Media Bias

Ad hominem attacks the person making an argument rather than the argument itself. It comes in several varieties: abusive (direct personal attack), circumstantial (suggesting the person's circumstances

The burden of proof fallacy occurs when someone shifts the responsibility of proving a claim onto the person who questions or denies it, rather than accepting that the one making the claim bears the i

Cherry picking selectively presents only the evidence that supports a predetermined conclusion while ignoring or suppressing evidence that contradicts it. Unlike honest argumentation where one weighs

Circular reasoning occurs when the conclusion of an argument is assumed, explicitly or implicitly, in one of its premises. Rather than providing independent support, the argument loops back on itself,

The straw man fallacy involves misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack. Instead of engaging with the actual position, the arguer substitutes a distorted, exaggerated, or oversim

Anecdotal Evidence uses individual stories, personal experiences, or isolated cases as proof for general claims. While anecdotes can illustrate a point, they cannot establish one — a single data point

Association bias occurs when media reporting evaluates people, ideas, or policies by linking them to other entities — casting a positive or negative halo from the associated party onto the subject. Gu

Blame Deflection occurs when a speaker, instead of addressing criticism or a problem directly, responds by assigning blame to others — often without substantiation. The tactic is not about identifying

Causal Misunderstanding occurs when media reporting attributes causation where only correlation, coincidence, or complex multi-factor dynamics exist. Unlike simple post hoc reasoning, this pattern inv

Commercial bias occurs when the economic interests of advertisers, sponsors, or media owners shape editorial decisions — which stories are covered, how they are framed, which voices are amplified, and

Discourse Gatekeeping involves challenging who is permitted to speak legitimately on a topic — often based on identity, credentials, lived experience, or group membership — rather than evaluating what

Discriminatory Framing uses language that demeans, excludes, or marks groups as inferior based on identity attributes such as ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, or socioeconomic class. This len

Emotional sensationalism is the deliberate use of amplified emotional content — overwrought language, extreme imagery, catastrophising headlines, outrage-stoking framing — to maximise audience engagem

Empty symbolism occurs when media coverage deploys emotionally resonant symbols — images, flags, anthems, cultural touchstones, loaded visual metaphors — that are not substantively connected to the st

False dichotomy in media framing occurs when complex issues with multiple legitimate positions are structured as binary choices — 'you're either for us or against us,' 'the economy vs. the environment

Flawed comparison occurs when media coverage juxtaposes two entities, events, statistics, or claims in a way that implies equivalence or contrast where none meaningfully exists. The comparison may inv

Horse race journalism is the media practice of covering politics, elections, and public debates as competitive sporting events — with the focus on who's ahead, who's falling behind, campaign strategy,

Ideological bias is the systematic preference for one political or cultural worldview in editorial selection, framing, sourcing, and language. Unlike individual reporter bias (which is normal and usua

Magnitude distortion is the systematic misrepresentation of the size, severity, or importance of events or trends — either by exaggerating (catastrophising, amplifying threat) or by minimising (dismis

Mud & Honey (also called attack-praise manipulation) is the simultaneous use of targeted personal attacks on one individual and elevated praise of another to frame a political or social conflict as a

Normalwashing is the media practice of making extreme, fringe, or previously taboo positions appear mainstream, reasonable, or inevitable through repeated neutral presentation — without explicit argum

Opinionated reporting occurs when editorial judgments, political interpretations, or value-laden conclusions are embedded in news coverage without being labelled as opinion. The claim reads as objecti

Projection occurs when a speaker attributes their own motives, faults, or behaviors to others. Instead of acknowledging their own shortcomings, they accuse opponents of exactly what they themselves ar

Red Herring Distraction involves introducing irrelevant or tangentially related topics into a discussion to divert attention from the central issue. Unlike a genuine expansion of context, the red herr

Refusing Engagement is the deliberate avoidance of substantive critique. Rather than addressing questions, evidence, or arguments, the speaker dismisses, ignores, or deflects them — often by attacking

Rhetorical substitution occurs when persuasive stylistic devices — rhetorical questions that imply answers, irony that encodes judgment, hyperbole that implies scale, sarcasm that dismisses without ar

Moving the Goalposts involves changing or adding criteria for success or validity after an argument or evidence has met the original standard. Rather than acknowledging that a challenge has been answe

Social Compliance occurs when statements, opinions, or reporting are shaped by social pressure rather than factual evidence. Speakers align their positions with perceived group consensus, dominant nar

Source Selection Bias occurs when a speaker or media outlet systematically chooses sources that confirm a predetermined narrative while excluding equally credible sources that offer contradicting evid

Speculation as Fact occurs when unverified assumptions, guesses, or theories are presented as though they are established truths. By omitting hedging language ('allegedly,' 'reportedly,' 'it is specul

Strategic Vagueness employs deliberately imprecise language, undefined terms, or ambiguous phrasing to avoid commitment, evade criticism, and maintain plausible deniability. By keeping statements fuzz

Suggestive Questioning uses questions that embed assumptions or imply their own answers, guiding the audience toward a predetermined conclusion. Instead of seeking genuine information, these 'leading

Unsubstantiated Claims are assertions presented without supporting evidence, data, or credible sources. The speaker expects the audience to accept the claim based on their authority, confidence, or th

Unwarranted Generalization in media occurs when isolated events, anecdotes, or small samples are used to support sweeping claims about entire groups, regions, or trends. This is the media-specific var

Us vs. Them Framing presents complex political, social, or cultural situations as binary conflicts between an ingroup and an outgroup. It erases the spectrum of positions, interests, and identities th

Whataboutism is a diversionary tactic where someone responds to an accusation or criticism by pointing to a different, often unrelated issue rather than addressing the original point. It creates a fal

Word choice bias occurs when journalists or editors select terminology that encodes political, moral, or evaluative judgments — without stating those judgments explicitly and without attributing the l

False balance (bothsidesism) is the journalistic and rhetorical practice of presenting two opposing viewpoints as equally credible or legitimate even when the evidence overwhelmingly supports one side