Critical Analysis on Bias
Bias is everywhere and completely unavoidable. Everyone carries their own biases which may be good, bad, or in between. It is impossible to try and live in a world without bias, however it becomes an issue when people begin to act on biases that only create destructive ideas, views, and situations. Even when creating this website, we realize that we have inadvertently put our own views and our own biases into the creation of this project on bias. The first step towards accepting bias is the knowledge that it exists. As we have clearly seen in the media and in other sources of information, if bias is not acknowledged it can lead to those who are receiving the information taking opinion for fact. So the first step is to make biases known and perfectly clear before we can move on to the next step which is trying to limit bias. Although many know about bias it is sometimes overlooked or simply accepted as a normality which causes people to transform and manipulate facts. So after we acknowledge that biases exist everywhere in our world we have to try and limit ourselves to only standing for those sources of information that do their best to report on solely fact. This is fundamental in order to stop stereotypes and misconceptions about groups that form based on people’s opinions and manipulations on fact. Religions are often times put into broad categories, labeled, and manipulated in the name of creating exciting stories for people in the West and beyond. The issues happening in Egypt between the government and the Muslim Brotherhood are no exception. So, in order to stop stereotypes and misconceptions from forming about religions or any other subject we must do three things: first identify and show the biases, second gain information on the subject, and third look at who is or should really be talked about. These things can help one make an informed decision about a topic and examine biases that might be trying to sway the conversation one way or another.
People for a judgment on something within a few seconds of seeing it, that’s why pictures are powerful tools that can be used to form biases. Pictures show what’s going on in the moment of when the picture was taken and they only show one side of things. That’s why images tend to be biased one way or the other, because you don’t get the whole story from looking at a single picture. Repeated types of images can overtime form biases in people. For example, if you see repeated images of a group of people that are angry and upset, you may tend to believe that these people are often violent, mean, or upset. The phrase Muslim rage has formed from situations like this, people constantly exposed to mainly images of Muslims protesting or fighting. Even the picture on our site have some biases to them. One picture we have shown an Egyptian security enforcing in body armor with a baton walking down a dirty street. One may immediately for the assumption that Egypt is a violent nation that is uncivilized and dangerous. This may not be the case, but one can form the assumption of Egypt just by looking at that image. A lot of the images that we have on our site also show many Egyptian citizens in the streets protesting. One may form the assumption that all Egyptians are upset by something in their government. This is probably not the case since many people have different opinions on different things, but one person may just form that quick assumption by seeing an image of many Egyptians in the streets protesting. As you can see, images can form quick biases when used in certain forms of media.
Bias is also found in documentaries or things that are supposed to be teaching the history of a person, group of people, place, or thing. Even with the YouTube video that we put on the second page which is supposed to be a brief history about the Muslim Brotherhood, there is clear and obvious bias that is presented from the very beginning of the clip. The supposed “history lesson” is clearly biased in a way that is supposed to seem negative towards the Muslim Brotherhood. The beginning depicts a violent and war bound group of individuals and then links it to the Muslim Brotherhood by no more than simply one person’s biased thoughts. Although much of the information is correct, it is presented in a context that gives the Muslim Brotherhood an overall negative and violent appearance. The music that is playing throughout the entire clip is also very serious, depressing, and negative, and the lighting is dark, which further enhances the feeling of distaste towards the Muslim Brotherhood.
Through all of these things which come from a clearly biased source, one can clearly see how this video clip negatively portrays the Muslim Brotherhood. But beyond that is the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood has been connected through name and mission with the religion of Islam. The negativity that is being portrayed towards the Muslim Brotherhood is also being sent onto the Islamic faith worldwide, much of which is not involved in any way with the Muslim Brotherhood or any Muslims in Egypt.
The first step to stop forming stereotypes and false images about groups of people or situations when getting information from various sources, is to remember that some sources will lean one way or the other on a topic and try to give one information on the story in a way that one is more inclined to agree with them. Looking back on our critical analysis of the two other sources, one favored the government while the other article favored the Muslim Brotherhood. These sources both had information about the same topic, but they both went different ways of presenting the information in their articles. Both sources have valid information, they just differ on their views because of their biases. So when receiving information from sources, such as these, it is important to stay aware and look out for any biases so that your views are not influenced by any skewed information. Other sources such as news icons Fox News and MSNBC both have certain biases as networks, but its ok to watch one or the other, or even better both. By watching both you get valid information and one gets both sides of the story, and as long as one takes in that these sources have biases into account, one can use your own beliefs and values to assess a story and determine what to believe in.
The second way in which to stop stereotypes and misconceptions from forming is to gather as much knowledge about a topic as possible. In order to make an informed decision one needs to have perspective. This means that one needs to have all of the different sides of an argument or at least multiple sides to an argument. Although bias can be bad, one needs can also use bias to their advantage. One can pick out the bias in an article as the writers opinions or ideas on the subject and use that to get an opinion beyond what the statistical facts are. However, in order to truly gain knowledge and be informed one must gain more than simply one opinion for that breeds nothing more than close-mindedness towards all other opinions. In an ideal world it would be best to gain every possible opinion and from there make an informed decision, however since that is nearly impossible one should look to find as many opinions as they possibly can. Once they have acknowledged the biases in all of their sources of information and have accumulated a variety of different sides to an argument or topic, then one can make informed decisions about it. Such in true in the case of religion in the media. Religion is often times put under an umbrella in order to try and make something that is in reality specific, very broad. This tends to have issues when it comes to discussions about religion, because the majority of people who gain their information about religion from the media only have a broad and often incorrect understanding about what the religion is or what it entails. As is found when trying to talk about Muslims in Egypt or Buddhists in Burma, the only real way to gain true knowledge of about these topics is to search it out and find the differences between reality and what is portrayed through the media. In that way research and knowledge can help stop stereotypes and misconceptions about a topic.
The third way in which to stop stereotypes and misconceptions from forming is to examine who is actually being talked about in a news/media article and compare it to who the article should be focusing on. As when we examined articles on the Muslim Brotherhood we found that the focus tended to be misplaced, as it often is when talking about religion. Islam is a religion that is spread far and wide throughout the Middle East and beyond. Islam is even present and very active here in the United States. So when talking about the “Muslim Brotherhood” and portraying them in a certain way, those perceptions that are meant to be put on simply this one political group are instead placed on the religion as a whole. The overgeneralization of religions in the media has left little differentiation between different sects or groups within each religion. Christianity has many different sects that range from Catholic, to Lutheran, to Evangelical, to Mormon, to Non-Denomination, and beyond. This is also true for other religions such as Buddhists who have many different schools of thought, Confucians, Hindus, and Muslims. Each sect has their own philosophies and interpretations which may be very different from those of other sects or even other regions of the world. Yet when the media generalizes an entire group by putting them under the cloud of one overreaching religion, the specific instances or views of one of the sects or regions may become the believed views for the entire religion. This is true for the Muslim Brotherhood which is only prevalent in Egypt and is truly a political party rather than a religious authority. So in this way the terminology that is used in the media, such as Muslim Brotherhood, helps to bias and create incorrect views on an entire religion or subject. So what the media needs to do or at least those who listen to the media need to do change these views and direct them toward the specific rather than the general. We need to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood rather than Islam as a whole.
So through this project we have examined many media sources that showed bias and how that impacted the topics and religion in specific. In order to stop stereotypes and misconceptions from forming about religions or any other subject we must do three things: first identify and show the biases, second gain information on the subject, and third look at who is or should really be talked about. Through these strategies one can successfully navigate the bias and opinions that are often taken as fact in the media. These often broad and overgeneralized views tend to lead to incorrect assumptions and facts about topics such as religions, which leads to displaced, incorrect vies. As we have seen through these articles on the Muslim Brotherhood and Islam in Egypt, the views of the few are sometimes taken as the views of the whole, so recognizing this one should be caution when forming opinions and judgments about a religion or a group based on media articles.
People for a judgment on something within a few seconds of seeing it, that’s why pictures are powerful tools that can be used to form biases. Pictures show what’s going on in the moment of when the picture was taken and they only show one side of things. That’s why images tend to be biased one way or the other, because you don’t get the whole story from looking at a single picture. Repeated types of images can overtime form biases in people. For example, if you see repeated images of a group of people that are angry and upset, you may tend to believe that these people are often violent, mean, or upset. The phrase Muslim rage has formed from situations like this, people constantly exposed to mainly images of Muslims protesting or fighting. Even the picture on our site have some biases to them. One picture we have shown an Egyptian security enforcing in body armor with a baton walking down a dirty street. One may immediately for the assumption that Egypt is a violent nation that is uncivilized and dangerous. This may not be the case, but one can form the assumption of Egypt just by looking at that image. A lot of the images that we have on our site also show many Egyptian citizens in the streets protesting. One may form the assumption that all Egyptians are upset by something in their government. This is probably not the case since many people have different opinions on different things, but one person may just form that quick assumption by seeing an image of many Egyptians in the streets protesting. As you can see, images can form quick biases when used in certain forms of media.
Bias is also found in documentaries or things that are supposed to be teaching the history of a person, group of people, place, or thing. Even with the YouTube video that we put on the second page which is supposed to be a brief history about the Muslim Brotherhood, there is clear and obvious bias that is presented from the very beginning of the clip. The supposed “history lesson” is clearly biased in a way that is supposed to seem negative towards the Muslim Brotherhood. The beginning depicts a violent and war bound group of individuals and then links it to the Muslim Brotherhood by no more than simply one person’s biased thoughts. Although much of the information is correct, it is presented in a context that gives the Muslim Brotherhood an overall negative and violent appearance. The music that is playing throughout the entire clip is also very serious, depressing, and negative, and the lighting is dark, which further enhances the feeling of distaste towards the Muslim Brotherhood.
Through all of these things which come from a clearly biased source, one can clearly see how this video clip negatively portrays the Muslim Brotherhood. But beyond that is the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood has been connected through name and mission with the religion of Islam. The negativity that is being portrayed towards the Muslim Brotherhood is also being sent onto the Islamic faith worldwide, much of which is not involved in any way with the Muslim Brotherhood or any Muslims in Egypt.
The first step to stop forming stereotypes and false images about groups of people or situations when getting information from various sources, is to remember that some sources will lean one way or the other on a topic and try to give one information on the story in a way that one is more inclined to agree with them. Looking back on our critical analysis of the two other sources, one favored the government while the other article favored the Muslim Brotherhood. These sources both had information about the same topic, but they both went different ways of presenting the information in their articles. Both sources have valid information, they just differ on their views because of their biases. So when receiving information from sources, such as these, it is important to stay aware and look out for any biases so that your views are not influenced by any skewed information. Other sources such as news icons Fox News and MSNBC both have certain biases as networks, but its ok to watch one or the other, or even better both. By watching both you get valid information and one gets both sides of the story, and as long as one takes in that these sources have biases into account, one can use your own beliefs and values to assess a story and determine what to believe in.
The second way in which to stop stereotypes and misconceptions from forming is to gather as much knowledge about a topic as possible. In order to make an informed decision one needs to have perspective. This means that one needs to have all of the different sides of an argument or at least multiple sides to an argument. Although bias can be bad, one needs can also use bias to their advantage. One can pick out the bias in an article as the writers opinions or ideas on the subject and use that to get an opinion beyond what the statistical facts are. However, in order to truly gain knowledge and be informed one must gain more than simply one opinion for that breeds nothing more than close-mindedness towards all other opinions. In an ideal world it would be best to gain every possible opinion and from there make an informed decision, however since that is nearly impossible one should look to find as many opinions as they possibly can. Once they have acknowledged the biases in all of their sources of information and have accumulated a variety of different sides to an argument or topic, then one can make informed decisions about it. Such in true in the case of religion in the media. Religion is often times put under an umbrella in order to try and make something that is in reality specific, very broad. This tends to have issues when it comes to discussions about religion, because the majority of people who gain their information about religion from the media only have a broad and often incorrect understanding about what the religion is or what it entails. As is found when trying to talk about Muslims in Egypt or Buddhists in Burma, the only real way to gain true knowledge of about these topics is to search it out and find the differences between reality and what is portrayed through the media. In that way research and knowledge can help stop stereotypes and misconceptions about a topic.
The third way in which to stop stereotypes and misconceptions from forming is to examine who is actually being talked about in a news/media article and compare it to who the article should be focusing on. As when we examined articles on the Muslim Brotherhood we found that the focus tended to be misplaced, as it often is when talking about religion. Islam is a religion that is spread far and wide throughout the Middle East and beyond. Islam is even present and very active here in the United States. So when talking about the “Muslim Brotherhood” and portraying them in a certain way, those perceptions that are meant to be put on simply this one political group are instead placed on the religion as a whole. The overgeneralization of religions in the media has left little differentiation between different sects or groups within each religion. Christianity has many different sects that range from Catholic, to Lutheran, to Evangelical, to Mormon, to Non-Denomination, and beyond. This is also true for other religions such as Buddhists who have many different schools of thought, Confucians, Hindus, and Muslims. Each sect has their own philosophies and interpretations which may be very different from those of other sects or even other regions of the world. Yet when the media generalizes an entire group by putting them under the cloud of one overreaching religion, the specific instances or views of one of the sects or regions may become the believed views for the entire religion. This is true for the Muslim Brotherhood which is only prevalent in Egypt and is truly a political party rather than a religious authority. So in this way the terminology that is used in the media, such as Muslim Brotherhood, helps to bias and create incorrect views on an entire religion or subject. So what the media needs to do or at least those who listen to the media need to do change these views and direct them toward the specific rather than the general. We need to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood rather than Islam as a whole.
So through this project we have examined many media sources that showed bias and how that impacted the topics and religion in specific. In order to stop stereotypes and misconceptions from forming about religions or any other subject we must do three things: first identify and show the biases, second gain information on the subject, and third look at who is or should really be talked about. Through these strategies one can successfully navigate the bias and opinions that are often taken as fact in the media. These often broad and overgeneralized views tend to lead to incorrect assumptions and facts about topics such as religions, which leads to displaced, incorrect vies. As we have seen through these articles on the Muslim Brotherhood and Islam in Egypt, the views of the few are sometimes taken as the views of the whole, so recognizing this one should be caution when forming opinions and judgments about a religion or a group based on media articles.