Examining Media Bias through Current Events

As current events affect people more and more, understanding these events is increasingly important. The media remains a vital source of information for making sense of the world, yet its own biases means that media literacy is also fundamental. In Focus on Media Bias, readers gain essential media literacy skills for today’s most urgent topics. 

A 2021 Junior Library Guild Selection, Bias in Reporting on the COVID-19 Pandemic helps students stop the spread of misinformation and explores how pandemic reporting’s bias has partisan, racialized, and gendered dimensions. Bias in Reporting on Climate Change, reviewed by Booklist, helps “broaden student minds” in thinking about how journalists cover the climate crisis. Other titles in this four-book series examine how reporters cover politics and the role of fake news in the media. Free lesson plans further aid educators engage students in the classroom.

Two “Consider This” special features highlight thought-provoking aspects of each topic, while infographics help readers visualize important concepts and data. Perfect for grades 5–9, Focus on Media Bias is aligned with National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (NCSS) standards 5, 6, and 10. The series uses timely subjects to foster critical thinking as students process the world through news media.