I was actually not sure of
what to expect when I set myself up to embark on this journey. A journey to
look out for slanted reports that are meant to inform. By slanted reports, I
mean information has been included or omitted in the reports that creates an opinionated
perspective. “How am I going to determine if any report has been slanted or not,
afterall who am I, a mere college student,” this were the questions that went
through my mind as I kept on searching and reading. "These reporters and news broadcasters are people who have gone through training and their reports go through professional editors before broadcasting." However, it wasn’t much of
a hustle before I came across a CNN news report.
http://kdvr.com/2014/08/20/ferguson-streets-were-calm-until-bottles-started-flying-47-arrested/
This news report got me thinking for a minute, as I wonder how easy it was for me to identify the slants. The news actually reports about events that happened on August 2014 in Fergurson, Missouri, where riot broke up as people protested the Michael Brown shooting incident. Whiles I dont mean to choose sides, I can say that the reporter expresses opinion as to who is the cause of the riot that night. I believe no one will argue that there was riot, and maybe it is true that bottles flew that got the police reaction to spark a riot, but as to the cause of the riot being the flying bottles, I think, is the reporters opinion that should have been avoided. On the other hand, i dont think it was intentional for the reporter to state the cause of the riot as he may believe he was reporting everything he saw. The slant goes ahead to credit the police for good work done, whereas it reports badly about the protesters as troublemakers. This is the same thing that is being established in the minds of readers. How about if maybe the police did something that sparked the throwing of the bottle and the reporter missed that part of the action. It doesnt even state anywhere that the reporter tried finding out what happened that caused the throwing of the bottle. This leaves a lot of questions still unanswered, as to the fact that, the news should have stated what is being reported is what the reporter saw and not actually everything that happened. Missing part of an action and reporting what you see leaves a big hole for questioning and can sometimes be problematic. What could have been wrong with reporting that riot started as tension between police and protesters built up. This leaves no room for questioning as this is accurate and fact.
We can see that not everybody present at the scene agrees to what the report say.
The news report the events of the night, but "until bottles fly", establishes an opinion from the reporter and I can say it puts the credibility of the source into question and should have been omitted.
I find the source of this report not credible enough as eye-witness account does not necessarily establish a fact.
http://kdvr.com/2014/08/20/ferguson-streets-were-calm-until-bottles-started-flying-47-arrested/
This news report got me thinking for a minute, as I wonder how easy it was for me to identify the slants. The news actually reports about events that happened on August 2014 in Fergurson, Missouri, where riot broke up as people protested the Michael Brown shooting incident. Whiles I dont mean to choose sides, I can say that the reporter expresses opinion as to who is the cause of the riot that night. I believe no one will argue that there was riot, and maybe it is true that bottles flew that got the police reaction to spark a riot, but as to the cause of the riot being the flying bottles, I think, is the reporters opinion that should have been avoided. On the other hand, i dont think it was intentional for the reporter to state the cause of the riot as he may believe he was reporting everything he saw. The slant goes ahead to credit the police for good work done, whereas it reports badly about the protesters as troublemakers. This is the same thing that is being established in the minds of readers. How about if maybe the police did something that sparked the throwing of the bottle and the reporter missed that part of the action. It doesnt even state anywhere that the reporter tried finding out what happened that caused the throwing of the bottle. This leaves a lot of questions still unanswered, as to the fact that, the news should have stated what is being reported is what the reporter saw and not actually everything that happened. Missing part of an action and reporting what you see leaves a big hole for questioning and can sometimes be problematic. What could have been wrong with reporting that riot started as tension between police and protesters built up. This leaves no room for questioning as this is accurate and fact.
We can see that not everybody present at the scene agrees to what the report say.
The news report the events of the night, but "until bottles fly", establishes an opinion from the reporter and I can say it puts the credibility of the source into question and should have been omitted.
I find the source of this report not credible enough as eye-witness account does not necessarily establish a fact.
Hello Felix, I do agree with you regarding slanted reporting. If your going to speak of an event, speak on all the fact in which they fall, not part of them, how you think they went down. News reporter don't have the right to put their opinion into their reporting, only the fact nothing else. Keep up the good work, your blog is very nice.
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