Amidst the frankly awful situation the United States is in now, I’ve noticed that there is a severe lack of unbiased news available to people. Honestly, it’s infuriating. It’s so difficult to find out what’s true anymore, and people tend to take the first thing they find on a subject at face value. While this is often fine, it can be a little dangerous when there are so many conflicting viewpoints.
One of the first things they teach you about writing scientific papers is to take stock of all of the information available. Once you’ve collected information from a variety of sources, you compare and contrast it to determine what is fact, what is interpretation, and what is opinion. Recently, I’ve been wondering if I can use this approach to sift through the news and actually determine what’s going on in the world. I’ve decided to do this through a new post series that I’m calling “Spot the Difference”. Though significantly different from what I usually post, I think it’s important for people to be able to get the facts, not just one news outlet’s interpretation of the facts. In this inaugural post, I’ll go into how this series will work, as well as dissect news articles from three major outlets.
Media Bias
While I was scrolling through Facebook one day, I came across a media bias chart. This pyramid-style chart shows where different news outlets fall on both the political spectrum and a news-to-complete nonsense spectrum.
I find this chart really interesting, especially in where some of the major US news outlets fall. For example, I would have expected CNN to fall more in the “Analysis” region, when in actuality it is verging on an unfair interpretation of the news. Other outlets, like InfoWars and BuzzFeed News, are about where I expected them to be. I will be using this chart to select outlets to analyze. My goal is to find articles that are free and easily accessible (unlike The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, where you only get a few free articles per month before they make you subscribe). I also want to stick to the generally mainstream outlets. In general, I will pull articles on the same topic from the following sources: MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. I believe these are three of the most commonly viewed political news sites and are a good representation of the political spectrum.
Additionally, I will be using one of the outlets at the top of the pyramid as a source for fact-checking articles. Usually I will use the BBC, as they are not an American outlet and therefore don’t have a political agenda when it comes to American news. It should also be noted that I am not a political analyst. I’m writing this to make sense of things myself, as well as to hopefully help others sift through the news.
Points of Comparison
In order to analyze the articles I gather in as accessible a way as I can, I have come up with the following points of comparison. In other words, I will look at what the articles say on each of these points.
- Main Players: Who does the article focus on?
- General Focus: Does the article focus on one part of the event it covers, or is does it paint a broader picture? If it focuses on multiple parts of the same event, how does it portray them?
- Overall Conclusions: What does the article conclude? This point of comparison will focus most heavily on how the authors of the articles actually cover the event.
After I’ve worked through these points, I will compare them to an article taken from a source that offers less analysis and more straight facts reporting. Hopefully, this will allow us all to determine what actually happened, rather than what other want us to believe happened. It should also be noted that I intend to put as little of my own opinions into these posts as I can, as that would bias my findings.
The Articles
Trump doesn’t address systemic racism during visit to Kenosha
Maegan Vazquez, 9/1/2020
Read the article for yourself:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/01/politics/donald-trump-kenosha-wisconsin-visit/index.html
- Main Players: President Donald Trump, family of Jacob Blake, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, Kyle Rittenhouse
- General Focus: This article is broken into rough thirds. The first portion covers how Donald Trump visited Kenosha, WI on September 1, 2020, despite being asked by state and city officials to stay away from the city. It also goes into conversations Trump had with reporters and his public safety roundtable discussion. The second portion covers the feelings of the WI officials regarding Trump’s visit and focuses on how they asked him not to come. There is also mention of Vice President Joe Biden’s impending visit to Kenosha. The final portion focuses on Trump’s views on the racial and political tensions in the country with an emphasis on how he refused to denounce the actions of right-wing agitators across the nation, including Kyle Rittenhouse.
- Overall Conclusions: Just from an initial read-through of this article, it is clear that there is a liberal lean to it. Based on the Media Bias pyramid, CNN tends to be more politically neutral than other outlets, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
During the first portion of the article, there is an emphasis on how Trump has responded to systemic racism in the US and his views on the police. There is mention of how Trump supports the actions of the police, including claims that Trump is standing by his view that “police violence is not a systemic issue” and his stance on the “voters’ candidate for law and order”. This section finishes by discussing Trump’s roundtable discussion, focusing on the experiences of the Blake family. According to the article, Trump feels “’…terribly for anybody that goes through that.’” It also noted that Trump did not meet with Blake’s family because they wanted to involve lawyers.
The second section focuses on how state and city officials tried to discourage Trump from visiting the city, claiming that after all the Kenosha has been through recently, now really wasn’t the time for a political visit. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes also told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that the trip had nothing to do with both the Blake family or the victims of the shootings during the protests. The section wraps up by mentioning that Vice President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Kenosha, but that Mayor John Antaramian would prefer he wait a week before visiting.
The final section details Trump’s statements on the “right-wing agitators”, especially his condemnation of “’dangerous anti-police rhetoric’”. Additionally, the article states that Trump didn’t condemn vigilantism and that he claimed that the methods his supporters used against the protestors in Portland, OR, were defensive mechanisms rather than acts of violence. Finally, the article mentions Trump’s claim that 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse (who the article notes “allegedly killed two protestors and injured another in Kenosha”) would likely have been killed if he had not shot the other protestors.
Trump’s Kenosha visit produces outrage for some in the city, and calm for others
Janell Ross, 9/2/2020
Read the article for yourself:
- Main Players: President Donald Trump, Rev. Murry Wilson, Jacob Blake and his family, Wisconsin and Kenosha officials, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jim Larsen, Brittany Berman, Kyle Rittenhouse
- General Focus: This article chose to focus more on the responses of Kenosha residents, both to Trump’s visit and to the recent shootings. It still covers most of the recent events, but takes a more personal look at them.
- Overall Conclusions: Because the article looks more at the responses of the Kenosha residents than on Trump’s actions, the conclusions drawn were more focused on how the residents felt following his visit. It was mentioned that state and city officials, as well as the city’s NAACP branch, had asked Trump not to come.
Following a general overview of Trump’s visit, the article gave detailed accounts of some of the residents’ perspectives. The first of these was from Rev. Murry Wilson of Kenosha’s Second Baptist Church, who stated that “’Listening is one of the great strengths of a leader, and what our president demonstrated by coming here today was not that.’” Rev. Jesse Jackson’s (head of the rainbow PUSH coalition) statements on the systemic racism in the police system in Kenosha were also summarized, particularly in conjunction with statements made by Jacob Blake’s family.
The article then transitioned to the perspective of Jim Larsen, who felt that Trump’s visit sent a clear message about “’…who is in charge and who needs to stand down, what kind of country this is supposed to be and how people ought to behave.’” While Larson did acknowledge that Trump’s style can be offensive, and that it might be a good idea to use a gentler touch when restoring and maintaining order, he did support Trump’s focus on the use of government force when necessary, and stated that if his visit to Kenosha pushed Americans to vote for him for a second term, then his visit was a good thing.
Next, the article went into the views of protestor Brittany Berman, who is from the same town as shooter Kyle Rittenhouse (who the article noted was charged with murder). Berman, who has recently returned to the Midwest due to the pandemic, noted that, to her, Trump is one of the biggest causes of the normalization and legitimization of racism in the US. She hopes to stop Trump from winning another victory in Wisconsin.
Finally, the article looks at the statements made by Jacob Blake’s uncle, Justin Blake. Blake stated that the White House did not make any efforts to meet or talk with the Blake family, despite their claims otherwise. Blake noted that the family’s goal is justice for Jacob and others like him, and that it “’…begins with steering clear of Trump’s circus, even if it is in town.’”
Trump visits site of riots in Kenosha, promises to help businesses rebuild
Adam Shaw, 9/1/2020
Read the article for yourself:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-kenosha-riots-businesses-rebuild
- Main Players: President Donald Trump, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Jacob Blake, Kyle Rittenhouse, Vice President Joe Biden
- General Focus: This article was written more from the view of Trump and his supporters, with focuses on his plans for financial support to Kenosha, his calls for the deployment of the national guard, the shooting of Jacob Blake, and even some of Joe Biden’s views on the matter.
- Overall Conclusions: This article starts with Trump’s decision to provide $1 million to Kenosha law enforcement, $4 million to support local businesses, and $42 million to support public safety in the state of Wisconsin. It also details his tour of the city, as well as his roundtable discussion, including his declaration that the events in Kenosha “’…are not acts of peaceful protests, but domestic terror.’” The article also notes that protestors raised their middle fingers at Trump as his motorcade passed. Additionally, it echoes WI Gov. Tony Evers’ belief that Trump’s presence would be a hindrance to the healing process.
The article next mentions how Trump deployed the National Guard to Kenosha and how he takes a pro-police stance in all of this. His beliefs that the police are under immense pressure are also stated. This article also gives the most detailed description of Trump’s thoughts on Kyle Rittenhouse (here accused of killing two people and wounding a third), most prominently that he acted in self-defense, and that if he hadn’t done so, he would most likely be dead.
The final paragraphs focus on Joe Biden’s recent speech in Pittsburgh, where he spoke on how Trump appears to be making the violence in America worse rather than attempting to lessen it.
Looking for the Facts
After reading through these three articles, I’ve noticed that the different outlets different ideas of not only what are the important facts in situations, but also what the people want to hear. The issue lies in what the facts actually are, and with the flood of information we are hit with daily, it’s difficult to sift through things to find what actually happened.
Personally, I trust the BBC and it’s perspective on American politics, predominantly because it has no political agenda here. Therefore, I will be using their recent article on Trump’s visit to Kenosha to determine what the facts actually were and where these other articles fell short. For these articles, I will be looking for the facts from several overlapping points: 1) Trump’s lack of meeting with Jacob Blake’s family and his feelings on the situation; 2) Trump’s visit to Kenosha and the reactions of its residents; and 3) Trump’s feelings on Kyle Rittenhouse. You may notice that I am using multiple articles to find the facts, and that is perfectly fine. I encourage you to do the same.
Jacob Blake: Trump visits Kenosha to back police after shooting
Barbara Plett-Usher, 9/2/2020
Read the article for yourself:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53989076
Trump and Jacob Blake’s Family
Trump stated that sometimes people (i.e. the police officers involved) “choke” and have to make life or death decisions. He did express sympathy toward the family, but said that he did not believe systemic racism existed in the law enforcement.
Trump said that he did not meet with Blake’s family because they wanted lawyers to be present, but that he was honored to have two of Blake’s mother’s pastors at his roundtable discussion.
The first point was expressed most notably in the Fox News article, while the articles from MSNBC and CNN echoed both points.
Trump’s Visit to Kenosha
Trump claimed that he was the one who sent the National Guard to Kenosha, when in reality they were sent in by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and were supported by law enforcement officials sent in by Trump.
Trump stated that his administration would provide $4 million to local Kenosha businesses that were damaged by riots, as well as $1 million for the city’s law enforcement.
State and city officials had appealed to the president, asking him not to come.
CNN and MSNBC focused heavily on the negatives of Trump’s visit, such as how he went to Kenosha despite city and state officials asking that he not, while Fox News tried to focus more on the positives of his visit, namely his pledge of funding to help the city get back on its feet. These are both valid viewpoints and help us see both sides of the argument.
Trump defends supporters accused in deadly clashes
9/1/2020
Read the article for yourself:
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53980128
Trump’s Feelings on Kyle Rittenhouse
Trump suggested that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, and also defended his supporters who fired paint pellets into the crowd of counter-protestors in Portland, OR, was also a defensive mechanism.
The most notable difference I noticed in how the articles expressed this point was in how they spoke of Rittenhouse. CNN stated that he “allegedly” killed two people and wounded a third, Fox News said that he was “accused” of the shootings, and MSNBC just went for it and said he was “charged with murder”. This difference may have been caused by when the articles had come out. If they were released before any charges were made, then a choice of “accused” or “allegedly” would be fine. It may also have been a personal choice by the author.
The articles also took significantly different tones when discussing this point. CNN and MSNBC were more accusatory, both toward Rittenhouse and toward Trump, while Fox News didn’t necessarily take a lenient or positive tone, but tried to focus more on how Rittenhouse may have acted out of self-defense. The BBC articles don’t analyze Trump’s views as deeply as the others, so the difference in tone may be the result of political bias.
What can we Learn?
Obviously, this is an extremely stripped-down version of these articles, but my goal was to find the facts, not provide analysis. However, we can still spot several differences between the articles that should be taken into account:
- MSNBC and CNN tend to skew liberal, while Fox News skews conservative. As a result, the former two outlets tended to paint Trump and his actions in a negative light, while the latter was significantly more supportive.
- The news reported in each of these articles varies greatly, with CNN being somewhere between MSNBC and Fox News in terms of personal accounts and facts reporting.
- None of the outlets covered the full scope of the story and exhibited bias.
I hope this has been as enlightening for you all as it has for me. I truly believe that in today’s world, we need to do our own research and use reputable sources for it. It’s okay to watch your favorite news channel, but it’s also beneficial to watch other outlets to see if their viewpoint differs from yours. Bias is present everywhere, and the best way to move past this bias is to read information from different sources.
If you have another topic that you want me to play Spot the Difference with, let me know in the comments.