Informational Bias In The Media

Most human beings have a sense of curiosity about learning what’s happening in the world around them. In order to attain this knowledge, visual prowess is relied heavily to analyze mediums, in order to understand incidents occurring all over the globe. With the assistance of evolution in technology, the media, specifically journalism, has become an essential medium through which knowledge is attained. Photojournalism is a type of journalism that plays an important role in conveying the message of a news event to the public. However, most people believe that photographs presented as medium to gain knowledge are a “transparent window on the world, capturing reality through a camera lens”, (Schwartz 2012). But in fact, most knowledge trying to

First of all, it is important to note that Figure 1 utilizes the principle of the rule of thirds. In the image, not only can one see blurry images of people clapping the left and right sides of the background, but also the American who’s face can be seen quite clearly and is placed right in the center of Figure 1. Instead of placing the prime minister in the center of the photo, the photographer deliberately placed the American in the background in the center which can be portrayed as an example of informational bias as through analyzing the photo with the knowledge of the previous banning of the Prime Minister, a reader can infer that the Figure 1 is trying to commemorate American’s support towards foreign politician and can also be viewed as a propaganda in order to assist the readers in forgetting the banning of the former Hindu politician. With the expert use of the rule of thirds, Figure 1 can be portrayed through the insight of informational bias as the main purpose of the photo and article (the welcoming of the politician) is overshadowed by the side message of Americans supporting foreign politicians and making the reader forget about the banning of the former Hindu

As mentioned above, Figure 1 follows the rule of thirds, which drives the reader’s attention away from the Prime Minister and to the American in the center of the image. By focusing on the American, the photographer possibly wants to demonstrate the how the Americans are supporting the foreign leader forgetting the previous events of his banning. However, since the article doesn’t specifically talk about the photo and the caption only gives a brief context of the Prime Minister arriving before his speech, the purpose and the true meaning behind the photograph remains ambiguous and gives the reader the opportunity to understand what’s happening with the assistance of the reader’s own ideologies, experiences, and prior knowledge. In addition, if the photograph was published without the article, there is a possibility that the main message (welcoming of the Prime Minister) may be forgotten altogether and a new message could be interpreted by the reader that Americans are portrayed as kind and supportive people as they are clapping and welcoming with support the foreign minister. However, without the news article stating previous banning of the Hindu nationalist, the readers get the wrong impression that the Americans where always supportive of this man. Therefore, this ambiguity leads us to question the objectivity of photojournalism because it becomes