News and Media Bias Resources
US Newspapers
- America's News Magazines This link opens in a new window Full-text magazines covering popular news and culture, including Fortune, People, Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and Parenting. Coverage 1991-present.
- Chicago Sun-Times 1986-current This link opens in a new window Full-text local and regional newspaper articles covering many topics including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community. Coverage: 1986 - present.
- Chicago Tribune (1985-current) This link opens in a new window Complete full-text content of local and regional news, including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community.
- Chicago Tribune Historical This link opens in a new window Digitized images and full-text articles related to Chicago news, history, and advertising. Coverage: 1849-2012.
- New York Times Website This link opens in a new window
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Complete access to the New York Times online edition (nytimes.com) from 1980 through the present. Users must create an account using their LUC email, to gain access to nytimes.com from any web browser or smart phone app, on or off campus, with no monthly limits on article access. This resource is limited to current students, faculty, and staff. Note: HSL students/faculty/staff need to sign up via http://accessnyt.com - Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window Provides access to current, full-text newspapers including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, Newsday, and Los Angeles Times as well as over 80 Gannett regional and local titles. In addition, Global Newsstream content also includes newswires, news journals, television and radio transcripts, blogs, podcasts, and digital-only websites.
International Newspapers
- Access World News This link opens in a new window Full-text newspapers, magazines, web-only content from U.S. and international news sources. Coverage: 1978 - present.
- Latin American Newspapers - World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window Full-text content from Latin American newspapers. Coverage: 1805 - 1922.
- Mideast Wire.com This link opens in a new window A daily email newsletter of translated briefs covering some of the key political, cultural, economic and opinion pieces appearing in the media within 22 Arab countries, Iran and the Arab Diaspora.
- U.S. Newsstream This link opens in a new window Full-text news sources including newspapers, newswires, news journals, television and radio transcripts, blogs, podcasts, and digital-only websites. Coverage: 1980 - present.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window Full-text articles on news, business, and legal sources, radio and television transcripts, federal and state court cases, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and law reviews. Coverage: 1790 - present.
Television News
Online Newspaper Subscriptions
Wall Street Journal: Please CLICK HERE to register for an account before attempting to access this resource The Wall Street Journal is the world's leading business publication with coverage from 1984 to the current year.
New York Times Website : Loyola students, faculty, and staff have unlimited access to NYTimes.com, including archives from 1851 to the present (articles from 1923 to 1980 are limited to five per day per user; unlimited access is available through ProQuest Newstream). First time users need to create an account from this link Create a New Account to gain access. Returning users can log in from the New York Times' website from this link. Users will have to "renew" their account once a year with their same login information.
What is Media Bias?
Bias is "a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion" about someone or something. When we discuss bias in media in the US, we are generally referring to conservative (also known as right) v. liberal (also known as left) bias, though there are many more ways to be biased and no one is truly free of bias.
INTERACTIVE Media Bias Chart
Organizations
- CAMERAThe Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America describes itself as "a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East"
- Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)"FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986"
- Media Research CenterConservative watch group with a "commitment to neutralizing left-wing bias in the news media and popular culture"
In-Depth Journalism
- ProPublica ProPublica is a freely available website produced by a major online non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth investigative reporting about current issues in the public interest. ProPublica features two kinds of reporting: Investigations, which include a series of in-depth articles about a topic (often between 15 and 30 articles - major topics range from dozens to 100+ articles). MuckReads are shorter reports featuring investigative journalism from other news agencies. Major areas of interest include, among others: healthcare and the health industry, fracking, censorship, money and politics, and financial and economic issues.
- Reveal: The Center for Investigative Reporting Reveal is a freely available website and the online media platform for the Center for Investigative Journalism, a major online non-profit news organization, founded in 1977, and dedicated to in-depth investigative reporting about current issues in the public interest. They publish series of investigative reports on a topic (typically between 10 and 20). Major areas of coverage include: criminal justice, the environment, guns, health care, labor and employment, national security, religion, surveillance and privacy, and veterans.
- Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity is a freely available website produced by a major online non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth investigative reporting about current issues in the public interest, with a special focus on accountability and fairness, especially in terms of the role and influence of money. Topics featured include politics and elections, national security business, the environment, juvenile justice and health.
- National Public Radio (NPR) NPR is one of the most important freely-available sources of investigative journalism. It includes excellent topical pages but these are not easily browseable on the website. Use the High Quality Web Source Finder search box to locate the topical pages for your issue.
- Journalist's Resource This very high quality web site, located at Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and sponsored by leading academic journalism programs, guides journalists and other researchers to find scholarly sources related to many of the most important topics in the news. Whenever the source is not available in full-text, use the library A-Z journal/newspaper list to get library access to the article or to order it on interlibrary loan.
Background Resources
- Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window Comprehensive information on social issues with different perspectives.
- Factcheck.org A nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics by monitoring the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases
Social Media Analytics
- Meltwater This link opens in a new window
Social media monitoring and engagement software. Search by keyword through Tweets, Reddit, Instagram and Facebook posts to create instant dashboards and follow trending issues over time. Limited to 4 concurrent users. Create an account for access using your Loyola ID.
How is Media Bias Different from Fake News?
Bias differs from fake news in that fake news is specifically untrue. Biased sources don't necessarily use lies, they just don't include the whole picture, only using the facts that support their viewpoint. By using only the facts that support their cause they are giving an incomplete and therefore inaccurate picture.
What is Fake News?
Fake news is what it sounds like, stories that are published that are not based on facts. The aim of most fake news stories is to make money. Fake news stories have exciting titles that lure people to click on a link--which makes money. In print, sensational headlines sell tabloids.