Confirmation Biases in the Mainstream Press

Screenshot from the NY Times.

Confirmation bias is related to when reading a specific article and interpreting in a way that agrees with your own beliefs. Sometimes, subconsciously, readers will automatically have this bias if they don't read outside their view points as to get a variety of perspectives and insights that they may have missed previously due to their biases.

On April 11, Hillary Clinton and Mayor Bill de Blasio made a race joke that was scripted at an event in New York. This became a controversy, but different media outlets covered the story in different ways. The New York Times titled their story: "Racially Charged Joke by Hillary Clinton and Bill de Blasio Leaves Some Cringing." Throughout the article it lists how much of a "storm" the joke caused. It also said it caused a lot of controversy and the article mentions how Bill Clinton had an altercation with Black Lives Matter protesters recently, which a reader could imply that the Clinton's are being careless when it comes to race relations. This all comes very close to the New York primary, but the article does mention Clinton's overwhelming support among the African American community.

In another article from CNN, a Clinton aide is reported as saying, Sanders is "trying to rig the system." This comes as Sanders has won 8 out of the last 9 contests in the Democratic Primary contest.  CNN lists the 448 super delegate number that Clinton has. They also provide a quote from Donald Trump, who defended Bernie Sanders from what he views as a "corrupt deal." The Clinton aide is listed as stating that Trump is trying to help Bernie Sanders.

In the Politico article about this same story, Donald Trump is mentioned in the very first sentence. However, there is much less detail about delegates and votes. They also don't list any quotes from Trump. In CNN's article, the reader may come away from it believing Trump has defended Sanders, but in the Politico article, it's downplayed. Depending on the reader, it may confirm biases that the system is indeed rigged or corrupt, but other readers may view Sanders negatively for trying to sway the super delegates to switch from Clinton to Sanders.