Objectivity in News and Media?
Overt Bias
• Video Clip 1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iEWbSzY1_o
• Video Clip 2
Overt or Covert Bias?
Overt bias is the open display of prejudice, while
covert bias is the implicit or hidden display of
prejudice.
Discussion:
Which do you think is more insidious / deceitful
– overt or covert bias?
Which has the greater potential to influence the
audience?
Beijing, China, 4 June 1989.
Chechnya, May 1995.
Kuro, South Korea, 18 December 1987.
Covert Bias
• Biases need not be overt – they can also
be exposed through the use of language –
words with connotations.
• Can you think of ways in which writers
may subconsciously reveal their
prejudices?
Examples
• Positive representation of self vs negative
representation of the other, also known as
“Otherness”.
• Reporting certain views and marginalising
or leaving out others – prejudice is always
reflected in the facts we choose to
highlight or ignore.
• Foregrounding vs backgrounding
Hunks and Handmaidens
• What ideologies can you
determine from this text?
• Hunks vs Handmaidens
• What are the connotations for these 2
terms?
• “Subtitle” comment
• My sons learned early to make lasagna —
then came puberty, and damsels lining up
to help.
• “Subtitle” comment
• My sons learned early to make lasagna
— then came puberty, and damsels lining
up to help.
• Note the assignment of blame: puberty
and damsels
L3
• Suddenly, the family phone recorder
began to fill up with breathless
messages from what his older brother
referred to as “Rhett’s Gidgets,”
flaxen-haired surfer girls from a
nearby beach.”
L3
• Suddenly, the family phone recorder began to fill
up with breathless messages from what his
older brother referred to as “Rhett’s Gidgets,”
flaxen-haired surfer girls from a nearby
beach.”
• Note: adjectival descriptions, derogatory terms
• Gidget is a character created by author Frederick
Kohner (based on his teenage daughter, Kathy) in his
1957 novel, Gidget, the Girl with Big Ideas. The novel
follows the surf culture adventures of a boy crazy
teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beaches of
southern California.
L5
• Like fruit flies they appeared in dense
buzzing masses with exotic names like
Shaunna, Tiffany, Kendra and Kimberly…
L5
• Like fruit flies they appeared in dense
buzzing masses with exotic names like
Shaunna, Tiffany, Kendra and Kimberly…
• Note: “dense buzzing masses” and
previously, “breathless”
• They’re all the same, just with different
names.
L11
• The waitress, an attractive Madonna
clone, went into great detail with him
concerning salad dressings, crust types,
cheese consistencies, toppings, whether
he wanted ice with his Coke, did he live in
the neighborhood, was there anything else
he might want
L11
• The waitress, an attractive Madonna clone,
went into great detail with him concerning salad
dressings, crust types, cheese consistencies,
toppings, whether he wanted ice with his Coke,
did he live in the neighborhood, was there
anything else he might want
• Just clones, no individuality
L15
• When he smiled and shook his head, she
floated off toward the kitchen, totally
forgetting to take my order.
L15
• When he smiled and shook his head, she
floated off toward the kitchen, totally
forgetting to take my order.
• Note: could this be the reason for author’s
frustration?
L8
• Next to my son, I had become invisible…
L8
• Next to my son, I had become invisible…
• Note: again, a clue explaining her
frustration. Appeal to pathos.
L21
• Like most American moms, I had been so
blinded by the sight of my offspring in
ripped jeans and SAVE THE MANATEE T
shirts, and so deafened by numerous
arguments over the acceptable decibel
level of Beastie Boys CDs, that I was slow
to recognize my firstborn had become
heartthrob material…
L21
• Like most American moms, I had been so
blinded by the sight of my offspring in ripped
jeans and SAVE THE MANATEE T shirts, and so
deafened by numerous arguments over the
acceptable decibel level of Beastie Boys CDs,
that I was slow to recognize my firstborn had
become heartthrob material…
• Note: Positive representation of son
L23
• Through some quirks of DNA, my exhusband and I—two average appearing
adults—spawned genetic celebrities:
square-jawed, pearly-toothed, mahoganyhair, 6-foot-5-inch slabs of guy flesh whose
casual glance seems to turn many
otherwise articulate young women into
babbling Barbies…
L23
• Through some quirks of DNA, my ex-husband
and I—two average appearing adults—spawned
genetic celebrities: square-jawed, pearlytoothed, mahogany-hair, 6-foot-5-inch slabs of
guy flesh whose casual glance seems to turn
many otherwise articulate young women into
babbling Barbies…
• Note: Positive representation of sons, negative
representation of the fruit flies.
L28
• Wasn’t the motherhood manifesto for
women of my generation to abolish
stereotypes?
L28
• Wasn’t the motherhood manifesto for
women of my generation to abolish
stereotypes?
• Note: is she herself indulging in
stereotypes?
L32
• We’ve done our part to raise our sons as
full-fledged “new” team members—
competent, caring individuals who can do
more around the house than crush cans
for the recycling bin and put a new plastic
liner in the garbage pail.
L32
• We’ve done our part to raise our sons as
full-fledged “new” team members—
competent, caring individuals who can do
more around the house than crush cans
for the recycling bin and put a new plastic
liner in the garbage pail.
• Note: so we are not to be blamed
L36
• Both of my sons learned early to make an
edible lasagna… Growing up in a singlemom household for much of their lives,
they really had to carry their weight
domestically. And they did – for a while.
L36
• Both of my sons learned early to make an
edible lasagna… Growing up in a singlemom household for much of their lives,
they really had to carry their weight
domestically. And they did – for a
while.
• Note: Again, so we are not to be blamed
L42
• Over the last few years, the boys’
domestic skills have atrophied because
handmaidens have appeared en masse
L42
• Over the last few years, the boys’
domestic skills have atrophied because
handmaidens have appeared en masse
• Cf “buzzing masses”
L44
• The damsels have driven by, beeped,
phoned and faxed.
L44
• The damsels have driven by, beeped,
phoned and faxed.
• Note: rather pro-active for damsels
L45
• Some appeared so frequently outside the
front door they began to remind me of the
suction-footed Garfields spread-eagled on
car windows.
L45
• Some appeared so frequently outside the
front door they began to remind me of the
suction-footed Garfields spread-eagled
on car windows.
• Desperate damsels
L46
• While the girls varied according to height,
hair color and basic body type, they
shared one characteristic. They were
eager to help the guys out.
L46
• While the girls varied according to height,
hair color and basic body type, they
shared one characteristic. They were
eager to help the guys out.
• Physical differences, but mentally they are
all the same.
L63
• She did not see the broader implications.
L63
• She did not see the broader implications.
• Read: dumb, not a big picture person
L68
• He could clean his own room…
L68
• He could clean his own room…
• Note: But he isn’t doing any of it, is he?
L75
• My sons do not have to employ many of
the skills I’ve so painstakingly taught them
during our time together.
L76
• Young women take one look at the guys
and stand in line to become the chosen
one…
L75
• My sons do not have to employ many of the
skills I’ve so painstakingly taught them during
our time together.
L76
• Young women take one look at the guys and
stand in line to become the chosen one…
• Note: blame assignment not on her own sons
L80
• This is not the way it was supposed to be
— the reason I read 50 books on raising
males in the new world order.
L80
• This is not the way it was supposed to
be — the reason I read 50 books on
raising males in the new world order.
• Note: the Bonnies spoilt it all for her?
L81
• This is not the payoff I would like for
spending years in a support group for
single moms with sons.
L83
• I’ve done my part.
• Note: patting her own back
What is she up to?
• She faults the girls, but not the boys
• She faults the girls, but not herself
• She does not seem to consider the
possibility that maybe her sons are also at
fault
• What is the motivation for writing this?
Bias can be hidden through:
• Positive representation of self and
negative representation of the “other”
• Deliberate emphasis of certain information
• Deliberate omission of certain information
• Specific choice of words
Questions to reflect on:
• Is media neutrality attainable?
• Is media neutrality desirable?
• How can journalists and media producers
try to achieve media neutrality?
• Why should journalists and media
producers even bother to be neutral or
balanced?