A common question that comes up when talking about journalism is often this: How do we leave our biases behind when we begin a story? Personally, I think the best way to avoid biases is to make sure that the facts you have are true and good. Also it is necessary that you present the material in the story from all sides. But often times, it is not possible to leave biases at the door. There are moments when, as journalists, we can take advantage of biases to create well rounded stories. Stories don't always have to be neutral. In this article about journalism, it talks about how biases are used and common forms of them.
However it is commonly understood that biases are only seen in stories, that is not true. Ethnocentrism, or a belief in one's own values, as we talked about in class, and is also discussed in the book The Mind of a Journalist, often has an effect on what type of stories we choose. Here is an excellent study done that proves that point. Right away in our class discussion, we were able to see that there is not only biases in the stories we write, but even in just the choice of the story itself. How can we solve this problem and remove the bias? Or should it even be solved? These are questions that many of us wonder as journalists and personally, I don't think there is really an answer.
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