Web Bias

“Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain” - Baum (1900)

Not good advice then and certainly not today. Toto had the good sense to pull the curtain back and reveal that the Wizard of Oz was a façade used to portray a great, powerful and all-knowing wizard when in reality the actual wizard was a mere mortal man with average knowledge and power.

The web provides a good environment and opportunity for facades that disguise biased, unsubstantiated and deceitful information because:

• anyone can publish content without barriers to entry such as editors, censors, watch groups
• it is easy to hide the true authors, agendas, and owners of a website

As critical thinkers, we have guidelines and tools to help us pull back the curtain as Toto did to reveal the truth of what we are viewing.

Guidelines for Evaluating the Website
The article “Evaluating Information Found on the Internet” (http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/#c) offers guidelines to help uncover bias. The following is a partial list:

• Is the author’s name present, recognizable and does it include a biography?
• Is there a name of an organization responsible for the website?
• Is there a method on the website for contacting the owners or webmaster?
• Can the owners of the website be identified?
• Can the point of view be determined? Does the author provide a counterpoint to this point of view?
• Does the author cite references or sources? Are these sources provided or links provided?
  How current is the content? Does the content provide a date of publication or update? Is the information provided or cited also dated? Is a copyright date provided?
• Is the information presented in a way to instill an attitude in its readers? Is the mission of the author or group clear?

Tools and Methods for Evaluating the Website
The Virtual Chase (http://www.virtualchase.com/quality/checklist_print.html) provides tools and methods for evaluating websites in the article called “How to Evaluate Information - Checklist”. These tools and methods assist in:

• checking the ownership of a site
• spotting a fraudulent website address
• identifying phishing scams, fake web pages or websites
• researching the author of content
• how to determine objectivity of the content

Detecting bias on the web is not easy. However the critical thinker will perform due dilligence in evaluating the quality of the information that is presented.

*Oz photo from edspresso.com