In this section you read about a method researchers have used to gauge ideological bias in the media. How did they identify variation in the ideological slant of news outlets?

Answer: The researchers compared the language used by politicians with the language used in reporting the news.

Explanation: Media bias is the act of showing prejudice or favour to certain events by journalists and media producers as well as how they choose to cover and report the story. It is when mass media choose to steer the direction of the story instead of reporting the event in a non-partisan way. It is becoming increasingly difficult for media outlets to maintain objectivity and report the news irrespective of whether they like it or not.

Several factors which may be causing biased presentations include but not limited to; ideology of the ownership of the news source, concentration of media ownership, the members of staff and the preferences of the targeted audience.