Lab+7+-+Fairs+Faq

News is a media outlet designed to distribute accurate information to the public sphere. The problem with news reports is their ability to manipulate the story so the average viewer takes in the meaning they are trying to portray. Fair’s “How to detect Bias in the News” demonstrates the questions an individual must ask themselves when looking at news reports to understand whether the story is accurately portrayed. The Toronto Star article “New book says World Cup will be no money bonanza for S. Africa” attempts to inform the issue of whether South Africa could benefit from hosting the World Cup. Through the article, the issue seems to put down South Africa as a poor nation that could not sustain or benefit from hosting such event. The sources only follow sports economist Stefan Szymanski as he puts forward a strict opposition to any income for South Africa if they were to host. The report does not give opposing arguments to his statements, rather listing all the reasons why his statement is right. For a news article to be accurate and fair, there should be a compare and contrast of arguments in order to prove the correct statement. Instead, a bias opinion from one sports economist is followed and outlines thoroughly ignoring all other possibilities. This article, whether this was the intention or not, portrays the common stereotype of Africa’s financial issues. For example the article outlines a portion of the book that suggests South Africa could not afford this where a third of the population lives on under $2 a day. It seems the article is promoting the idea of the typical stereotype that South Africa only has poor workers, with unsustainable living conditions. There is no counter position of the wealthy areas of South Africa or sustainable communities that exist. This article is objective in its ability to persuade the reader to assume South Africa’s economic situation as being a poor nation, unable to host or benefit from the World Cup. It often mentions Germany as a more suitable alternative because it already has the stadiums and ability to host the event. There maybe underlying messages of better nations in comparison to South Africa who are more appropriate for this event.

Resources http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/worldcup/article/733471--new-book-says-world-cup-will-be-no-money-bonanza-for-s-africa