How can you determine a source's biases?

Answer 1

A bias can be shown by how a piece is worded:
Does it use inflamatory language; i.e., the "terrible" war,
the "poor" terrorists, etc. show that the source is stating
an opinion and not the facts. Calling someone "gay" may show
a bias towards homosexuality ( I know many women with that name) or calling someone "pro-abortion" instead of "pro-choice."
One is biased against abortion and one is pro-killing. The source itself can usually be determined as having a bias, such as Time magazine (usually liberal) or World magazine (usually conservative).

There are certain institutions that may help you determine a bias; for instance, if the speaker/writer went to a very liberal college compared with a conservative university. Certain universities, such as Harvard have a liberal bias, or conservative bias, such as Bob Jones University.

Or even the area of the country where they grew up--
someone from the south may be biased against black people.

Sometimes it may be hard to see the biases of someone if you don't know the other side!

It is fun to take a class or read a book on logic--this sort of study can help prepare you for determining different biases.

Answer 2

Compare it to other works and also look for the "absolutes" it uses, a fair source will not talk in black and white, but in shades of grey.

Answer 3

by the content