You Can Do It!

Today is not a regular blog for me because it does not focus on detecting mere bias in a particular article or photo. Instead, since it is getting to the closing point for this blog, I figured I may share some interesting facts and ways to detect bias presented in the news on your own. I researched "news bias" all over the Net and was excited to find many sites and articles that fit perfectly into our group's discussion throughout the semester!

Check out these following Web sites and discover much more about the reality of news bias --it raises many points and truths about the type of journalism we need to avoid:
News Bias Explored
Bias in the News
Fairness and Accuracy
AP Bias!
Media Awareness Network

And my personal favorite, which requires a download but is so worth it and pretty funny--
Spinspotter
Spinspotter shows specific instances in articles that display significant bias.

I learned it is often difficult to investigate and find the bias components of stories or photos, but following some certain guidelines and knowing what to look for makes it much easier and actually quite amusing.

Since our group may not be here as often, if anymore, to help point out the most obvious bias in news, you now know where to go and learn about doing it yourself--especially the future journalists in our class or those who are simply honest citizens wanting fair and accurate news.

Delicious founder to show you political bias on Memeorandum

Delicious founder Joshua Schachter and technologist/blogger Any Baio have created a new GreaseMonkey script that displays the political orientation of blogs and news sites on the aggregator site Memeorandum. GreaseMonkey is a Firefox extension that allows users to customize the appearance and functionality of Webpages.

Using an algorithm that scores every blog on Memorandum based on linking activity, this new script colorizes the Website. Those who install the GreaseMonkey script will now see Memeorandum in shades of blue and red. Liberal-leaning blogs are blue and conservative-leaning blogs are red. Darker colors represent stronger biases.

These colors are a reflection of bloggers' linking activity; they may not always represent personal views or biases (liberal bloggers often link to conservative sites and vice-versa). However, this script eliminates the arduous task of reading blog after blog on Memeorandum to find one consistent with one's own views. But then again it could fuel peoples' tendency to avoid dissident view points, which for obvious reasons inhibits intelligence. None the less, this GreaseMonkey script, along with Microsoft Blews (see my previous post) is evidence of an emerging form of aggregation intended to help people identify political biases.

To install this application, visit Andy Baio's blog at http://waxy.org/2008/10/memeorandum_colors/

Photos CAN Lie

(above photo taken from BBC News)

In doing my bias research this week, I found pictures that took me by surprise on how media gets away with the slant in not only their stories, but also photos.

For instance, here is a picture dated October 18, 1962 showing President Kennedy. Click here to view. It is interesting to see what they did with the photo in order to create a fabrication of the reality of the situation. Read the caption and the following explanation. Of course if the public knew what was really going on at that meeting the nation would have been scared out of their mind, but the picture was put with an article having nothing to do with that aspect and made it seem more comforting to the public eye.

Also, go to this site to see more "pictures that lie" and reveal that looks really can be deceiving. I think it is amazing to see how drastic some of the alterations of the photos are on that page, from something so little as making a person look tan to a more significant thing like incorporating a large object not originally there, such as a soldier. We have Photoshop to thank for most of the deceiving pictures.

Now we really know to never judge a book by its cover, or in this case never judge or trust an article based on its image or artwork!

Another sad day for journalists

I'll start off by saying that this post will not be like others seen on The Unbiased Tabloid. Instead of pinpointing and criticizing bias in news coverage, I'd like to take an opportunity to praise the absence of bias that would have likely been staggering in amount had it been present in this article. 

Although most of us would like to bury our heads in the sand at the mention of this depressing topic, the awful truth is that print journalism is struggling, maybe even slowly crumbling. As we have talked about in class, there are ways to see the "light at the end of the tunnel," so to speak, and to prepare ourselves for the rapid transformation of the tradition of journalism. 

Today, the D and C announced a job reduction amounting to a total of 59 employees, including the elimination of 11 open positions. I was surprised to see that, while the article was very brief, the writer (it was categorized under STAFF REPORTS) didn't try to glorify or justify the D and C's actions in laying off so many employees. 

The article begins like this..."Facing a worsening local and national economy, the Democrat and Chronicle this week will lay off 34 employees and accept voluntary separation requests from 14 others." 

The writer blames the layoffs on the horrible state of our economy, which of course at this point can't really be disputed. The writer continues with only the basic facts, the total number of layoffs, the fact that the job cuts amount to about 8 percent, the amount of severance pay laid off employees will receive and how many jobs remain after the reductions. 

The only part of the article that I found to be a bit questionable or flaky were the quotations from D and C publisher Ali M Zoibi. Of course he is going to want to make an impression placing the D and C in a respectable position, but I think he may have gone a little far when he brought up First Amendment rights.

Zoibi said in a statement: "The Democrat and Chronicle remains steadfast in its commitment to fulfilling its First Amendment news responsibility, as well as providing excellent daily coverage of the greater Rochester community." 

Also, I would have liked to have seen some input from people in other management positions within the D and C. The addition of at least one more source may have added a bit more comfort to the seemingly ever increasing decline in journalism opportunities, driving home the idea that journalists are going to have to learn how to adapt to new positions, new environments and new technologies. 

Is the media Trying to be nice?

Last week, the court in Thailand decided to oust former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and dissolve his party after months of protests by the People's Alliance for Democracy, an anti-government coalition.

Today, there is an article on The Nation, Thailand's leading English news site, titled "Forget me not: Somchai Wongsawat." If you haven't yet known, the former PM was forced to resign after being found guilty of electoral fraud. I agree that he has been unseated anyway, and that we shouldn't go back blaming him over and over again, instead the country should move on and resolve the chaos created after a long period of protests. But the article appears to be too "generous" with Mr. Wongsawat. It seems like the author is trying to help Mer. Wongsawat save the last bits of his wounded reputation.

"...the dissolution of his party had freed him from duty, paving the way for other responsible people to take over the country's reins."

"...he had worked to the best of his ability right up to his last day in office."

"I can do charity work, and don't need any authority to do the job,' Somchai said."

About his wife, Mr. Wongsawat said: "She has supported me since we married. She would never leave me. I know she supports and encourages me all the time. I also support and encourage her all the time. We don't need to say this to each other."

Most of the media in Thailand is government-censored, including The Nation. Hence it is surprising that some of the news would play favor towards the government, even when that government is already dissolved. Even if the government does something wrong, the mainstream media would not report facts and information that overtly put the government in the awkward position. They would say things that don't sound wrong and opinionated to save the face of the government.

Almonds and Blackberrys for Mumbai Terrorists!

This is not so much an article of biased media report, but it is closely related to what we discussed in class a while ago about the importance of keeping pace with modern technologies. We talked about how technologies such as RSS feeds or SMS are importance to journalists to bring the news to the public asap. Not only journalists, but also terrorists, are utilizing new technologies. I found an article on www.news.com.au about how terrorists in the Mumbai attack over the weekend have been using Blackberry to keep updated with news, domestic as well as international, since the government cut all cable TV feeds into the buildings.

They managed to attack the Chatrapati Shivaji railway station, Cama Hospital - a charitable hospital for women and children, Cafe Leopold - a common hangout place for tourists, Taj Mahal and the Oberoi/Trident Hotels, a Jewish center which also houses visiting Israelis.

Besides standard weapons and tools such as automatic weapons, grenades, fake identity cards and credit cards, connection with insiders of the hotels...the most important weapons, according to www.new.com.au, were " humble mobile phones and internet technology" - Blackberrys. This was totally unexpected by the anti-terrorist forces. They could cut cable lines to the hotels, but how would they block the terrorists' internet access?

The use of Blackberrys provides the terrorists with a major advantage in a battle like this: knowing their enemies. They gain access to public reaction of the event on a global scope. They are updated of the political situations. They have eyes everywhere. These are major strengths compared to conventional terrorist attacks.

After all, these terrorists are just like one of us, who are familiar with and knowledgeable about the tools we use in our everyday lives. Just like a journalist needs to know the tools available to his job, the terrorist needs to know the tools available for him to achieve his goals.

On the first day of the attack, I also got to watch a video on CNN of a journalist reporting to CNN from a hotel room. I don't know what happened to him after that, whether he survived or not. But one thing for sure, he had helped the public gain insight about the situation, a view from an insider, a person who was right at the spot, one whose faith was still undecided.

It's hard to say whether technology helps life for the better or worse. It assists people in carrying out good acts just as much as destructive ones. It's just the matter of who uses it more efficiently. If our enemy uses it well, it's our job to understand the technology and think of ways to override it.

New York Daily News Loves to Gossip

Headline:Fired Queens teacher's 19-year-old pretty boy turns ugly on cameraman
The story begins like this...

"The hot-headed teen hunk who romanced a teacher nearly twice his age may love cameras on the catwalk, just not on the sidewalk.

Runway Romeo Joshua Walter - whose steamy affair with a Queens teacher led to her being fired - had multiple foul-mouthed meltdowns Tuesday as he shoved a TV reporter and tried to smash a camera."

Understandably, The New York Daily News is NOT the most reliable source for news. With a reputation for tabloid-y stories, the Daily News walks the fine line between respectable news coverage and gossip tall tales.

In this particular story (of an underage minor and a New York State teacher) the reporters tend to exaggerate the importance of certain details. For instance, "Salamino was 34 and a second-grade teacher at PS 121 when she started sleeping with the 17-year-old Walter, who did not attend a single class at Bryant High School in the 2006-07 school year because he was catwalking all over the world."

Certainly if this story was covered by the Associated Press the term "modeling" would substitute "catwalking all over the world" while "sleeping with"would be replaced by "intimate relationship."

Another instance where the choice of vocabulary makes me doubt the legitimacy and actual training of the reporters is the following sentence, "Now 37, Salamino was canned last summer after being found guilty..."

Since when does the word "canned" replace "fired" in a news story. Not once have heard the term "canned" used in a news setting and I was surprised to read it in the New York Daily News.

If this story had been published on "Page Six" or even in the Op/Ed section, I would not be analyzing it's validity. However, the story was placed under the "News" portion of the website.

Finally, at the bottom of the news story "journalists" Martinez and Yaniv included this sentence, "The United Federation of Teachers and the Department of Education declined to comment on the pending case."

This last sentence bothers me most of all. Instead of including at least one credible source in the beginning of the story, the journalists covering this story placed the Department of Education last. In the pyramid of importance in news coverage, the authors of this story placed the Department of Education at the bottom. Regardless of whether this source chose to comment or not, the fact of the matter is the reporters deemed the Department of Education unimportant.


ORIGINAL ARTICLE WRITTEN BY OREN YANIV AND JOSE MARTINEZ DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS PUBLISHED ON Tuesday, November 25th 2008, 9:58 PM

Microsoft Blews: Software program to rate political media bias

This is not the typical Unbiased Tabloid blog post. It doesn't analyze any media messages nor does it expose any bias. Instead, it serves to inform you of an innovative news aggregator that identifies the political orientation (or bias) of news articles.

Microsoft Blews is a software program in development that uses political blogs to categorize news stories as either conservative or liberal. These categorizations are based on the number of "right" or "left" blog links to a story. Blews also determines the "emotional charge" present in the blogospheres' discussion of the news topic.

"BLEWS achieves this goal by digesting and analyzing a real-time feed of political-blog posts, " says Microsoft.

This feed is provided by the Live Labs Social Media platform.

In addition to identifying the "political orientation" of news stories, Blews strives to create a more balanced view, with “see the view from the other side” functionality. This enables a reader to compare different views on the same story from different sides of the political spectrum.


Blews could be highly useful in informing political perspectives. It could be the first in a number of increasingly advanced aggregators with the ability to determine the ideological basis of news stories, and sort them on that basis. Or it could flop. What do you think?

Fox News still bias toward Obama, but to a lesser degree

Obama's Cabinet Picks Heavy on Washington Experience

Perusing this week's news articles from various media outlets, I noticed something particularly interesting, yet unsurprising; Fox News has practically ceased criticizing now President-elect Barack Obama. Key word: practically.

Despite clear indications that the network's avoided its usual agenda-setting (because of Obama's overwhelming victory), bias is still evident. Take the lead of the article Obama's Cabinet Picks Heavy on Washington Experience for example:

"For months on the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to bring change to Washington. But now that he's president-elect, his first potential Cabinet picks indicate that he may bring more years of Washington experience to his administration than Bill Clinton or George W. Bush did."

Obama promised change. He didn't promise inexperienced Cabinet members. Suggesting that picking experienced Cabinet members is somehow contradictory to a policy of change is either stupid or biased. Something tells me it's the latter.

Who the experienced individuals are is the subject of interest, or at least it should be. Obama picking individuals who served or held views consistent with the Bush Administration would be cause for criticism. But this is not the case.

In fact, he seems to be keen on veterans of the Clinton Administration, naming Rahm Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel was a leading strategist in the efforts to institute universal health care during Clinton's presidency.

To be fair, the lead is the only blatant bias in the article. Fox did include several quotes from Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs. These include the following:

"[Clinton administration veterans] participated in a presidency that is viewed to have its accomplishments and was viewed as well run."

"The argument that Obama people would make ... it's possible to rely on people who know how the levers are pulled, but move it in a different direction than the last eight years."

First "Barack the Vote", now a movie

(Click headline for link to article)

OK, it is now post-election time and we can congratulate President-elect Barack Obama for really "Baracking the vote!" I am sure we can also come to a consensus that the 2008 election was quite eventful, full of surprises, and of course, dramatic as ever. During the election we saw SNL, MAD-TV and many other satirical productions of the events that led up to the final vote. Even after the election, some people just can't let go of the comedic drama. ABC News broke out a recent story about an inevitable movie for the 2008 election.

This article is not bias based on the dictionary definition of the term, but it definitely offers a slanted approach centered on the election being more humorous and amusing than fundamental. This whole idea of making a new movie, "Election 2008: The Movie" seems a bit too far fetched. Granted I found myself laughing while reading the article, I realized how inpractical it was with the point it made. Not only does it offer a fabricated illustration of the recent elections, but it mirrors more parodies that were already revealed on Late Night shows as previously mentioned.

I found the cinemark idea to offer a more satirical idea of the realistic events and would actually take away from the seriousness of the election. Moreover, the movie would display a mockery and ridicule of the candidates involved, such as Senator John McCain, whom the critics mention Ed Harris as a prospective actor for this part and regarding Harris' intended role, say: "I'm sure he can be made to look older."
Most notably of course, they discussed the proposal of Tina Fey playing Governor Sarah Palin, which is no surprise since that was a main focal point of mainstream media during the election.

As for the other participants, it was interesting to read the bogus suggestions for the cast characters such as Barack Obama (Will Smith), Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Cindy McCain, Oprah (by Oprah), Joe Biden, George Bush and we couldn't forget the infamous "Joe the Plumber."

Although I agree that this past election was much different than any others and encompassed many extremes thus making it quite amusing, I would not advocate it as a blockbuster comedy because of its intense distortion of reality.

Suburban singles SOL?

Are suburban singles destined to be alone? Does it mean that since they do not live in a hip, bustling city, they are completely out of the loop when it comes to finding a "mate?" According to this article entitled The Best Cities For Singles on www.forbes.com, the answer would be a resounding "Yes!" 

"For the first time ever, Atlanta tops our list of the best cities for singles. The capital of Georgia and home of Coca-Cola earns the top slot because of its hopping nightlife, relatively high number of singles and sizzling job growth."

By the sounds of this, perhaps Atlanta is the best city for anyone and everyone. 

What really bothered me about this article was the methodology of "coolness," meaning rating the coolness factor of each individual city and comparing them against each other. The fact that "coolness" was an actual method of measurement made me think of junior high cliques and "No Boys Allowed" clubs. 

Though, I'm sure this article was written for a rather young audience, probably aimed at women, it is biased in the way of pertaining to a select social group. After all, how many single, lonely 60-year-olds are going to be searching for a "mate" based on a spicy nightlife or the coolest city?

Overall, this article was an interesting read, but lacking and relatively pointless if you are looking to get anything substantial out of it. 

A Circuit Break

Headline: Why Circuit City Busted, While Best Buy Boomed

It's one thing to report on a major company's financial blunders and giving explanation to why this may have occurred, but it is completely different when the reasons for the fall of a business are not supported by substantial evidence. A reporter's job is to reduntantly use the phrase "he/she said" after any statement that relfects a decision or action not already universally known. Throughout this article about Circuit City's bankruptcy, the writer refers to the issue as results of lack of management or poor customer service; however, she does not cite any sources to back up her arguement. In fact her only two sourcces do not even reflect on any of the issues she raises in the article about why Circuit City busted.

For instance her first reference, David Schick, merely says that business was great at one time but never adapted, and stops there. From that simple statement, the writer drew inferences and exaggerated the claims against the company. Since that was her only quote and source until the end of the story, one could only infer that she based her conclusions on his interview. How does she know about the real-estate issue which she approaches mid-story, or the Web presence neglegence? I did not see any mention of an interview with professionals or even consumers from either of those fields. She does the same thing with Helen Bulwik's inventory statement.

The subject that caught me most off guard was her idea of its customer service resulting most in their failing, according to the reporter anyway. Again, there is no attribution to this statement; her basis is the fact that they laid off higher paid employees to bring in cheaper labor. Couldn't this be a result of the poor economy and not automatically mean poor service? Maybe she could have used a customer's perspective here. Plus, if you search for a particular company's complaints and put just that into a search engine, of course it will come up with thousands of results. I am sure this would also happen with Best Buy, which the writer positively mentions throughout the story.

I can't say I disagree with some of her arguements, but I would not insinuate my opinions in a news story. She could have even focused more on the economic downfall of our nation as a reason for their bankruptcy insted of just saying "it played no small role." I don't know if maybe this reporter had a negative experience at a Circuit City store or what, but even if so, it should in now way reflect in her article.

What do you think??

Love expert got game?

While flipping through the channels Sunday afternoon, I came across a show I had never heard of before, called "The Pick-Up Artist" on VH1, so I decided to tune in. Granted, I don't watch much TV anymore, since I am taking three film classes this semester, my DVD player has been getting all the attention, so I'm sure I have been one of the only people in the dark about this show. This article on vh1.com provides more information, including a summary and links about the series. For those not familiar, the premise of the show is based on transforming eight "socially awkward nerds" into the "Master Pick-Up Artist." The host, Mystery ("former nerd turned best-selling author and ultimate pick-up artist") and his crew teach the guys a lesson about how to talk to/appeal to women and then send them off on little adventures to a bar or other social arenas to try out their new skills, or lack there of. Based on each guy's performance, there are elimination rounds and those who aren't making progress are told "Game over." 

I know I have grossly overanalyzed this series, but there is bias in that the contestants are relying on the teachings and opinions of only one man, Mystery, in order to learn the "language of love."

Secondly, the show is clearly stereotyping poor nerds all over the world, though funny, it is up to everyone's personal judgment to decide what is considered "nerdy" and "awkward" and what is charming and attractive. 

Lastly, the only females who show any kind of authority in the show, share their knowledge of lovemaking and the right things to do to grab and keep a woman's interest. Yet, they do all of this wearing only bras and panties or some kind of racy lingerie. Are we supposed to actually take them seriously? 

Seems like an entertaining show, full of embarrassing moments, girls wearing next to nothing, and plenty of bragging rights for Mystery, but what about the messages the content of the show can send? What happens when this kind of bias content begins to make impressions on viewers' minds, most notably teens? 

What kind of messages about the opposite sex will be impressed on young teenage boys' minds when they see a woman dressed in lingerie sitting in a "pillow room" waiting for each of the "masters in training" to come into the dark room to turn her on? 

On the other hand, most teenage girls are already extremely self-conscious about their bodies and craving attention from boys. What will they think when they see these men slobbering all over half-dressed women, who just happen to be sex analysts? 

Overall, great show for adults if you are in the mood to watch something with seemingly no intellectual depth and lots of laugh-out-loud moments of male humiliation.

Fox Attacks Obama

Video about Bias in Media

Hindsight vision is 20/20. How appropriate that this video is posted the day after Obama is made president elect. While the majority of attacks come from FoxNews, I was surprised to see MSNBC included in the bash-fest. I find it appalling that news sources allow this kind of false information to be leaked into the airwaves influences the fragile minds of young voters. Yet, who am I to complain now. As I said before, hindsight vision is 20/20 and while I hope these news pundits have been reprimanded or even fired, Barack Obama is our next president.

Footsteps of the 2-yr Campaign Trail

The video exclusive, "Choosing a President," narrated by NY Times reporter, Katharine Q. Seelye, reveals a truly one-sided view of the presidential candidates and their journey through the election process to post election today. It is clear to me that she narrates the video from a Democratic perspective by using sarcastic tones and impliciations. The beginning of the video traces their campaign movements and what supporters have said in their praise. It is not until the narrator begins to speak that the video turns into a biased history in Obama's defense.

The video is split into 3 chapters that describe the campaign trail. Chapter one focuses on the political parties involved and their backgrounds, two regards the candidates, their views and movements and three's focal point is the voters.

Her first statement when tracking the candidates on their trail describes Senator McCain as "unconventional and freewilling" whereas she considers President-elect Obama as "traditional and crafty." Granted the terms unconventional and freewilling do not necessarily connotate a negatvie meaning, when you compare the two sets of qualities for the men, it is evident that the story reflects a more positive image of Obama than McCain. (This video was posted prior to the election, thus before Obama's victory.)

As the video progresses to map their trail, she gives McCain less appeal as a presidential candidate and is more aggressive to point out his faults and weaknesses. Yet, when she refers to Obama she is adamant on poitning out his strengths as a future president. She also made it clear that she does not support the "unpopular" President Bush in his efforts either.

The narrator puts emphasis on certain phrases she uses to describe Obama and McCain, usually indicative of negative feelings toward the latter of the two. She also uses very sarcastic tones (around the 7:30 minute point) when she said "McCain bounced from theme to theme until he finally settled on one," and "Obama remained consistent," then later (around 11:15 point) "he made a maverick move" regarding his choice of Palin for running mate.

Although there is some positive regard of McCain during his supporters' interviews, the narrator indicated her lack of support for him, and in Obama's favor for his policies as well as the way he has handled the campaign trail thus far.

Concerned about Barack Obama?

click on the above picture to view the ad....

Since when did it become the role of an organization to tell its members what to think, to decide for them what is right or wrong, what is black or white? I came across this ad in the newsroom of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Every sentence of the ad, from headline to content, is a great example for a textbook about propaganda. Hardly can you find any sentence that presents a neutral point of view, or to word it more precisely, a more neutral way of interpreting the facts.

I am yet not judging the information provided in the ad, but just by looking at the way the ad is worded, anybody with a little bit of judgement can say claim that it is biased against Obama.

The ad starts out judging Senator Obama as "dangerously naïve," as not having the "wisdom, experience, or strength on issues important to Israel."

And based on what the above judgements are made? '
Because Obama refused to call Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.
Because he is willing to "meet with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and other hostile nations without any preconditions."
Because he is surrounded by friends and advisors who are "anti-Israel," and who shape his world views.
Because he "flip-flopped" and said that the future of Jerusalem would have to be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians.

These facts are clearly not sufficient to claim that Obama is "naïve" and not qualified to be the president. The facts don't even prove that Obama has anything against Israel. Just because there has been conflict between Jerusalem and Tehran doesn't mean that if somebody is willing to negotiate with one, he is against with the other.

The author(s) of the ad is just trying to direct Jewish votes away from Obama. They may have their own opinion and interpretations of Obama's words and actions, but imposing them on other people through an ad is just too inappropriate!

Obama 'unaware' of aunt's immigration status

Headline: Obama didn't know aunt's immigration status

The reason this article caught my eye was because of the headline link on cnn.com that reads,

Obama was 'unaware' of his aunt's immigration status.

Not only does this article evoke a condescending tone that implies a stupidity and ignorant on Obama's behalf, but the reporter of this article, (who did not write the actual headline) included quotes from Obama's memoirs regarding his aunt.

An official familiar with the aunt's immigration status told CNN on Saturday that Onyango remains in the U.S. four years after she was ordered to leave.


This quote from the article uses biased language in the phrase "she was ordered to leave." The In a perviously published AP article, it was reported that a judge rejected Onyango's request for asylum four years ago, and "the Kenyan native is living in public housing in south Boston."

While the above remarks are not fabricating any truths, the language and way the information was presented leads to an implied bias against the Senators aunt.

Furthermore, later in the article it is revealed that Obama has not spoken to the woman in two years. Yet, the quotes included in the article from his memoirs suggest otherwise.

In his book, Obama describes meeting his aunt when he visited Kenya as a young man.

"A tall, brown-skinned woman was smiling beside us, and Auma [Obama's half-sister] turned and said, 'Barack, this is Auntie Zeituni. Our father's sister," Obama wrote.

"'Welcome home,' Zeituni said, kissing me on both cheeks."

While this article is not entirely false or biased, many aspects of the text are subjective and could have been checked by a copy editor from another political party.

CNN's Mike Ahlers, Jeanne Meserve and Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report. It was posted on November 2, 2008 at 3:10 pm on CNN.COM

The half-sister of Sen. Barack Obama's Kenyan father reportedly lives in this complex in South Boston.

Celebrity sensation: U2 singer Bono 'Busted' by Facebook

Busted: Facebook Pictures Show Married U2 Singer Bono's Rendezvous With Sexy Teens

Earlier in the week, Fox news posted an article online concerning the activities of U2 singer Bono during his vacation in St Tropez. Bono was "caught" with two 19-year old females, American fashion student Andrea Feick and her friend Hannah Emerson. Caught doing what you might ask? Apparently, nothing.

Pictures of Bono with his arms around two bikini wearing teenagers were posted on Facebook and accompanied by "diary details." Given the first word in the headline of the article, "Busted," any reader would assume that these details were somehow incriminating. Yet the details only revealed that Bono, his friend Simon Carmody (former member of Irish band Golden Horde), and the two teenagers drank at a beach bar, strolled along the beach, and partied on U2 guitarist The Edge's yacht. So how exactly was he busted? It is safe to assume that that the front man for a rock band as big as U2 would be partying during his vacation. And it's not wrong for him to hang out with fans while doing so, even if they are young attractive females. In fact, it's good PR.

To be fair, Fox did include a critical piece of information:
"Feick said their relationship had never crossed the line beyond friendship. 'For somebody who's much older than I am ... no thank you,' she said"

Despite Feicks' comment, Fox still decided to place Bono in a bad light, as if his actions were morally reprehensible. The network sensationalized the story with words like "busted" and "sexy teens." The end of the article contains the following statement, "Bono, Carmody and the girls partied into the night on the yacht," followed by "Bono's 26-year marriage to wife Ali is famously strong."

The inclusion of the last sentence says it all: News Corp (who owns Fox) is persuading people into believing that Bono's marriage is not as strong as people thought. Celebrity coverage in the main stream media is superfluous as it is. Do we really need to distort information to make it into a news story?

Madonna strikes again; reporter accepts criticism of Palin

Since media bias is ever-present in our society, it is easy to pick out the blatant bias stories especially dealing with politics. However, combining politics with entertainment results in chaos and most likely disaster as illustrated by the story "Madonna Publicly bans Sarah Palin from attending her shows."

The writer, Nick Neyland clearly favors Madonna's political views, which are obviously against Palin as noted by her abrasive comments throughout the concert. Not only does he reflect on Madonna's lack of performance as well as excessive threats and insults toward Palin, he also uncovers his political preference by siding with Madonna.

This is evident when Neyland compares the personifications of Hitler by McCain and Obama. First, he dismisses the fact that there are images of McCain evoking a Hitler movement, yet when he mentions those mocking Obama as Hitler on YouTube, he refers to them as "crazies." In this respect Neyland basically insinuates that he is OK with people describing McCain as Hitler but it is not right, rather it's "crazy" to do that with Obama.

Then later in the story Neyland comments on Madonna's imitations of Palin displayed in the concert video: "sadly not the part where Madge is alleged to have impersonated the sound of a snowmobile after saying: 'Here's the sound of Sarah Palin's husband's snowmobile when it won't start'.” This statement definitely reveals a biased opinion since he he outspokenly says it is sad they didn't include that part on the online video for the public eye.

I found this reporter to use sarcasteic language unfavorable to Palin throughout the story, presented in either an obscure or apparent manner.

(Picture taken directly from article source)