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Bias vs non-Bias

Student New Daily has a weekly article pointing out media bias, such as this one:

NY Times Public Editor Questions Coverage of March for Life

In her latest columnNew York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan wondered why the paper’s coverage of the annual March for Life rally in Washington was limited to a photograph buried deep within the paper, instead of a more substantial news story... 

Sullivan seemed genuinely puzzled as to why such a large event, that draws hundreds of thousands of people, was covered by the Times with just a single photograph and a two-line caption on page A17 of the paper.

Is this (specifically the article quoted by SND) an example of media bias? 

Absolutely NOT! 

This is an NYT editor pointing out a mistake made in her own newpaper. As such it is an example of media being extremely non-biased. "We made a mistake: look how non-biased we are for pointing it out and fixing it."

Was the picture with the 2-line caption an example of media bias? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the editors were out of space, or they didn't get anything more substantial from their writers. It could be that NYT needs to hire more reporters who are interested in conservative issues (bias), or it could be an honest mistake. Either way, it gave NYT an opportunity to show its readers how unbiased it is by bringing the problem to their attention on its own.


Now consider this story from the World News section of SND:

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY – Officials refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state

A requirement that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state has become a major stumbling block in reaching a settlement to the Middle East’s most enduring conflict.

...
“The Americans have made it very clear that [recognition of Israel as a Jewish state] is their position,” one Palestinian official told The Daily Telegraph. “They talk about it in meetings with our side and make an issue out of it. We have made it very clear that we are not going to sign any agreement that recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.”
...

Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader, officially recognized Israel before signing the Oslo accords in1993 in a letter to Yitzhak Rabin, the then Israeli prime minister, but did not mention its status as a Jewish state.

Is this article biased?

Consider this quote from Susan Rice, US ambassador to the United Nations:

"This resolution does not establish that Palestine is a state, ... nor does passing any resolution create a state where none indeed exists or change the reality on the ground."

Can you see the bias?

Palestine recognized Israel as a state in 1993, but Israel and the US still have not recognized Palestine as a state. Now they insist that Palestine recognize Israel as a Jewish state, while still not ceding any recognition to Palestine.

Whether you support Israel or Palestine, there is no question that US media coverage of the conflict is extremely biased.