How is media bias, bias confirmation, misinformation, and fake news connected?
These 4 things all act as factors of a cycle. Media bias can lead to the publication of fake news which leads to misinformation through bias confirmation.
Media bias is usually seen in the conflict between the political left and right. With the same information or event, different perspectives will interpret information differently and thus will spread that information forward with their influence. When looking at news sources, this is governed by the company’s values and belief systems, sometimes related to their financial/corporate relationships, that influence what journalists and writers they employ. This in itself is a facet of the confirmation bias since like-minded individuals find each other and so news companies will often congregate groups of people with similar beliefs and opinions. This then influences how they pass on information to their audience– whether they convey information about events, add opinions or analyse, or publish opinion pieces. This creates a media bias where our news sources carry a bias either to or against certain systems, people or beliefs, which influences what kind of information they pass on. Sometimes, when dealing with news sources that are heavily skewed in support of any specific stakeholder, the issue of fake news can come up where journalism becomes a form of opinion projection rather than informational pieces, or where completely untrue stories get published for the sake of viewership.
Then this leads to bias confirmation through the absorption of media by audiences who will seek out news that matches their pre-existing thinking. This further perpetuates the polarisation of opinion as opinions become stronger the more corresponding content people see, and the bubbles of opinion become larger and more distinct. This leads to misinformation where people acting within a certain bubble of opinion accept one interpretation of reality as the truth and use this to fuel their actions.
How does our discussion on media bias, bias confirmation, misinformation, and fake news connect to any of the two works we have studied?
This idea of almost controlling opinion through the relaying of information through media can be largely seen in the NBC segment on Alex Jones’s Infowars. Not only is the content produced on Infowars largely opinion-based with a strong emotional factor due to the format of spontaneously reacting to articles rather than holistic investigations of events, the host Alex Jones himself is highly unclear about his motives and statements. We see that he easily backtracks from the bold statements he makes on his show by claiming he was ‘playing devil’s advocate’ or simply, saying any side of the argument could be true. By justifying his strong opinions and sometimes inaccurate statements with vague explanations, Alex Jones tries to absolve himself from responsibility for his words. This seems to exemplify the lack of research and true journalism behind Infowars, although arguably my thoughts on this matter also come from a biased source so to truly take a stance either against or for Infowars, I would need to consider information from a variety of sources to corroborate the influence and impact of the show. This idea of changing meaning through interpretation can be seen in the Handmaid’s Tale, where we see a lot of biblical references used with a different purpose– to control the women in society and keep people quiet. Offred mostly talks to others, especially other handmaids, in Biblical lines such as “Blessed be the fruit/May the Lord open”. In a way, the Bible and teachings of Christianity have been used and sometimes twisted to fit a very specific purpose by the Commanders.
In his TedXTalk on the Confirmation Bias, Avi Gerber discusses how, as an audience, we must consciously make the effort to falsify our views to truly test whether our understanding is unbiased or not. This relates to Anderson Cooper’s Dispatches from the Edge where he tries to show the reader the reality of the wars he covered aside from the few clips being broadcasted on television, specifically he looks for readers to understand the situations on a personal level through stories of the people he interacted with. This implores readers to see the same story from slightly different perspectives even though they are coming from the same source, just in different mediums of content.
In what ways have two of the works you have studied explored the role of the individual in society, and what conclusions is it possible to draw from these explorations?
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Sophocles’ Antigone both explore the role of the individual in society through the struggle of both plays’ main characters– Nora Helmer and Antigone respectively. A Doll’s House explores individuality and power through the discussion of women’s traditional domestic roles, begging the question of whether a woman’s self-identity can come before the expectations of her duty as a mother and wife. Sophocles discusses the role of individuals in a different context– the conflict between the state and the individual. The clash between Antigone and her uncle King Creon exemplifies two differing perspectives on how the state should be run, particularly in the setting of the ancient Greek city Thebes where the Gods were born and thus religion stands at the highest value. King Creon assumes absolute power over the city, valuing stability and law above all else. Meanwhile, Antigone disobeys Creon’s state decree to not bury Polynices, her brother, as she upholds her religious duties to the Gods and her family above any mortal power.
From A Doll’s House, we can conclude that Nora’s journey to self-actualisation exemplifies the need for women to have an identity for themselves, outside of their relationship with others. To function in any position, whether a professional career or as a homemaker, women must have the opportunity to understand themselves and experience independence to truly realise their potential and decide what they want from life– a concept that was far ahead of its time when Ibsen published the play in 19th century Norway. In Antigone, the audience is shown the significance of divine power and how an individual’s ego, or hubris, cannot take precedence over common norms that keep the state afloat.
