1. Should factual writing products contain bias? Many products that include information about certain subjects are given out to the public to inform us, warn us or help us to create our own opinions and views on events or subjects. Many of these products contain bias which is a way of language in which the writer puts across their opinion only either for or against the matter instead of telling both sides of the story in order to allow the reader or the target audience to develop their own opinion, I do not think that factual writing products would contain bias in the majority of subjects because it is as if the writer is forcing their opinion on the audience, in some cases I agree with products giving out bias information if the subjects is for example smoking or any subject that could bring harm to the public. There are many examples of products that have given out bias information to the public, the biggest culprits of this act are publications such as newspapers and magazines, the reason these types of products and companies use bias information is to connect with the target audience and it also allows them to sell better by making the topic of interest to the public sound more dramatic than it actually is, another reason why they use bias opinions and information is to draw the target audience in and ensure that after reading the publication they have a fixed and similar opinion to the writer on the subject, this can occur mostly when publications write about crimes, court cases, parliament and government decisions and also during elections. An example of a publication using bias information in a negative way is the story printed by The Daily Mail surrounding the suicide of Hannah Bond in 2008 in which the newspaper blamed emo cult band My Chemical Romance for her death. The publication stated that Hannah was a happy person before she began listening to the New Jersey rooted band when she was introduced to the emo fashion, the writer stated a very bias view in favour of the band being the problem which then encouraged the parents of the late teenager to also blame the band, this then gave my chemical romance a bad reputation to the public. Throughout the article the writer stated that the band were the forefront of the new emo craze which included participants of the subculture to dress in darker clothes, applying dark hair dye and also self-harm was one of the popular culture habits. The writer also began to develop their opinion with evidence such as some of the bands lyrics which were "Although you're dead and gone, believe me your memory will go on." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-564611/Girl-13-hangs-obsessed-Emo-suicide-cult-rockband.html#ixzz2ud81iAN2 Although these lyrics may be interpreted to show that the band were enforcing suicide and death amongst the cult craze they can be compared with some of the members quotes such as nothing is worth hurting yourself over, do you understand me? which was given by the lead singer, Gerard Way, at one of the shows in a room full of thousands of fans this quote shows that the band do not promote self hard or suicide, also the creation of the band came from Gerard witnessing the 9/11 terrorist attack which made him think about how short life is and wanted to give a message to fans that they should live their lives while they're still here. Researching into the band thoroughly shows that the writer was very bias whilst writing because they have not shown the other side to the story, they have not mentioned the positive aspects of the band or what their message was, they have just written about what they thought and manipulated lyrics and family member quotes to enforce the negative side of the story.

2. Although I think that most publications and factual writing product should not be bias, I also think that sometimes they have to be depending on what the subject is, for example leaflets on smoking I think should use bias opinions because it is an act that can bring harm to the public so writing negatively about smoking will encourage the audience to avoid it. For example a stop smoking leaflet from the NHS which uses bias information to ensure that the leaflet is written with one side of the story which is the negative side of smoking, I think the writer has to be bias in this piece of writing because there are no advantages to smoking and encouraging people to do it would give the company or the writer a bad reputation for putting the health of the audience in danger especially as the NHS is a medical group.In conclusion I think there is a bigger and better argument against using bias information in factual writing because it doesnt allow the audience to create and develop their own opinion and view on the subject, it also doesnt give the audience the information they deserve by only telling one side of the story, the audience are entitled to be told both sides of the story and all of the details of the story or subject. I also think that when writers use bias information they are going against their codes of practice because they are giving their opinion and not the facts, there fore they are giving incorrect and false information to the target audiences and not allowing them to get the full information or the correct information. Bias should not be allowed to be used in factual writing mainly because it takes away the development of the audiences opinion and also allows the writer to give false information to the reader.