Deceptive headlines suggest media bias?

I am writing this to increase awareness on matters of media bias. The news continues to gain more and more influence amongst the masses but recently this influence is slowly being abused by news media outlets. This is most noticeable in the headlines of many well-known news outlets.

The headline of a story is what attracts the reader to the story. It is the part of the story that prepares or positions the readers mind for or against the main point of the story and for most people this is the only part of the story that they read. Therefore, it is crucial that media outlets provide precise headlines.

But it might shock you to know that media outlets fail to do this and end up creating misleading reports on serious matters and issues of news. An example of this bias includes an article posted by The New York Times on April 26th, 2017 that explained how victims of a crime committed by undocumented immigrants are being cared for and aided.

The headline of this article read, ‘office to aid crime victims is latest step in crackdown on immigrants.’ The headline alters the readers’ perception of the main point of the article and the issue that is being dealt with. It removes focus from the aid provided to the crime victims and instead focuses on the immigrant population as a cause of this crime. This kind of biased headlines shape the public views and opinions on different matters.

I believe that news headlines should be structured in ways that accurately project the story or article being read, hereby controlling false narratives.

Dean Amadi,

UPEI student