A Classification of Biases Relating to the Production, Dissemination and Consumption of News

Abstract

There are many difficulties in studying bias at the production, dissemination, or consumption stages of the news pipeline. These include the difficulty of identifying high quality empirical research, the lack of agreed terminology and definitions, and the overlapping nature of many forms of bias. Much of the empirical research in the domain is disjointed and there are few examples of concerted efforts to address overarching research challenges. This paper details ongoing work to create a classification of biases relating to news. It is divided into three sub-classifications focusing on the production, dissemination, and consumption stages of the news pipeline.