 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
Key people |
|
| Website | www |
| External image | |
|---|---|
 AllSides Media Bias Chart [1] |
AllSides Technologies Inc. is an American company that estimates the perceived political bias of content on online written news outlets. AllSides presents different versions of similar news stories from sources it rates as being on the political right, left, and center, with a mission to show readers news outside their filter bubble and expose media bias. AllSides was created by current owner and CEO John Gable.
AllSides was launched to the public in September 2012. [2] [3] After working as a Republican political operative in the 1980s [4] [5] in the southern United States (including for George H. W. Bush, Mitch McConnell and the Republican National Committee), [6] John Gable worked at internet firms in Silicon Valley where he recruited software developer Scott McDonald to help him launch AllSides and become his CTO. [4] [7] Gable continues to identify as a Republican. [7]
AllSides staff self-report their political leanings. [8] In 2012, Gable stated that AllSides aims to highlight media bias in the United States and "show all the news from the left, center and right". [2] As of 2021, AllSides is funded through paid memberships, one-time donations, media literacy training and online advertisements. [8]
AllSides focuses only on online written content (not TV, radio or podcasts). [8] It rates sources on a left–right scale that is then grouped into five categories (left, leans left, center, leans right, and right) instead of a gradient which the company acknowledged sacrifices precision in favor of simplicity. [8] AllSides posts these ratings alongside the articles it posts on its site.
AllSides partnered with Living Room Conversations, a nonprofit founded by progressive entrepreneur and activist Joan Blades, on educational content through a related organization called AllSides for Schools. Gable, Blades, and their associated organizations have produced lesson plans for schools on how to navigate political conversations and helped create Mismatch, a platform to connect students who differ politically and geographically. [9] [3] [10]
Jake Sheridan from the Poynter Institute noted the controversy surrounding bias rating charts in general and recommended that readers consider the reliability of sources in addition to possible bias. [8] He also quoted Kelly McBride as acknowledging bias as an important factor, but not the most important, especially if the charts give a false sense of reliability. [8] Sheridan quoted Tim Groeling as cautioning that while bias is important, charts are not something most consumers would navigate. [8] Both Groeling and McBride praised the methodology of AllSides and Ad Fontes. [8] In 2019, The Guardian columnist John Harris lamented that his experience using AllSides did not help him, as he hoped, to take the mutual loathing out of his news diet. [7]
Dashka Slater includes AllSides in a list of organizations with a nonpartisan mission to encourage Americans to interact respectfully. [11]
Media bias occurs when journalists and news producers show bias in how they report and cover news. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening of the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an individual journalist or article. The direction and degree of media bias in various countries is widely disputed.
In journalism, a source is a person, publication, or knowledge of other record or document that gives timely information. Outside journalism, sources are sometimes known as "news sources". Examples of sources include official records, publications or broadcasts, officials in government or business, organizations or corporations, witnesses of crime, accidents or other events, and people involved with or affected by a news event or issue.
Claims of media bias in the United States generally focus on the idea of media outlets reporting news in a way that seems partisan. Other claims argue that outlets sometimes sacrifice objectivity in pursuit of growth or profits.
Independent media refers to any media, such as television, newspapers, or Internet-based publications, that is free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications.
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the Tampa Bay Times newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Network. It also operates PolitiFact.
Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power.
In news media and social media, an echo chamber is an environment or ecosystem in which participants encounter beliefs that amplify or reinforce their preexisting beliefs by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal. An echo chamber circulates existing views without encountering opposing views, potentially resulting in confirmation bias. Echo chambers may increase social and political polarization and extremism. On social media, it is thought that echo chambers limit exposure to diverse perspectives, and favor and reinforce presupposed narratives and ideologies.
The Greatest Bits: B-Sides & Rarities is the second compilation album released by the British pop rock band McFly. The album was released on 3 December 2007, and despite being only available at Woolworths stores in the UK, it peaked at No. 83 on the UK Albums Chart. The album has a range of B-sides and covers from the group's singles, as well as a new recording of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Physical copies of the album have become quite sought after since the collapse of Woolworths in 2008 although it has since been released on downloads. The cover version of "Pinball Wizard" is a new live version, previously released only as a studio version and a music video.
Civil discourse is the practice of deliberating about matters of public concern in a way that seeks to expand knowledge and promote understanding. The word "civil" relates directly to civic in the sense of being oriented toward public life, and less directly to civility, in the sense of mere politeness. Discourse is defined as the use of written or spoken communications, similar to having a conversation. Civil discourse includes the practice of deliberating about things that are of concern to society in a way that seeks to help all participants understand each other. It is an essential part of democratic citizenship and is thus a fundamental aspect of freedom of speech, characterized by dialogue that supports the societal good." For civil discourse to truly be effective as a democratic tool, all people need to be heard and share their viewpoints. Civil discourse involves more than just politeness; it involves disagreement without disrespect, seeking common ground, listening beyond preconceptions, and remaining present in dialogues despite deep disagreements. This can help develop better public policies that benefit all people of a society. Members of the U.S. Supreme Court session in 2011 aptly described civil discourse as "robust, honest, frank and constructive dialogue and deliberation that seeks to advance the public interest." Viewpoints are grounded in reason and evidence, adhering to strict guidelines for the appropriate behavior to be practiced. In contrast, uncivil discourse contains direct insults, unwarranted attributions of motive, and open contempt." Civil discourse has its foundation on several key values:
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the Tampa Bay Times, with reporters and editors from the newspaper and its affiliated news media partners reporting on the accuracy of statements made by elected officials, candidates, their staffs, lobbyists, interest groups and others involved in U.S. politics. Its journalists select original statements to evaluate and then publish their findings on the PolitiFact.com website, where each statement receives a "Truth-O-Meter" rating. The ratings range from "True" for statements the journalists deem as accurate to "Pants on Fire" for claims the journalists deem as "not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim".
A filter bubble or ideological frame is a state of intellectual isolation that can result from personalized searches, recommendation systems, and algorithmic curation. The search results are based on information about the user, such as their location, past click-behavior, and search history. Consequently, users become separated from information that disagrees with their viewpoints, effectively isolating them in their own cultural or ideological bubbles, resulting in a limited and customized view of the world. The choices made by these algorithms are only sometimes transparent. Prime examples include Google Personalized Search results and Facebook's personalized news-stream.
Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. Although false news has always been spread throughout history, the term fake news was first used in the 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common. Nevertheless, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied broadly to any type of false information presented as news. It has also been used by high-profile people to apply to any news unfavorable to them. Further, disinformation involves spreading false information with harmful intent and is sometimes generated and propagated by hostile foreign actors, particularly during elections. In some definitions, fake news includes satirical articles misinterpreted as genuine, and articles that employ sensationalist or clickbait headlines that are not supported in the text. Because of this diversity of types of false news, researchers are beginning to favour information disorder as a more neutral and informative term.
Internet manipulation is the co-optation of online digital technologies, including algorithms, social bots, and automated scripts, for commercial, social, military, or political purposes. Internet and social media manipulation are the prime vehicles for spreading disinformation due to the importance of digital platforms for media consumption and everyday communication. When employed for political purposes, internet manipulation may be used to steer public opinion, polarise citizens, circulate conspiracy theories, and silence political dissidents. Internet manipulation can also be done for profit, for instance, to harm corporate or political adversaries and improve brand reputation. Internet manipulation is sometimes also used to describe the selective enforcement of Internet censorship or selective violations of net neutrality.
Ideological bias on Wikipedia, especially in its English-language edition, has been the subject of academic analysis and public criticism of the project. Questions relate to whether its content is biased due to the political, religious, or other ideologies its volunteer editors may adhere to. These all draw concerns as to the possible effects this may have on the encyclopedia's reliability.
Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC) is an American website founded in 2015 by Dave M. Van Zandt. It considers four main categories and multiple subcategories in assessing the "political bias" and "factual reporting" of media outlets, relying on a self-described "combination of objective measures and subjective analysis".
Ad Fontes Media, Inc. is a Colorado-based, media watchdog, public benefit corporation primarily known for its Media Bias Chart, which rates media sources in terms of political bias and reliability. The organization was founded in 2018 by patent attorney Vanessa Otero with the goal of combating political polarization and media bias. Ad Fontes Media uses a panel of analysts across the political spectrum to evaluate articles for the Chart.
Political polarization is a prominent component of politics in the United States. Scholars distinguish between ideological polarization and affective polarization, both of which are apparent in the United States. In the last few decades, the U.S. has experienced a greater surge in ideological polarization and affective polarization than comparable democracies.
States Newsroom is a nonprofit news network in the United States. Its newsrooms focus mostly on state politics.
Algorithmic radicalization is the concept that recommender algorithms on popular social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook drive users toward progressively more extreme content over time, leading to them developing radicalized extremist political views. Algorithms record user interactions, from likes/dislikes to amount of time spent on posts, to generate endless media aimed to keep users engaged. Through echo chamber channels, the consumer is driven to be more polarized through preferences in media and self-confirmation.
The Twitter Files are a series of releases of select internal Twitter, Inc. documents published from December 2022 through March 2023 on Twitter. CEO Elon Musk gave the documents to journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, Lee Fang, and authors Michael Shellenberger, David Zweig and Alex Berenson shortly after he acquired Twitter on October 27, 2022. Taibbi and Weiss coordinated the publication of the documents with Musk, releasing details of the files as a series of Twitter threads.
