What is Bias Lets explore where we get

What is Bias? Let’s explore where we get information from and how we know if it’s true.

Think about something you’ve learned in school recently. Where did you get this new information from? - Was it from the teacher? Did you read it in a book? Watch a video about it?

Do you watch the news? - What news outlets do you use? If you don’t watch the news, in what types of ways do you keep up on current events? - Social media? News apps? Talking with friends, adults, classmates? Radio?

So… What is Bias? Bias = prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. For example: - If a news source is biased towards one political party, they might only report stories that are favorable to that party. Can you think of an example of a time you were presented with biased information? Or maybe a time when yourself were biased?

Quick Journaling Activity! Think about your answers to the questions on the previous slides. - Write down as many reasons the source of the information you received could be biased. - find some helpful hints on the next slide : )

Why would a source be biased? - Think about the following when looking for bias: - Who is the author? What is their educational background? Are they independent, or do they work for a large company/institution? How does the author benefit from this piece? What is the author’s place in society? What is the author’s motivation or intention? What is the purpose of writing this piece? Are they paid to do so, or is it just for fun?

Research Activity! Think of any recent event that interests you. (for example: the Black Lives Matter movement, COVID 19, Climate Change, the Presidential Election, etc) - Go to three separate news outlets and compare how they cover the story - Who wrote the stories? In what ways were they qualified? How were the stories presented? Were they similar? Different? Both? Did you notice any biases between the stories? If so, where do you think they came from? Did any of the sources acknowledge that they had biases?

Reflect! Write a short reflection about how this research made you feel. - Do you doubt the media? Do you feel confident now that what you see on the news/are taught in class is real? What makes you confident or unconfident in your sources?

What does this have to do with philosophy? ? - You guessed it -- EPISTEMOLOGY!! - - (the study of how we know what we know) A BIG part of this field is examining where we get our information and how it gets to us. - It is always important to think critically about sources of information!