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  • Escrito por Cesáreo hace 18 años y 11 meses (10 Jul 2005 18:01)
This is part of the homework I have to do for tomorrow. It is taken from Media and Messages Book

1. The "Clinton News Network" versus "We Report. You Decide".
Purpose: to make think about today situation where we have a lot of different sources of information but we can ask, are the objetives? even those that say that?
How: CNN was called Clinton News Network, and Fox News raised up thanks its slogan "We report. You decide". Two different kinds of making news.

The autor tries to make us thinking about how the media influence in the news. There are so many situations in that there have been, proved tries to manipulate reality, not only in articles (writing) even also images.
So, today, the TV-power doesn't grant no bias in messages. And most people see TV and don't read newspapers.
Today, besides, everyone can manipulate photo or video with very little technical resources.
Also the format of the news can affect, it could be more dramatic, or more funny or even only narrative. All can affect the news, so it's difficult don't be bias.
This problem has been from the early news media ages, and perhaps, is inherent to media. The author shows a lot of examples: Clinton impeachment, Iraq war, Balcans War, Time article, and so on.

2. A presumption of Objectivity.
Purpose: to show than when we enter in details is very difficult, if not imposible, to not have bias.
How: showing different text where authors try to not be bias avoiding why question.

Not be bias is also a statemento of ASNE, leaving specifing places for opinions in editorials section. If the journalist only write a title, could not introduce bias, but when details come up it's not so easy. Sometimes depends on story, so it's not the same writing about a tornado that politics.
One way of avoid bias is not answering the why-question, but is it possible? We are not agree, besides our own bias, in the why-question, although we could be agree in remaining questions: who, what, where, when and how.
Some times or the journalist or editors of the news makes some slant and cut some details of reality. Sometimes they use or avoid some types of words (avoid connotation).
A important player, also, are the owners of the media, or the corporations that with their advertisments make the newspaper live.

3. News on the Sentence Level.
Purpose: shows how the use of words and sentence (literacy) can introduce bias, also
How: showing two types of articles

In this article, the author goes to the sentence level. Showing two examples, we can see how the way of writing (more funny or more formal, in this case) can introduce bias. The way of presenting facts, can change the war of reading the same facts.

4. Bias or em-plot-ment
Purpose: thinking about creationg history and writing process.
How: getting into details makes that writer tell us a story. You can see this in differente examples the author shows

We would be able to not introduce slant or bias if we would only have a title. But, a write has to make a story, so has to get into details, so has bias. At least, their experience. This could be seen in varius examples in the text. It depends of the format, but also depends of what writer wants to say, or why writer, or even how writer makes the statements.
Writers use structures to make stories. And making a story is a process where several things are involved, so structure can affect to the what-question, or new perspectives can change writing structure. So it depends of what writer wants to focus on, the real story behing that story.
Author uses the High School Reunion reality Show to focus in the real story behind scenes.

My experience.
It is clear that it is imposible to not have bias. Perhaps for robots, but I don't know because a robot is programed by a human. My experience is that is better to trust in people than in media, so is important to know who is the author and his or her biography.
In other hand, I think it is important to listen or to pick several different sources. There is no perfect, unbiased source, so it is better to pick more than one.
Another good strategy it is to learn how media and messages communication works.

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Blog Mi estancia en Berkeley (Summer Sessions 2005)

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