Media bias

The media bias or reporting bias is the bias or perceived bias of journalists and news producers within the media in the selection of events and stories to be reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive bias that contravenes the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an individual journalist or article. The direction and degree of media bias in various countries is widely disputed.

Some common forms of media bias include the presentation of information in an unbalanced or unbalanced way, that is, distorting, distorting or even outright lying, usually based on political or economic interests linked to the medium in question.

There are practical limitations to media neutrality, including the inability of journalists to report all available stories and facts, and the requirement that selected facts be linked together in a coherent narrative.

Types

• Political or ideological bias: Sesgo in favor of or against an ideological stance or a political party. It is the most common type of bias in the generalist media, and is very related to what is known as editorial line of every medium.
• Sensationalist bias: Choose specific news for your publication, as well as information without contrasting, based on your ability to surprise society or draw the attention of the audience, and not so much in its informative value as such. When a media makes abusive use of this bias it is considered to be yellow press.
• Corporate bias: To inform the owners of the media or their interests.
• Advertising bias: Give news that satisfy the advertisers of the media in question.
• Scientific information bias: Publish (as well as deny or overlook) certain results of scientific research based on certain created interests.

Media bias has a long history in the mass media. Only in recent times have the notions of a neutral point of view and balanced reporting been an integral part of journalism. Even the most objective journalists today cannot fully avoid bias of one kind or another.

It is also important to point out that citizens' consumption of information may be subjected not only to this media bias, but also to their own, when they tend to search for, interpret and remember information that confirms their own beliefs or hypotheses, discarding or underestimating possible alternatives. This cognitive bias incurred by the individual himself is known as confirmation bias.