Iran in the media: a diversity of opinion
We built FairSpin with the goal of revealing the bias behind today’s news and opinion, believing that this could both provide a more compelling news-reading experience and also help bring transparency to the media. The site has now been up and running for a couple of months and we’re very encouraged by the response it’s getting.
At the same time we’re also starting to notice that FairSpin is doing some interesting things that we neither planned nor expected. This is part of the fun in building a new product: discovering that it sometimes has a mind of its own and that its very existence suggests new opportunities.
One of the interesting things we’ve discovered is that by sorting out stories, authors, and sources across the political spectrum, FairSpin enables you to more clearly see how the left and the right approach and respond to the same issue. This in itself is quite educational and can often help in forming your own opinion about the matter at hand.
A great example is the current Iranian election crisis. Journalists and bloggers across the political spectrum have been providing riveting coverage of the events unfolding on the ground in Tehran. Both sides of the aisle share concerns about reports of violence and suppression. Where they strongly differ is in their reaction to the Obama administration’s response to the situation. Journalists and bloggers on the right tend to be favoring a more forceful endorsement of the Tehran protesters, while those on the left generally believe that doing so would undermine both U.S. interests and those of the protesters. But at the same time, there are interesting exceptions that challenge a traditional categorization of opinion. For example, George Will is today speaking out contrary to a position taken by fellow conservatives.
You can already watch this story unfold in real-time on FairSpin, and the placement of each story according to political bias makes it easier to follow the debate. Now, as a new experiment, we’ve built a page that tracks stories about the Iranian election crisis from across the political spectrum. Check it out here:
We plan to experiment with other issue-oriented views of the news like this, so let us know what you think.
Stephen and Dave
