4-1 Discussion: Understanding Bias and Perception in the Media

Instructions

First, review this modules resources, and in your initial post, address the following:What do you believe are the differences between bias and prejudice?What role does bias play in the media as we know it today? Provide an example or two.How can bias influence the intentionalor unintentionalmessage of a media artifact?In responding to your classmates, find common ground in your discussion of media and bias. What did your classmate address that you perhaps had not considered concerning bias and its impact on intended and unintended messaging?Reply to this classmatesClassmate 1Cool heads and hot chipsI believe the differences between bias and prejudice are that bias is a matter of choosing the worth of something based one ones own perceptions whereas prejudice is the making value calls of things worth using no more data points than the persons own biases. Prejudice relies on bias, thus the two are intricately linked. Opinions are neither facts nor truths, they are feelings and feelings are like the weather, subject to change. Neither bias nor prejudice is inherently bad. For example, my daughter is biased towards spicy snacks. Her brother does not like flaming hot anything. Each has their own bias, and this bias results in harmless prejudice. My daughter ate the Takis that turned her tongue blue, stuck it out at her brother and teased him that he cant handle the hot. Prejudice revolving around spicy snacks could sound something like, Only silly people want to set their tongues, bellies, and rear ends on fire. People who eat spicy food are gluttons for punishment.Bias plays the role of framing a story in the media towards a viewpoint the framer wants the viewer to share with them. A viewer risks having their emotions preyed upon and manipulated if they are not media literate and understand this possibility. Bias can be played both ways. Say the framer of the message loves spicy foods and wants to imply a person who does not like hot foods is wimpy, they could, use this bias when presenting their artifact. There is a 2015 commercial for the then new Doritos Roulette chips, in which a hot chip was in every handful of the snack. In the commercial friends play a game, daring each other to eat the Doritos and take their chances on getting a spicy chip. One guy taps out, scared of scalding his tongue. I have included a clip in case you never saw the ad.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJTr39UJlAs  Doritos was leaning into their edgy persona by alluding to a dangerous game. They used the bias against people with milder palettes to make their point that Doritos is for more adventurous people.Bias can influence the intentional, or unintentional, message of a media artifact by leaning into stereotypes. Stereotypes exist because of prejudice. In Canada, Lays potato chips make a catsup flavor. I would be leaning into a stereotype if I were to say Canadians cannot handle hot foods and catsup is as spicy as they get. Here is a tame, well-lit commercial advertising the product, please notice how much safer the environment appears as opposed to the Doritos commercial taking place in a grungy space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m9H3NPza8Y  These judgments of the Canadian palette illustrates that prejudice is as simple as preconceived notions before having all the facts on a subject. Doritos sold a pickle flavor potato chip, only in Canada at first, so maybe I am wrong and the Canadian palette is as bland as I think it is.  The chips are finally available here in the states if you are like my son and me, and do not enjoy spicy snacks. https://www.wideopeneats.com/pickle-doritos/ Truth be told, though, I find those chips to be revolting as well. I Googled if spicy chips sell well in Canada and found no data on the subject other than the story about dill pickle flavored Doritos now being sold in the states. I chose a subject as innocuous as snack foods to demonstrate my points about bias and prejudice because these ideals do not just announce themselves in difficult subjects like politics and religion. Every day we make decisions based upon our biases and prejudices. When we become media literate, we start to notice how our beliefs shape our choices and the way we treat those making choices different from our own. Justice Ginsburg who died Friday night was great friends with Justice Scalia; though they shared different opinions on nearly every decision requiring their jurisprudence. They were quite capable of separating their bias and prejudices from their ability to be amiable. If only we could all be as wise.References:Cummins, E. (2017, June 29). Why Some People Love Spicy Food and Others Hate It. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.inverse.com/article/33389-why-some-people-like-spicy-food-and-others-hate-itPotter, W. J. (2016). Introduction to media literacy. Los Angeles (Calif.): SAGE.Classmate 2Bias and predjudiceBias is when people see things a certain way. There convinced there way is the right way and even if you explain your way they will take parts of it and turn it into one way of thinking. For example, if you have a biased judge and you have two sides the defendant, and the prosecution. Let's say the person on trial stole gum from a store. That judge listens to both sides, but let's say someone stole the judges gum when he was little, that potentially could put that judge agreeing with prosecution instead of going by the facts, and reasons. In the article Disney channel is the most watched channel so more people prefer that over others which is a form of bias. Prejudice is when even with facts your not willing to look at both sides. If a judge comes in and says I favor the prosecutor, and doesnt want to hear evidence then he is being prejudiced. Media provides a bias by advertising there products. For example if there advertising chicken nuggets for McDonald, and you love there nuggets already you will start to crave them, and may end up buying the nuggets. If American Eagle tells you they have the most comfortable, lasting jeans your going to be convinced this is true and go buy some. However, as I read in the book and through videos commercials are not reliable to know if there product is a good product because they have no proven facts that it's better then other products. Bias can intentionally send you a message of you want this artifact because it's a good product. However, the unintentional message is how can this fact be proven. Is this product actually better then any other competitors? You can be very convincing, but if the product causes harm to you and you said it wouldn't you can be sued. Everyone has there own opinion about products so just because 1 million people like your product 9 million may not.

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