People frequently perceive and allege bias in news coverage, but what does this really mean? What makes a piece of news biased, and who decides? What role do our own biases play in our perceptions of bias? This session explores this vital, controversial and complex topic in ways that empower librarians, educators, students and library patrons to meaningfully evaluate the fairness and impartiality of news coverage. In the session, we will:
• Reflect on the ideal of avoiding bias as a standard of quality journalism.
• Analyze actual examples of news and other information and reflect on the nuanced, highly subjective nature of perceived bias in news.
• Learn an approach for evaluating potential bias in news by recognizing different types of potential bias and the forms they can take in coverage.
• Explore the limitations of popular media bias charts and rating systems.
Recorded March 10th, 2026
Bio
MEET THE PRESENTER
Alee Quick is the Director of Community Engagement for the News Literacy Project, where she creates and shares resources with families, libraries and community groups that want to teach kids and teens about news literacy outside of traditional classrooms. She also supports teachers and school administrators as they engage families and school communities around news literacy. She previously worked as a newspaper editor and nonprofit marketer, and she advises the independent student newspaper at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Alee has a bachelor’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism.