Entry #3 - MSNBC: The Ultimate Example of "Slanted" News Coverage
An example of this type of reporting can be seen in a report done by BTC and MSNBC. The name of the report is The coverage of Biden's age has a Trump-shaped hole, and this name alone is great at telling us which direction the report will lean. The report begins by addressing claims that Republicans make about how President Biden is becoming to old to complete his duties. Then, it is said that, "the problem is that people who have been perpetuating this narrative seem pretty willing to overlook the fact that their deity, Donald Trump, doesn't seem to be working with a full deck of cards" (The coverage of Biden's age has a Trump-shaped hole). The video then launches into an explanation of all of the different times that Donald Trump has supposedly proved himself to be incompetent. Next, the report shows a recording of a Fox News reporter (Fox News tends to be very Republican) calling out Trump. The report finishes by saying:
I have every ounce of faith in the world that Americans, who yes may certainly recognize that Joe Biden is old, will not prioritize that above the fact that his opponent is a dangerous anti-democratic authoritarian, currently contending with four incitements and 91 criminal charges, and his most recent act as President was to incite an insurrection against our own government. So the GOP and their willful accomplices in the media may parent republican talking points about Biden's age all day long, but we won't be distracted by the same antics that they deployed ahead of 2016. We know the stakes of this election, and no amount of right-wing propaganda will change that.
Clearly, this report was extremely slanted in favor of Joe Biden and the Democrats. I am not denying the fact that Republicans tend to go way overboard in their criticism of President Biden. And I am not denying the idea that Trump has said and done some things that are certainly not very smart. The point that I am trying to make is that this report done by MSNBC left out a lot of information that could make the two political sides seem a lot more even. For instance, one example that the report gave of Trump's supposed incompetence was a speech that was given in which he basically said that President Biden would be the cause of World War II. Obviously, World War II already happened, so assuming that Biden will cause it is downright impossible. But what the report failed to mention was the many times that President Biden has said things that didn't make sense. For instance, during a briefing at a White House conference on hunger, nutrition, and health, President Biden asked, "Where's Jackie? She was going to be here." Senator Jackie Walorski had in fact died the month prior in a car crash, and the President himself had issued his condolences after the terrible incident. Yet, while at the podium, he apparently forgot. Clearly, both Trump and Biden have made some serious blunders while speaking in public, yet MSNBC chose to ignore that fact in their report and ONLY discussed the blunders that Trump has made.
In MSNBC's report, they told true facts of events that have actually happened; however, they failed to mention some important details. They failed to mention that Biden has also made some pretty bad mistakes. They failed to mention that the Left-wing has been shoving insults and propaganda at Trump, just like the Right-wing has done to Biden. The report also focused on the major accomplishments that Biden has undergone during his time as President, but once again, they did not acknowledge the accomplishments that Trump had during his time as President. It is true that Biden has managed to pass the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Chips Act. However, according to the Trump White House Archives, Trump was able to begin the USMCA, which provides new protection to American Manufacturers and could create over 550,000 new jobs over the next ten years. He also passed 3.2 trillion dollars in tax relief and for the first time in 70 years the U.S. became a net energy exporter. Both of these men have accomplished amazing things, and both of these men have made some terrible mistakes. That's the thing that many news networks are missing. Both Trump and Biden are human. We need to be extremely careful and analytical of news networks that we put our belief in, because many of them have one goal. They have the goal of making us belief what they want us to belief.
The University of Minnesota provides a chart that can actually help us understand the political angles that certain news stations tend to side with. MSNBC is known for being extremely left-wing, while Fox News tends to be very right-wing. I would compare these news stations to the phrase, "a wolf in sheep's clothing." They hide under the disguise of a reliable news source that provides you with all of the facts, data, and knowledge that you need. While they certainly provide insightful information, they also are extremely biased and only provide the information that you need to agree with their opinion. MSNBC and Fox News are not the only news sources that use this type of slanted writing to establish an opinion.
We need to be extremely careful about what we belief when watching or reading news sources. I am not saying that we can't pay attention to them at all; in fact, I am saying that we need to pay MORE attention. We need to really focus on what the meaning behind the words is. As you can see from the chart, it is almost impossible to find a news source that has absolutely no biased opinions. If we refuse to pay any attention to what the secret meaning behind a news story is, we can become puppets, completely controlled in someone else's game. We can adopt their opinion without even knowing it, because we are aware of nothing more. This is exactly the kind of tactic that MSNBC was using in their report. By carefully analyzing a news source and thinking about the deeper meaning, we can develop our own thoughts and opinions about the world we that live in.
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