Welcome

We'll take a close look at how the major U.S. television news media present some of the big issues of our time like the environment, AIDS, racism, and terrorism.I hope that you'll discover some answers to the question expressed by the course title.

Bias by Bernard Goldberg is available in the bookstore. Goldberg was a senior reporter with CBS News. He wrote this book, which became a bestseller, five years ago. It's an insider's view of how the major television news media often slant important stories. Because of this book, most of his friends in the media dumped him and claimed that he is just angry with CBS, his former employer.

You'll write summaries of each chapter week by week, so buy the book now. This course will involve a fair bit of reading and a lot of discussion, both posting your opinion on this website and talking in class.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

W4 C1 Should readers have to guess what is 'news' versus 'opinion'?

Here's a link to two screenshots from the Star. The first is the way the 'poverty' article looked when you read it; the second it today's version. It's hard to see, but look closely and you'll notice the word "Opinion" above today's version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcmw4842_145d8scjndd

I guess the editors agreed with me after all :)

But, check out any article under the "Opinion" link in the blue title bar. Every one is called a 'story' - a news article -- not one of them has 'Opinion' above it. If they wanted to make a clear distinction, all they have to do is highlite the 'Opinion' tab in the blue title bar when any of these articles is accessed.

Update: Looks like they just followed my suggestion for some, but not all articles - very confusing.

For example:
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/503466
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