Bias is a complicated and nuanced topic. We are often told to avoid biased sources, however, what does that mean? And is that good advice?
Biased sources are weighted against certain perspectives.
A story about the need to save the rainforest will be biased in favor of environmental protections, but will miss the perspective of how those protections hurt business interests. It is biased and could still be a source of information.
Today we will explore bias through a reading strategy called “Question the Author" to analyze authorial choice to determine their perspective and message.
As we read we can add more depth to these questions, however, these are a strong starting point for analysis.
Key Take Aways
Students will be able to analyze the values and points of view that are presented in media messages.
Step 1: Go to Opposing Viewpoints in Context from Gale
Step 2: Conduct a search relevant to your research
Step 3: Each member of your group should select a different article under “Viewpoints." (Viewpoints in Gale refers to biased (usually opinion) articles from one of the Gale sources.)
Step 4: One person in the group should open this Google Slides Presentation, and share it with the other members of the group.
Step 5: Each member of your group should be assigned one slide in this presentation, and will complete the “Question the Author” activity on it, based on their chosen article.
