1. You give an account of a match that only favours your team.
2. You read a newspaper article that only gives one side of a story.
3. You ‘Like’
something on Facebook.
4. You retweet a tweet.
5. You write the life story of a person and only included the good points.
Can you think of more examples of bias?
Viewpoint Propaganda
Historians can tell different stories (different interpretations) about the same events because their sources may be different. Historians may also tell different stories because of their own viewpoint (opinion). Their viewpoint can be based on facts so it can be objective (not based on personal feeling or opinion). Historians try to be objective. In some cases though, a historian’s viewpoint can be biased (based on personal opinion or prejudice). Sources, too, can be biased or one-sided accounts of what happened. They can
favour one group or person over another, or they can be prejudiced against one group or another.
Some sources are deliberately written or created to persuade people to support a cause or a person. This is called propaganda. Sources can also have problems with the accuracy of the information in them. Eyewitnesses or participants can exaggerate or mistakenly report what happened.
Sources
Based on facts
Objective
Based on prejudice
Biased
Persuade people
Biased
What do these headlines tell you about different viewpoints or bias?
RELIABLE
How can you judge if a source is reliable (if you can trust it)? ●● Who is the author of the source? ●● Is the person who made the source a witness? ●● When did they make the source – at the time or later? ●● Does the author have a point of view? ●● Is the author biased (one-sided)? ●● How does the source compare with what you know already or with other sources?
USEFUL
How can you judge if a source is useful? A source is useful if it tells you information about the topic you are researching.
Where do historians get their sources? Museums – places where objects are cared for, studied and displayed. Archives – places where historical documents, maps, photographs, recordings and films are stored and studied.
