Blackwell Reference Online

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In societies with a tradition of partisan news media (→  Partisan Press ), whether news organizations have a political bias in their reporting is less of a concern. In other environments where mainstream news media purport to be fair and objective, and journalists are expected to be neutral gatekeepers instead of partisan advocates (→  Advocacy Journalism ; Journalists’ Role Perception ), whether or not the news media have a bias would receive close scrutiny from politicians, scholars, the general public, and journalists themselves. It is common for observers to perceive a political bias, which reduces their trust in the news media, and triggers their criticism of both media organizations and journalists (→  Media Production and Content ). A bias can be understood as a preference or inclination. A media bias, the opposite of objectivity (→  Objectivity in Reporting ), can be defined as differential treatment of (e.g., favoring) a particular side of an issue, which can be measured quantitatively or qualitatively. If one side receives proportionally less news coverage, or apparently more negative, inaccurate, or unbalanced coverage, a bias is shown (see Simon et al. 1989 ). Some may argue that an absolute objectivity is impossible to achieve, and therefore the term “bias” – the antonym of “objectivity” – should be replaced by a term such as “favoritism.” McQuail (1992) identifies ... log in or subscribe to read full text