bias too, in which stories run and which words get used.