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Index
How to Explore an Issue
Fairly
- 10 Ways You Are Ensuring
Fair and Clear Thinking
- 10 Criteria for Fairness with Video
Keeping an Issues Log
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10 Criteria for Fairness with Video
The following checklist for creating or evaluating video programs
includes points that are relevant to several media.
- Narrator: Is the choice of narrator in keeping with the subject
matter? Does the subject matter call for a female voice or a male voice?
Is the accent consistent with the message? Is the speaker a natural
part of the narrative, or is the information given as "the voice
of god"? (We take care because we know that the narrator's statements
are powerful, especially in voice-over: many viewers will unquestioningly
accept them.)
- Sources: Have comments been attributed to specific sources
whenever possible? A symptom of bias is vague attribution, as in:
"Experts say. . . ."
"Some environmentalists think we should . . . ."
"We all know that the typical athlete is. . . ."
- Subtitles: Do the English subtitles reflect the language level
and speaking style of the speakers? Overly literal translation can distort
the speaker's message.
- Statistics: Have statistics been presented as objectively as
possible? The following statements, all based on the same survey, illustrate
how statistics are easily slanted.
"Only 53 percent of Canadians agreed that ____ is usually
justified."
"A clear majority of Canadians agreed that ____ is usually
justified."
"A sizable group, 47 percent, believed that ____ is
not usually justified."
" The results of the survey were overwhelming. Only 11 percent
were opposed to ____ in all circumstances." The key word is all,
because the figure for "some or all circumstances"
could be as high as 100 percent and might give a very different impression.
Since viewers are more likely to retain an emotional message than
a statistical message by itself, slanted survey results are sometimes
accompanied by a human-interest story that supports a bias. We aim
to avoid bias.
- Camera angles: Have camera angles been used fairly? The camera,
along with lighting effects, can emphasize one person's power and another
person's insecurity by looking up at one and down at the other. This
technique is especially biasing if speakers on opposite sides of an
issue are shown in contrasting ways.
- Cutaway: Does the video sometimes cut away when a person appears
about to continue a comment? The cutaway, which covers an edit of the
speaker, might be a shot of the person's hands or the interviewer nodding.
When used fairly, cutaways allow the editor to remove extraneous material
smoothly; when used unfairly, they distort the speaker's message.
- Settings: Has a striking setting been used to editorialize?
Does the setting detract from the speaker's message? For example, has
a squalid setting been used to undermine a speaker's credibility? Conversely,
has a prestigious setting been used to enhance credibility?
- Visual stereotyping: For example, when groups are shown, is
the mix of cultures represented in a natural way, or do visible minorities
stand out as tokens?
- Visual emphasis: Has visual emphasis—through action, contrast,
duration, or point of view—been used to put a speaker or group
at a disadvantage? It is important to envision the entire program, not
just the individual scenes, because the effect can be cumulative.
- Balance: Are the viewers allowed to judge the issue for themselves?
To do so, they need balanced material, with the best available advocates—portrayed
as equals—for each viewpoint.
The "10 Criteria for Fairness in Video" were
reprinted with permission from the OLA Fairness to All Guide courtesy
of the Open Learning Agency.
| Suggestion: Try applying the
"10 Criteria" to a news broadcast, documentary, or historical
drama—anything that explores an issue that is relevant to this
course. Write up your critique as an Issues Log entry and/or a contribution
to an Issues Discussion. |
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