HME文献17 An experimental examination of readers perceptions of.pdfVIP

AN EXPERIMENTAL EXAMINATION OF READERS PERCEPTIONS OF MEDIA BIAS By Dave DAlessio Perceptions of media bias mere explored by manipulating expectations of bias and news topic. Readers were more likely to designate material opposing their own viewpoints as biased. Perception of bias was topic- dependent and statements most often viewed as biased were tjuotations, rather than other types of statements. Introduction Examination of media bias has tended to follow two branches . The first examines media content, whether by rhetorical, critical, or content analysis, often focusing on American presidential campaign coverage. DAlessio and Allen found fifty-nine published content analyses of 1948-1996 presidential campaigns, including newspaper articles, TV news , new s magazine photos , an d expression s on newscasters faces. Other analyses examined coverage of campaigns for house , senate, or local races, or coverage of women, blacks, or fundamentalist Christians, to name a few, in order to measure whether reports are balanced or unbiased.^ Less thoroughly examined is the second branch : audience perceptions of media bias . People who consider news media biased are