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= Media bias in Canada =

Media bias in Canada mainly occurs in common forms such as advertising, corporate, mainstream, sensationalism, and concision. Reporting news in a prejudiced manner is a result of Media Bias, it occurs when a specific viewpoint is emphasized more than the other instead of reporting objectively. Also, media bias exists in a situation when media neglects certain information of the story.

8 types of Media Bias

 * Bias by commission, a pattern of unsubstantated assumptions and uncorrected mistakes that support a certain political view and party.


 * Bias by omission, opposite of "Bias by commission", a pattern of ignoring facts that is against liberal or conservative claims, or supporting liberal or conservative beliefs. Bias by omission can happen within a story or over a long term which could be a media outlet reporting one set of events. In order to find instances of bias by omission, one should be familiar with conservative and liberal perspectives on current issues.


 * Bias by stories selection, a pattern of emphasized news stories that coincides with either the Left-wing or Right-wing, while ignoring stories that coincide with the opposing group. In order to notice bias by story selection, one has to be aware of issues from both sides of conservative and liberal. Observe the coverage conservative issues get while comparing to issues on the liberal side, or vice versa.


 * Bias by placement, the level of importance the editor considers a story is called story placement. This bias can occur on a website, in the newspaper, or a story article. It is a pattern of news placement that tends to devalue information supportive of conservative or liberal views. To identify bias by placement, be aware of where a media outlet places political stories, or see how deep into the story each viewpoint gets. As for a balanced story, the reporter should quote or summarize the point of view from both liberal and conservative side in the story.


 * Bias by selection of sources or experts, it occurs when a reporter intentionally select experts who share his or her point of view. It is considered that when a reported says "most experts believe..." often means "I believe..." Many times the expert that the reporter has picked, would provide him or her with a quote supporting his or her personal opinion. To notice bias by selection of sources or experts, one must stay aware of the affiliations and political views of those quoted as "experts" or "authorities" in stories. When a story has included experts, observe the amount of quotes from both conservative and liberal.


 * Bias by spin, this bias occurs when there is only one interpretation of a policy or an event while excluding other aspects. Tone is critical in spin, often including a reporter's subjective comments towards objective facts. Spin makes one side of perspective appears better than another. Party spokesman are often called "spin doctors". In order to identity bias by spin, observe whether the news story's interpretation of an event or policy matches the liberal or conservative. A neutral story would summarize the spin by both parties, or not reflect on a particular spin.


 * Bias by labeling, this bias comes in two forms:
 * 1) Tagging extreme labels on conservative politicians and parties, while leaving the liberal party unlabelled or with a milder label, and vice versa.
 * 2) "When a reporter not only fails to identify a liberal as a liberal or a conservative as a conservative but describes the person or group with positive labels, such as 'an expert' or 'independent consumer group.'"


 * Bias by policy recommendation, when a reporter list his or her own possible solutions to society's problems.

“Honey Bunches of Oat” Commercial
In the advertisement for Honey Bunches of Oats, from Post Foods, most of the workers in the factory are non-white. In the lab, the researcher is a Caucasian in a lab coat.

Tim Hortons promotion poster
A Tim Hortons in Corner Brook has displayed a Western themed poster for the promotion of a steak sandwich, showing a group of cowboys pointing their guns at a group of Indians. According to CBC News, a customer, originally from Sheshatshiu, has complained that the display is racist and said, "We're not cowboys and Indians running around anymore. History showed that that was a hard time for us, and we don't want any reminders of that." The display has been taken down soon after. Justin Boucher from Boutcher Holdings, parent company of Tim Hortons restaurants in Corner Brook, states that he is not aware of the display but would investigate further into the issue.

Bic back-to-school commercial
The subtitled commerical has received complaints for its depiction of Asians. According to The Globe and Mail, the advertisement has featured a military official in an Asian prison who is speaking in an invented language which has caused complaints for being "Asian-sounding". The complaints are mostly towards the racial tone of the commercial, describing it as being "racist", "insensitive" and tasteless". The military official has offered amnesty to an Asian prisoner and while he tries to sign with a dysfunctional pen, he has decided to use the stamp, that uses Asian-style script, for condemnation which gives the prisoner a death sentence. The company has withdrew the advertisement in Canada due to the amounts of complaints on the commercial's racial issues. Bic has created a Twitter account for the purpose of apologizing for the commercial. The company apologizes and says, "Please accept our apologies for the recent Canadian TV ad. We didn't intend to offend anyone with this ad, and have discontinued airing it." Bic's spokesperson, Linda Kwong, tells The Globe and Mail, "We're not proud of the ad."

Vote Compass
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) News, has once been accused of being biased with its vote compass, according to the Toronto Sun. Vote Compass is described as an online educational tool designed and developed by political scientists in Canada, in order to assist people in learning how they would fit in the political landscape. Two million people has completed the online surveys during the 2011 federal election in Canada. The CBC has partnered with Vote Compass due to its ability to draw visitors to CBC's website. According to CBC's website, by completing the vote compass questionnaire, users can see where they agree or disagree with different political candidates from the result. After receiving the result, users can learn more information on each political party and candidates, and their policy proposals. The Vote Compass has later been highly criticized for being inaccurate or misleading. The Vote Compass's systematic error is mainly towards the direction of Liberal Party, and in results, all other parties are affected by it, except for the NDP (New Democratic Party). The Vote Compass is also found fault with showing an inaccurate result for the user. According to Christopher Cochrane, from the University of Toronto, It is also argued that the data in Vote Compass would most likely be showing a large amount of users that they are closes to certain political party when in reality, they agree more often and closely on the listed issues with other political party, causing a political bias Queen's University political science researcher, Professor Kathy Brock, has stated that she has completed the online quiz numerous times with different approaches. She claims that she has attempted five times and the result each time is about the Liberal.

2015 Federal Election
In 2015, CBC was being complained of being biased by certain viewers and media outlets. The accuse happened after the Liberal Party and New Democratic Part of Canada announced that they will increase their funding for the broadcasting station.

Biased-news investigation
In 2010, the CBC has gotten involved in a case which is an investigation of whether the broadcasting company's news are biased or not. According to the Ottawa Sun, CBC's president, Hubert Lacroix, states that, "Our job, and we take it seriously, is to ensure that the information that we put out is fair and unbiased in everything that we do." Lacroix has claimed that the investigation is conducted by external experts, whose responsibility is to review CBC's news gathering and delivery in its previous year, 2009, and do an independent review. He has stated that the report will be released publicly in the early fall of 2010. Conservative senators have demanded CBC to show contracts and prove that they are not sharing any polling data with the Liberal Party of Canada. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former campaign manager, Senator Doug Finley, has said that it is "totally unacceptable" for CBC to use the pollster which has advised the Liberal Party to "bring on a culture war" with taxpayers' money, which is also unfavourable to the Conservative Party. However, CBC has refused to comment on the study's methodology. CBC radio chief journalist and former National Public Radio vice-president, Jeffrey Dvorkin, have said the bias studies in this investigation are all depending on the questions asked, and the questions are often biased themselves. He has also stated that. “I fear this may be part of the CBC’s attempt to placate its political opponents and to limit the ability of the news and current affairs service to do the kind of tough reporting that the public broadcaster has been known for."

Media Coverage of Aboriginal Issues
The Toronto Star has described that Canadian media coverage of Aboriginal issues throughout history as "failure". Toronto Star has stated that according to the summary of the final report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadian journalists have acknowledged their failings in reporting on indigenous people. The report has stated that, “the country’s large newspapers, TV and radio news shows often contain misinformation, sweeping generalizations and galling stereotypes about Natives and Native affairs …. The result is that most Canadians have little real knowledge of the country’s Native peoples or the issues that affect them.” It has documented the history of disgrace of Canada's residential schools as well, according to Toronto Star. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission does not find much change in the Canadian mainstream media in two decades, as it states, "this historical pattern persists". In the report, the mainstream media coverage of Aboriginal issues is described as problematic, and the "social media and online commentary are often inflammatory and racist in nature", as Toronto Star has stated. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission says that Canadian journalists must be well-informed about Canadian Aboriginal people's history, which is also media's role and responsibility in reconciliation. It asks Canadian journalism programs to start requiring education on the Aboriginal history, which would include the people's legacy and "ethical dimensions" of residential schools. Toronto Star states that the Aboriginal population in mainstream media is at a minimal state and under-presented. As for the little coverage done, the reports are often negative in tone, focused on conflict, protests, and "noise". Residential schools coverage and information is almost non-existent.



Media Coverage of United States of America
The Huffington Post has stated that the Canadian mainstream media's reporting of the visit of former President of United States, Barack Obama, to Vietnam is biased. Canadian news organizations such as CTV News Channel and CBC News Network, have reported the content in a format that is strongly biased in favour to the U.S CTV News Channel has interviewed Donald Baker, an Asia Studies professor in the University of British Columbia, which Baker would only present U.S objectives. The Huffington Post has stated that one reporter from The Global News in Toronto has voiced over a full report that "laid out the U.S point of view". The way that the Canadian mainstream media has covered Obama's Vietnam visit is "typical of how they report on practically all U.S international adventures, whether it's the While House effort to demonize Russia, U.S interventions in the Middle East, or U.S denying it is involved in helping overturn elected democracies in Latin America." The news from different mainstream news organizations are described as the "same news sources used by corporate media." The Huffington Post has explained the reason of Canadian mainstream media reporting in favoured to the United States. It states that large private media outlets are mostly owned by corporations that have a close relationship with the United States, and would benefit greatly from doing business with the country. Also, corporate owners are described as being aligned with the right-wing U.S government. The corporations would not want newspapers, television and radio stations to report news that has the possibility of contradicting the U.S foreign policy.

Ottawa Shootings
Canadian Progressive has used the incident of the shootings at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada in 2014 as an example. "CNN and other global media outlets resorted to sensationalism, fear-mongering, and self-serving, pre-conceived interpretations of terrorism", according to Canadian Progressive. After the incident has happened, while CBC has informed viewers by saying, "soldier dies after Parliament Hill attack, gunman also shot dead", CNN has created contrast by saying "led by veteran anchor Peter Mansbridge, the rolling coverage was smart, careful, and absolutely un-American." As Andy Carvin noted, "Mansbridge set a respectful, careful tone, calling out interview subjects who had unconfirmed or contradictory information… Mansbridge rarely appeared on camera, even as he took pains to ensure information was correct before reporting anything–particularly the news a soldier shot at Ottawa’s War Memorial had died of his injuries." CNN has described the incident as shootings that turned Ottawa into a “Terrified capital” besieged by “multiple shooters.” A headline from the Global News has stated that, the attack is "linked to terrorist ideology". In the news report, Global News also quotes a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) spokesperson, saying the attack is “the violent expression of an extremist ideology promoted by terrorist groups with global followings.” According to the Canadian Progressive, "inaccuracies are unavoidable in breaking news stories. Still, the media is expected to report responsibly and avoid unnecessarily heightening public fear and anxiety."

Luka Magnotta voted as "Newsmaker of the Year"
According to the National Post, Luka Magnotta, a Canadian murderer who is convicted of killing and dismembering Jun Lin, has been voted to be Canada's 2012 Newsmaker of the Year in the annual poll by The Canadian Press, which has stirred the country's social media and news websites with anger and condemnation. National Post has claimed that it is not a member of The Canadian Press organization and has not been involved in the poll. The decision is made by editors and news directors, and it has caused outrage from many Canadians on Twitter. Bob Rae, interim Liberal leader has expressed his anger through Twitter such as calling the decision "disgusting" and "cheap sensationalism". A retraction of the decision is also requested by Conservative Member of Parliament, Jay Aspin. The Conservative MP has posted on his twitter saying, “I appeal to decency and better judgment of the Canadian Press and ask them to rescind their choice of Luka Magnotta as Newsmaker of the year." One of Jun's friend thinks that Magnotta would take satisfaction from his selection as the Newsmaker of the Year. Other politicians also say that Jun Lin, Magnotta's alleged victim, is being demeaned from this result.

Concision Bias
Media critic, Noam Chomsky, has stated that for a structure of news system that could not provide evidence, it is called "concision".