This article explores the challenges of neutrality bias in journalism, highlighting how the pursuit of objectivity can inadvertently lead to the spread of misinformation. Drawing on real-world examples, the author emphasizes the importance of context and fact-checking in combating false information.
When I joined Africa Check at the beginning of 2024, I was excited to start my journey in a new field. Before this, I had researched the government's spending on education and the feasibility of free higher education in South Africa. My master's dissertation focused on barriers to the implementation of development policies in post-apartheid South Africa.
During this period of my career, I believed that false information was driven by the public's lack of understanding of processes and professionals' constant use of jargon. After joining Africa Check, I found this was not entirely the case. I quickly realised that several barriers to quality information exist. There are many reasons why false information spreads, and while we have a fair idea of how to address some, others are more tricky to navigate. Here are four lessons I've learned over the last 12 months. Neutrality bias is when the media reports on events without adding context or refuting what is being said. Instead of helping their audiences to understand exactly what happened, they publish claims - true or false - verbatim. Neutrality bias is when a journalist or news outlet tries so hard to avoid sounding biased that they misrepresent the factsabout poisonous biscuits that supposedly caused the death of 45 people. We found that the claim originated in 2016 and was also debunked that year. But it made a comeback in 2019 and was flagged again in 2022. The biggest issue with these kinds of claims is that they put people in a seemingly never-ending cycle of panic-calm-panic. And while we're not opposed to fact-checking the same claim repeatedly, it detracts from our other work. This is why staying informed about current events and taking initiative is important. If a claim sounds familiar, chances are you've heard it before. Even if you haven't, it's good practice to look online to see if it's previously been debunke
Journalism Misinformation Fact-Checking Neutrality Bias Media Literacy
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