We reached out to Kaur — CEO of the company — to find out what they have learned about news literacy since their launch last year, how journalists can help fight against media biases, and what’s next for Ground News.
The world was a different place in January 2020 when Ground News launched. Can you share some of the lessons you and your team have learned about media biases since then? How has Ground News evolved?
Kaur: When we launched Ground News in 2020, we all thought our increasingly polarized world needed this platform. People with differing political beliefs were no longer sharing a collective reality and as the world moves more online, this issue is getting worse as people become further enveloped in their filter bubble. This seemingly primarily virtual problem moved into the mainstream on January 6, 2021 as the world watched thousands of people, propelled by conspiracy theories, storm Capitol Hill. Unless addressed, this lack of shared reality will continue to have real-world consequences, whether it’s the fracturing of relationships or an increase in politically charged violence.
We have evolved to address the needs of consumers who want to lift the veil on media bias and read the news that an engagement maximizing social media algorithm likely wouldn’t show them. We are expanding our analysis by looking at not just the bias of the organizations but going one level down to the bias of each journalist and going one level up to the bias of the corporate parent. In 2021, we will be launching these features so readers can see the corporate and ownership bias of each of the organizations. For example, CNN being owned by AT&T or the majority of the conservative media in the US owned by Newscorp and how their agendas are reflected in the news organizations reporting.
What advice do you have for journalists right now to help overcome some of these biases?
Kaur: First, one should acknowledge that they likely consume news and content in a filter bubble. Unless someone makes a concerted effort to keep social media algorithms guessing, they are likely enveloped in a filter bubble. Make an effort to talk to people in person with different perspectives and approach the conversation with the intent to learn, not lecture. Twitter threads seem to bring out the worst in people and in-person conversations are often much more constructive.
Second, read news from outside your bubble, from a place of curiosity rather than criticism. The best way to burst your filter bubble is to adopt a balanced news diet and read news from perspectives you typically avoid. If you identify as a liberal, read news from right-leaning publications. If you identify as conservative, read news from left-leaning publications. This is far more time consuming than simply browsing your Twitter or Facebook feed, so we created Ground News to make it easier to read the news from a variety of perspectives and get the full picture
What are the biggest surprises you saw from your media analysis?
Kaur: That filter bubbles have become nearly impenetrable and many people refuse to acknowledge the reality that they are enveloped in one. The rise of partisan media and content bubbles has siloed us to such an extent that one event can be sliced and diced to fit dozens of narratives. While it is often subtle (which is more dangerous), it can often be very overt as well.
A good example of overt bias is the recent Gina Carano story where many news orgs lead with an extremely loaded headline that tried to convince their audience of a narrative before they even had a chance to read the article and understand what happened. Rolling Stone, who leans left, published the headline “Gina Carano dropped from 'Mandalorian' following 'abhorrent' social media posts” and the Federalist, who leans right, published the headline “Lucasfilm bows to internet mob, fires 'Mandalorian' star Gina Carano.” I am not equating those two news sources, but is often surprising how stark news organizations can be in pushing a narrative.
I was also surprised to see how filter bubbles can affect views on more serious issues, like the coronavirus. People on different sides of the political aisle have been hearing about two different pandemics. It has been proven that people who read the news in a media bias bubble and had no access to dissenting information were responsible for spreading misinformation, especially amongst the older age group. Too many Americans are walling themselves off into digital citadels of self re-affirming information, allowing anti-science and dangerous rhetoric to spread unchecked.
What has the reaction been like since launch?
