Fox 13 Now is a local news outlet based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began reporting news coverage in the Salt Lake City area in 1991.
Although Fox 13 Now is a local news outlet, it is important to examine possible biases in their work. According to Biasly, Fox 13 Now is rated as Center-Right when it comes to news bias.
Source: Pew Research
According to Pew Research, local media is key to the identity of American communities. As seen in the graphic above, 41% of Americans think local media is somewhat important to their community. In general, most Americans hold local media to a certain level of importance. This shows the significance of news outlets such as Fox 13 Now, which serves local communities. Because of this, it is important to analyze possible biases in their reporting.
How Does Biasly Rate News Sources?
Biasly’s algorithms produce bias ratings to help provide multiple perspectives on given articles. Biasly has analyzed 200,000+ news articles from more than 3,200 news sources through our A.I. technology and team of political analysts to find the most factual, unbiased news stories.
Biasly determines the degree of political bias in news sources by using Biasly’s Bias Meter Rating, in which Biasly’s team analyzes media sources’ reliability and bias and produces three scores, a Reliability Score that measures the accuracy of media sources; an A.I. Bias Score, evaluated by A.I.; and an Analyst Bias Score evaluated by political analysts. These scores are rated based on seven rating metrics including Tone, Tendency, Diction, Author Check, Selection/Omission, Expediency Bias, and Accuracy. These metrics help our analysts to determine the political attitude of the article.
Our A.I. machine-learning system employs natural language processing and entity-specific sentiment analysis to examine individual articles and determine their bias levels. By analyzing the key terms in an article such as policies, bias phrases, political terminologies, politicians, and their nicknames, the algorithms can rate the attitude of the text. Bias scores range from -100% and 100%, with higher negative scores being more liberal higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral.
Is Fox 13 Now Politically Biased?
Biasly rated Fox 13 Now gives the paper a Computer AI Bias Score of Center, a score generated by its AI-based algorithms. Biasly’s AI bias analysis focuses on the leaning of tone, opinion, and diction of the author, and, their respective tendencies. For example, Biasly’s AI rated its border wall and criminal justice policies as Center. It also found that it covered a range of politicians both positively and negatively. For example, liberal politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was reported positively while Andy Beshar, a fellow Democrat, was reported in a negative light.
Biasly has assigned a Center score as the Analyst Bias Score. Typically, alongside the Computer Bias Score, Biasly presents an Analyst Bias Score. This score is curated based on a review of at least 15 articles by a team of analysts representing liberal, moderate, and conservative viewpoints. Different types of bias in articles, preferences for liberal or conservative politicians, and policies, all factor into generating these scores. The more articles the Biasly analyst team reviews and rates, the more precise the analyst score becomes.
Before we begin, we need to discuss bias. Bias is a natural function of humans, and we can express it both consciously and unconsciously. Bias is one of the most fundamental forms of pattern recognition in humans. This isn’t to lower the bar and say that “all things are biased,” but to explain the process in which we may come to trust certain news organizations that display patterns of coverage.
On the media’s part, there is an incentive to retain audiences, encourage them to purchase subscriptions, and rate products positively. Bias is a two-way street, people want to see news stories about things they care about, and the media needs viewers to continue their operations. This creates a positive feedback loop that influences what stories are covered and from what perspective. This also explains the actions of more liberal news organizations.
Analysis of Bias in Fox 13 Now Online Articles
In the same study mentioned in the introduction, American adults believe that local media does a good job of reporting accurate news. When analyzing the opinions of those who identified as Democrats and Republicans, 78% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans believed local news was accurate. When it came to transparency, 69% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans thought local news practiced transparent reporting. Such data shows that Americans have a strong sense of trust with their local media. However, these numbers show that there is still doubt amongst many Americans about the accuracy and truthfulness of local media’s news reporting.
Source: Pew Research
When determining bias, some of the most common metrics used include Tone, Tendency, Author, Diction, and Expediency Bias, which are the primary metrics we’ll focus on below.
- Tone: This represents the attitude of the writing, formed distinctively but related to the author’s word choices or diction.
- Diction: The specific words chosen by the writer.
- Author: A metric related to the article’s author, taking into account their history of stance on issues based on past articles and social media posts.
- Tendency measures how consistently an author shows bias in their work, including factors like their tone and perspective.
- Expediency Bias relates to the immediate impression created by elements like the article’s headline, images, or summary, indicating if they favor a particular viewpoint.
Source: Fox 13 Now
An article we will examine is titled, “Deer Creek Reservoir To Undergo $60 Million In Infrastructure Upgrades”. As seen in the picture above, the headline is straightforward and gets to the point of the article. It uses neutral language to tell the reader plainly what the article will be reporting about.
According to Biasly’s analysts, tone, diction, and tendency created issues with the article’s bias. Throughout the article, it seems as though the author takes a stance in support of the upgrades.
“Utah’s Division of Water Resources said it was a smart move”
“The innovative idea they had to do this without having to drain the reservoir”
Including a quote that describes the project in an overly positive way can be described as biased by the author. Adding this quote demonstrates an endorsement of the project. When considering the political stances about infrastructure spending, this project falls more in line with liberal beliefs rather than conservatives. This is because the sides differ on how much spending should be done by governments on such projects.
The diction in the article has its issues but is not a significant problem. The author does use words such as “smart” and “innovative” which can lead readers to believe that the author approves of the project. Although such words seem harmless, authors should avoid the use of diction that causes indirect endorsement of actions they are reporting on.
Both issues regarding tone and diction do affect the tendency score of the article. According to Biasly analysts, these factors show the author’s tendency to lean liberal. As mentioned before, this liberal tendency comes from the author’s indirect endorsement of an infrastructure project and subsequent government spending. When there are political differences on this topic between the two major American parties, such bias becomes noticeable.
When it comes to authors of articles, it is important to analyze their activity online and determine if there is a possible connection to bias. Ben Winslow, the author of this article, had been an active social media user until the end of 2023. His feed is composed of his own posts with links to articles on the Fox 13 Now website. His reporting focuses on the actions of Utah’s state government. All his tweets use neutral language similar to the headline of the article that was examined.
BREAKING NEWS: Salt Lake City to host a 2024 Presidential debate on Oct. 9 at the @uutah. #utpol #Utah
— Ben Winslow (@BenWinslow) November 20, 2023
As seen in this tweet, Winslow states the information in neutral language. There are no signs of bias towards a candidate or how he feels about the election.
News outlets can vary in bias depending on the article. For example, “Layton Girl Uses Lemonade Stand Earnings For Homeless Shelter Donations”, demonstrates a neutral article. The author, Jeff Tavss, gives a straightforward story about a local girl’s generous action.
“Khloe earned the money for the supplies by running a lemonade stand in her neighborhood.”
“Khloe, donating over $200 worth of needed items to the Lantern House”
As shown in the quotes above, Tavss is committed to using a neutral tone and diction to explain the girl’s actions. There is no extreme or strong language in the article. Rather, the author tells the readers how the girl collected money and how she supported her community by donating her earnings.
Both articles show that a news outlet can be inconsistent with its bias. Although Fox 13 Now is rated as Center by both Biasly’s computer algorithm and analysts, there are times where slight bias comes through in their reporting. On the other hand, the outlet has examples where they reflect their Center rating.
Analysis of Fox 13 Now News Articles
News articles are a common form of media that people use to become informed on issues. With social media, new articles spread faster than ever. Due to this, it is important to analyze possible biases in news articles that Fox 13 Now publishes. For example, Fox 13 Now published an article titled, “U.S Postal Inspection Service Offering $50k For Information on Emery County Post Office Burglary”, which was a short article explaining when the incident happened and that the Inspection Service is asking the public for help in exchange for the reward. The article includes information from officials about the possible suspects and a poster from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
In another article called, “Michael Avenatti Sentenced To 2 ½ years in Prison For Extorting Nike”, the author explains the facts of the case, events about the circumstances, and Avenatti’s background. The article includes statements from the prosecutor, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, and mentions who the judge was in the case. Overall, the article explains the case in simple terms and explains why Avenatti was found guilty and sentenced.
Both articles show that Fox 13 Now meets the Center rating given by Biasly. Most of their news articles use neutral language and only include the facts of the topic. Because of this, readers can get information with little to no political bias. There is no omission of information and all parties involved in these news stories are mentioned in the article. Fox 13 Now seems committed to neutrally reporting local and national news.
Who Owns Fox 13 Now?
Fox 13 Now is a television-based, local news outlet reporting out of Salt Lake City. It covers the local city news and topics from the state of Utah. Fox 13 Now is co-owned by the E.W Scripps Company and a Utah-based station called KUPX-TV or Utah 16. The E.W. Scripps Company is one of the largest operators of ABC-affiliated news outlets. Currently, their chairman is Kim Williams, and Adam P. Symson is the president and CEO. Symson has had a long career working in the news. In fact, he used to be a reporter for KNXV-TV which is owned by the company.
Source: Scripps
Their ownership and leadership do explain why Fox 13 Now received a Center rating from both Biasly’s computer algorithm and its analysts. As a local network under the leadership of a former local media member, they have committed themselves to reporting local news to the community with little to no bias.
How to Evaluate and Uncover Bias
It can often be difficult to tell if the news you watch is biased. If you have settled on a news channel, it’s usually because you trust the information you are gaining. Unfortunately, many trust the information they are hearing because it confirms what they already believe. This is referred to as “confirmation bias.” It is important to challenge your beliefs and get third-party verification that what you are hearing is the full story. This is why we recommend using Biasly to compare different news stories side-by-side using our bias ratings to figure out what both sides think of a political issue.
The appearance of bias in news can vary depending on the author or objective of the article.
Fox 13 Now represents both sides of news reporting. Although Biasly rates Fox 13 Now as Center, there are instances where the Associated Press has shown it can publish left-leaning articles. The changes in bias are why it is important to use Biasly’s News Check to see if an article provides accurate and unbiased news.