#1: Monterey Park Shooting
It is no secret or shock to the world that partisan media has become more and more polarized in the last decade. The differences that we see between reports of the same incidents and situations from different sources is clearer than ever. Even if the issue being reported on is not political or politically related in its nature, some media outlets choose to politicize the issues in order to better fit their narrative and what their audience is tuning in for.
This weekend, America saw yet another mass shooting in Monterey Park, California. Eleven people lost their lives in an unprovoked, random attack on a Lunar New Year's celebration. Gun violence has become an increasingly political issue in the last 20 years as America has seen an enormous rise in mass shootings and overall gun violence. People sit on two completely different sides of the aisle on this issue, and many refuse to put their personal opinions aside to focus on the tragic loss of life. Partisan media outlets that cater to the left and right in American politics aid in this polarization of the issue.
This shooting, and the aftermath that followed it, were reportedly in two completely different ways throughout different media outlets.
The Huffington Post, a neutral sometimes more left leaning company, reported on a press conference given by California Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. The article opens with a statement from Newsom stating that Fox News has not done a thing in decades to stop gun violence in America. He stated that "It's a disgrace what they say, what these people say every night." Newsom also mentioned that the racial priming that is present on Fox News perpetuates crime and violence in America.
Fox News on the other hand chose to label the article with an attention-grabbing headline for their audience.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says 2nd Amendment is 'becoming a suicide pact' following Monterey Park shooting.
Their article is not indicative of the press conference or what the Governor had to say. Instead, they focus on California having the strictest gun laws in the nation, and picking and choosing quotes from the Governor. There is no mention of Newsoms critic of their news station, even though that was the main point of his words. Rather than focus on the facts, the article goes on to discuss how Newsom may be a candidate in the 2024 election and put emphasis on his relationship with Biden.
Huffington Post's analysis of Newsoms press conference put the facts first, while its clear that there is some left leaning sentiment present in the article, everything that was said is reported in a fair and clear way. If one was to read Fox News' article before the Huffington Post article, or only read the Fox article, a completely different picture would be painted. This type of news reporting is dangerous, as its catering to the reader. Rather than catering to the facts of the situation or statement so that the reader can absorb the information and they can come to their own conclusions.
This is not to say that all partisan media is complicit, there are some articles that do a good job of balancing fact and a political opinion into the same story. This is not an example of that.
Hey I thought you wrote a great blog post. I can definitely agree that politicizing events and the way different news outlets talk about them is out of control. I definitely don't think its good for our country that we have different news outlets reporting on a mass shooting in such a different way just because they have different politics. Peoples lives shouldn't be used for political gain. But thank you for shedding light on this issue of reporting because it needs to be talked about more.
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