What does biased writing
mean to you?

You may be prone to think of biased writing in terms of news bias. Bias not only

encompasses this form of writing, but also can be found in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and many other facets of language.

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Whether you define biased writing as being a form of persuasion or manipulation is something you should be open to considering a bit more. Some define bias as the idea of believing a certain way and injecting that thought process into your writing and/or speaking. This might be construed by some to be akin to a form of writing hypnosis. Writing in a biased way does not have to be "wrong," per se. You just have to watch how you do it, how much you use it, and if you are swaying your readers unjustly in a certain direction, especially when writing articles for newspapers and the like. Adding conflict to a story by making your characters go through one horrible circumstance after another can add depth and appeal to your story. You just don't want to use bias in a way that drills it into a reader's head that he or she can only see the story, article, etc. in one way without any opposing perspective at all.

Others identify bias as a form of manipulation. It does not have to be a form of trickery or deceit; however, some people see it as such. They find that there is a strong case of biased news stories presented through various forms of media, ranging from newspapers to magazines to local nightly newscasts and more. They feel that the manipulation lies in the fact that stories get told the way that the newspeople feel will warrant the most likeability or dissent. They may be desirous of controversial stories in order to stir up people's considerations and thoughts, allowing them to decide for themselves how they feel. They may also find it worthwhile to manipulate people by showing one side versus the other.

The following types of bias are present within various forms of writing. See if you use any of these in your genre of choice, and decide whether it serves the purpose of your writing well, or whether it takes away from the tone and mood you are trying to set within your written words.

First and foremost, think in terms of biased reporting of polls, quotations, etc. You may think that quotations cannot be mishandled or biased. It's what somebody said, right? Well, that is right, but it doesn't have to be the whole story. Chelsea Handler, a comedienne, proved one instance of bias was clearly evident in an article written about her in a magazine. It wasn't a form of bias that was meant to hurt her in any way. It was used to make her speaking voice sound different within the written article. The author of the article added exclamation marks after some of Handler's quotes, misrepresenting the way that Handler knows that she speaks. She says that she expresses herself matter-of-factly, rather than in an excited, worked-up tone. The result of this may be that people who do not know much about Chelsea Handler come to think of her as having a particular sense of humor, when that sense of humor may in fact be an incorrect assumption on the part of the reader based on his or her reading of the article. This could bias readers against Handler if they think that her sense of humor sounds too happy-go-lucky for them, or it may make them like her sense of humor until they discover how brash her comedy can actually be.

Besides biased reporting, applying and including dishonest appeals of emotion within your writing can be a sticky area as well. When you want someone to lean your way, you tend to use biased writing, language, terms, ideas, etc. that will resonate with that person. You want them to see your point of view and acknowledge that it is correct. This is not persuasion. Rather, it is manipulation. You are using emotional appeals to make the person believe that you are right. Whether or not this tactic works is inconsequential. You must fight honorably for what you believe in. An example of this might be found in terms of ideas that hit closer to home. For instance, when reading a short story about two brothers, the ideas presented may ring truer for someone who has a brother than someone who has a sister or no siblings at all. This does not have to be a bad thing all of the time, however. Emotion can work in your favor and allow your readers to have a deeper connection with your work. Just use it carefully so as to avoid the dishonesty that can stem from it.

Stacking the deck is yet another form that biased writing can take. What is bias if not the stacking up of different ideas against another idea? Biased language is present in our daily routines. We see it in newspapers and on the Internet, and we hear it on television. There is a commercial as of late that shows a man who works for Coke and a man who works for Pepsi sitting in a diner. The Pepsi man gives the Coke man his can so the Coke man can take a drink. When he does, the Pepsi man takes a picture of him drinking it to post on the Internet. Not only is this commercial biased in the way that there are blatantly two sides of the issue, but stacking the deck may eventually get used. Everyone who sees that YouTube video of the Coke man drinking Pepsi might eventually tell their friends who drink Coke that it's clearly obvious that Pepsi is a superior product -- even the man who sells Coke was drinking it. Stacking the deck allows for people who are on different sides of issues to potentially gang up on one another by pitting two against one, three against two, etc.

What is biased writing without the suppression of dissent? This is a form that writing may take on in which the idea is presented that there are no opposing viewpoints. If you fail to concede that there is another side and you at least respect the fact that other people may see things that way, you are guilty of including biased writing and biased language in your work. Respecting someone else's viewpoint is not equal to agreeing with it. It all comes down to the idea of agreeing to disagree. If you can do this, you can write in this way as well. Acknowledging opposing viewpoints brings you one step closer to not suppressing dissent and not creating ill will among your opposition.

Finally, biased language writing can be found in repetition. It is common knowledge that the more you repeat something or hear something or see something, the more you will remember it. Think of all of the TV commercials and/or jingles that you hear nowadays. Think about these tunes and/or products and try to decipher where they're from/the answers:

Ba da ba ba ba, I'm lovin' it. -- What company?

Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that... -- What product?

800-588-2300 -- What company?

What number comes after Heinz?

If you're wondering the answers to the above questions, it goes from McDonald's to Kit Kat Bars to Empire Carpet and finally to the number 57. All of these answers have been repeatedly drilled into your heads by commercials. The fact is that when you constantly see or hear something over and over again, it is much more apt to stick in your brain. Repeating something once in a while in your writing is one thing, but give your readers the benefit of the doubt. Allow them to make their own conclusions from your writing, and trust that your writing is good enough that they will not have any problem grasping whatever it is you are writing about. You should feel confident enough in your writing that your readers will feel confident in their reading of it. It is a constant give and take that should constantly be considered.

From biased writing to biased language, we are regularly bombarded with ideas, images, songs, advertisements, etc. that challenge our free will and our way of thinking. We should do our best to give fair hearings to all of the ideas that are thrust at us, but that is obviously not a genuinely logical and rational thing to do. So, take it upon yourself to at least look at the writing you are doing and that which you are reading. Take a long look at all of it in terms of how bias is or is not incorporated. Ponder what you are reading so you can insert the knowledge you gain about it into your own specific style of writing. You will hopefully find that it will do you a world of good to relegate bias to the back burner while you allow your writing to take spectacular shape in every other way.

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