Friday, October 17, 2008

Liberal Media Bias?

Got this submission from a 202er:

This story was sent from JSOnline.com: http://www.jsonline.com.
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Do you think this photo from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel shows a liberal media bias? I would argue it does because Obama's red tie is shown (indicating importance) and his torso is turned toward the camera. In addition, the handshake gesture shows equality/neutrality, but the fact that Obama is grasping McCain with his other hand incicates authority. A professor of mine said that asymmetrical touch indicates authority so whenever one political candidate places their hand on the other, the other will usually try to do the same. Then there's the close proximity of the candidates which shows Obama is taller, another (abeit false) idicator of authority. In this instance, I think the photo makes Obama look much more authoritative than McCain. What are your thoughts? Can a photo show bias? Do photographers have the same standards as writers? Are they required to take unbias photos or portray both candidates in the same way?

http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/graphic.asp?graphic=/graphics/news/img/oct08/debateJ1101608.jpg

What do you think? Post your comments and let's discuss when we talk about design Monday.

7 comments:

dubsfollower said...

It seems like a stretch to call it outright bias. Photos can certainly be bias, but this is just on picture being dissected and analyzed too much. The only potential for bias is that McCain just does not look that good. Bias must be pretty willful and this picture seems to lack that intent.

meganedwyer said...

I think the context of the photo would help- was it on the front page, or was it part of a photo gallery? If it was a singular photo chosen to represent a story about the debate, I think it was poorly chosen. The focus is all on Obama and McCain looks terrible.

penzy21 said...

I agree Obama certainly is cast in a better light than McCain in this shot. Its the same idea when the Badger Herald got some flak for this AP photo of Clinton this year badgerherald.com/news/ 2008/02/06/Hillary.jpg

Quest said...

Isn't it also possible that Obama looks taller than McCain in the photo because Obama is approximately 6 inches taller, and he looks more authoritative in the photo because he looks more authoritative generally?

awilder said...

I guess pictures can be bias, but I never thought of pictures being bias. I would think pictures are only meant to help tell the story or add imagery to it. As far as this photo goes, I don't think we can call it bias. This was probably the only photo the photographer has. Admittedly, the camera favors Obama in this image, but a lot of factors can add into this.

pdlevin said...

It's not a journalist's job to find a photo that makes both look good.

I agree with aditya. If Obama looks better in two-thirds of the photographs, for example, isn't it pro-McCain bias to select a photo that doesn't reflect better on Obama?

KRD said...

I agree it may be important to look at the context of the picture. Was it on the front page or somewhere in the middle of the paper. Also i might be interesting to look at the other photographs run in the newspaper on that day to get a better sense if this is truly bias