We forget who was compiling it, but remember that carefully curated list of fake news sites that was going around? And then Poynter came along and presented its own list of 515 sites that spread false or misleading information.
Now there’s something called the “AllSides” media bias chart, and at least one library is using it to teach students which sources to avoid because of political bias. Our B.S. alarm went off when we saw NPR listed as right down the center.
Today, the library taught my students to use the "AllSides" media bias chart when evaluating sources, and to avoid the far right and left. I hate this chart, but mostly because I'm supposed to believe The New Yorker is somehow equivalent to Breitbart. pic.twitter.com/Fx4abdxLqE
— Dana Liebelson (@dliebelson) October 14, 2019
My point here being: It is really challenging for people to evaluate media sources! (And important!) I'm curious how other college-level instructors approach this, especially since my own knowledge-base is so steeped in media.
— Dana Liebelson (@dliebelson) October 14, 2019
(Also, I just want to make it clear, that my personal goal is that students think critically about *all* media sources, and I'm not pushing one source over the other, other than valuing accuracy and credibility.)
— Dana Liebelson (@dliebelson) October 14, 2019
"My bias is better than your bias." – @dliebelson
— Nick Searcy, INTERNATIONAL THOUGHT LEADER & STAR (@yesnicksearcy) October 14, 2019
The Hill being dead center is enough to dismiss this entirely.
I’m convinced these charts are purposeful disinformation. https://t.co/iqLVzD2HZD
— Anthony DeRosa? (@Anthony) October 14, 2019
The Hill ‘skews conservative’ pic.twitter.com/COMyJGQU3A
— Attack Lizard (@MingusYaDingus) October 14, 2019
This chart is garbage.
— Leslie ن (@LADowd) October 14, 2019
Our Research Department agrees with you. pic.twitter.com/Vx6IhGotAU
— Ricochet (@Ricochet) October 14, 2019
This chart is kind of crap.
— Mrs. John Milton (@jsweeneys) October 14, 2019
None of those “center” sources are center.
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) October 14, 2019
NPR is center in a dreamworld maybe. Same for the Hill and AP
— commonsense (@commonsense258) October 14, 2019
AllSides seems to be the Snopes of media bias policing.
There are so many inaccuracies with that chart I don't know where to start.
— thereal_kman (@thereal_kman) October 14, 2019
imagine believing that Bret Stephens and David Brooks write for an opinion section in the same category as @jacobinmag
— Will E. Young (@weyoung8) October 14, 2019
Or that @jacobinmag and @NRO are supposedly equidistant from center.
— Mastodon Republic (@MastodonRepub) October 14, 2019
yeah it was clearly made by somebody with brainworms
— basic white dude (@mediumcooI) October 14, 2019
This chart is a visual demonstration of how much the Overton Window has shifted.
— Ockham'sToothbrush (@gotravelgear) October 14, 2019
Good god, I just noticed this has The Hill and NPR in the center. NPR should at least be slightly left, and The Hill should be over with CNN Opinion.
— NefariousNarwhal (@NecroticNewt) October 14, 2019
This is so outrageously bad.
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) October 14, 2019
Did they make this by putting the names of media outlets on a dartboard, then turning around and throwing darts at it with their back turned?
— Jeffrey Young (@JeffYoung) October 14, 2019
This is the worst version of this chart I’ve seen.
— B (@MyNameIsntBrain) October 14, 2019
Shockingly bone-headed way to try to teach critical thought.
— Sveta Istoothin (@istoothin) October 14, 2019
"Trust, but verify" not only your news sources, but also your library's chart about news sources.
— woke scold (@goblinbox) October 14, 2019
The chart is a example of media bias. And a lazy one at that.
— ripolitics (@polpalri) October 14, 2019
I'd really like to see them show their work on this…
— This isn't hard (@BradCNct) October 14, 2019
That librarian is a disgrace to the profession.
— Steve Burstein (@Libraryian) October 14, 2019
This is crazy where do you teach?
— Ben Adler (@badler) October 14, 2019
The AP and Reuters are supposed to be, at a minimum, the most straightforward news wire reporting services, but too many things they’ve recently published show they at least lean to the left. It should not be possible to read bias anywhere near an AP story, yet I see that a lot.
— B.T. Mattison (@BT_Mattison) October 14, 2019
Blown away by that chart. It is very, very bad.
— Bill Fitzgerald (@funnymonkey) October 14, 2019
This chart is beyond absurd.
— Kenneth Jimenez (@MrKennyJimenez) October 14, 2019
NPR as the middle. Bwahahaha!
— Irritable Major (One Each) (@anccpt) October 14, 2019
The BBC is not centre!!
— Dean (@deanofsurrey) October 14, 2019
You need to find a new library.
— David Wiebe (@dwiebe99) October 14, 2019
Lol. This is embarrassing
— shadowgovernor (@momerather) October 14, 2019
I guess they instead could point out the difference between an opinion column and a news article? Just for a start.
— Solveig Stokkeland (@SolveigStokkel1) October 14, 2019
And that USA Today is a news source.
— BDR529 (@Micky_Finn) October 14, 2019
I’m glad that’s version 1.1, because it needs a LOT of work.
— Mike from Burke VA (Yeah, you know me) (@mfr_va) October 14, 2019
On the one hand, this is garbage.
On the other, who are we to argue with a “multi-partisan,scientific analysis”?
— Slay-son Headstone (@jedgeco) October 14, 2019
This might be the worst chart I have ever seen in my life
— Gabriel (@kajyV2) October 14, 2019
I can’t believe they even included @voxdotcom when referring to news or journalism
— jim palmer (@spiv) October 14, 2019
You’d be surprised how many people are upset to find the New York Times opinion section on the far-left and consider it staunchly conservative with writers like Bret Stephens and Bari Weiss. AllSides really managed to offend both left- and right-wingers with this one.
I ask my students (all international, non-native English speakers) to bring their sources to class, where we discuss them. We talk about perspective, bias, and good vs bad faith argument. We certainly don’t use a chart like that! #TESOL
— Ron Stack (@ronstack) October 14, 2019
Related:
Gonna leave a MARK! Sharyl Attkisson DROPS the hammer on Buzzfeed for (mis)reporting on her Media Bias chart https://t.co/Hz6cTzKH7P
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 10, 2018
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