Media Bias Watch: Bias by Photo

[sl8]

From https://www.allsides.com/blog/media-bias-watch-bias-photo?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=BlogPost&utm_campaign=BiasbyPhoto

Media Bias Watch: Bias by Photo

BIAS / JANUARY 17TH, 2020 / BY JULIE MASTRINE

[...]

Media bias manifests in many different ways — on this blog, we’ve shown you how it can appear as bias by omission, sensationalism, and bias by placement. We’ve identified 11 different types of media bias to watch out for. Another obvious way bias manifests is by photo, which often falls under the umbrella of sensationalism. Recently, the AllSides team spotted quite a few examples of media bias by photo while curating balanced news.

Photos in the news can be used to shape the perception, emotions or takeaway a reader will have regarding a person or event. Sometimes a photo can give a hostile or favorable impression of the subject. For example, a media outlet may use a photo of an event or rally that was taken at the very beginning of the event to give the impression that attendance was low. Or, they may only publish photos of conflict or a police presence at an event to make it seem violent and chaotic. Things can also go the other way; reporters may choose to use photos that show things in a more favorable light — perhaps an image of a politician looking strong, determined or stately.

We often see bias by photo in political reporting. Media outlets with a left or right bias (or anything in between) sometimes choose photos that paint politicians on their side in a more favorable light, and politicians on the other side in a negative light. Take this recent example in The Blaze:



While media bias is always open to interpretation, this is not a neutral photo. Obama appears stern, or angry — with his hand raised, brows furrowed and mouth wide, it looks like maybe he’s even yelling. The Blaze seems to be framing the news about the ruling as something that would enrage Obama.

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More at link.

[guillaumeb]

1. The well known "angry black man" meme that right wingers love to promote.

A variation is the "angry woman of any color" meme.

[BigmanPigman]

2. Brings Marshall McCluhan to mind...

"In the early 1960s, McLuhan wrote that the visual, individualistic print culture would soon be brought to an end by what he called "electronic interdependence": when electronic media replaces visual culture with aural/oral culture. In this new age, humankind will move from individualism and fragmentation to a collective identity, with a "tribal base." McLuhan's coinage for this new social organization is the global village."

"Key to McLuhan's argument is the idea that technology has no per se moral bent—it is a tool that profoundly shapes an individual's and, by extension, a society's self-conception and realization..."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan