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Scholarly vs. Non-Scholarly Periodicals: Bias

Your prof wants scholarly stuff right? Here's how to recognize it, find it, and use it when you see it.

Questions to consider

  • Is there a bias in the publication or is it non-partisan?
  • Who is the sponsor (publisher or benefactor) of the publication?
  • What is the agenda of the sponsor - to simply share information or to influence social or political change?

Source:

"Consider the source": A resource guide to liberal, conservative and nonpartisan periodicals. (2011, Jan.) Retrieved from http://www.ccc.edu/colleges/washington/departments/Documents/PeriodicalsPov.pdf

Consider Viewpoint or Perspective

Newspapers (editorial position)

Liberal: New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post

Conservative: Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Washington Times

Non-Partisan: Christian Science Monitor, Chronicle of Higher Education

Magazines

Liberal: The Nation, Harper's, The Progressive, Monthly Review, Mother Jones, Dissent, American Prospect

Conservative: National Review, The American Spectator, The New American, The American Conservative, The Weekly Standard

Libertarian/Independent: Dissent, Reason, Skeptical Inquirer

Non-Partisan: Newsweek, Time, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, New Republic


JournalsNon-Partisan: Newsweek, Time, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, New Republic 

Liberal: Politics and Society, Science and Society

Conservative: The National Interest, Policy Review, The Public Interest 

Libertarian/Independent: The Freeman, Liberty

Non-Partisan: Public Opinion Quarterly, The Washington Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, Wilson Quarterly

In addition to periodicals with a political perspective, there are publications with reports and opinion offered through the lens of a particular faith.

A partial list includes:

Christianity Today(magazine)

Tikkun (Jewish, magazine)

Jewish Telegraphic Agency(newspaper)

Islam Online

Commonweal (Catholic, journal)

Modern Judaism (journal)

See also:  

Both Sides of the Story - a detailed guide to liberal, conservative, non-partisan publications

A Selective List of Liberal and Conservative Periodicals

The Critical Consumer

To be a critical consumer, one must:

  • Study alternative perspectives and world views, learning how to interpret events from multiple viewpoints.
  • Seek understanding and insight through multiple sources of thought and information
  • Mentally rewrite (reconstruct) news stories through awareness of how stories would be told from multiple perspectives.
  • Assess news stories for their clarity, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, and significance.
  • Notice contradictions and inconsistencies in the news (often in the same story).
  • Notice the agenda and interests served by a story.
  • Notice the facts covered and the facts ignored.
  • Notice what is represented as fact (that is in dispute).
  • Notice questionable assumptions implicit in stories.
  • Notice what is implied (but not openly stated).
  • Notice which points of view are systematically put into a favorable light and which in an unfavorable light.
  • Mentally correct stories reflecting bias toward the unusual, the dramatic, and the sensational by putting them into perspective or discounting them.
  • Question the social conventions and taboos being used to define issues and problems.

Source:

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2004). The thinker’s guide for conscientious citizens on how to detect media bias & propaganda. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/files/SAM-MediaBias1.pdf

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