Biased reporting: a vaccination case study

by Prof Brian Martin

On Tuesday 28 January 2014, The Australian newspaper published a news story by journalist Rick Morton titled "University paid for anti-vaccine student to attend conference." It provides an illuminating example of how to construct an article that is misleading in several different ways.

Here, I offer a critique of Morton's story, pointing out a number of its shortcomings and biases. I first give some context about journalistic codes and practices, and my own involvement. After providing some background about the vaccination debate, I go through Morton's text, presenting information to highlight how it is misleading. In the conclusion, I summarise the types of bias involved and comment on how readily they can be detected.

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