Political Analysis of D.C. Capitol Seize
Fox News vs CNN
Rhetoric designates how history is written. The bias of a network determines if a protest is a riot, or if the riot is a war zone. Choice of words impacts how people interpret current events and contribute to the polarization of the nation. Two notable news networks, CNN and Fox News portrayed the recent Capitol Seize with vastly different points of views. Here’s a little analysis:
The title targets BLM activist as the culprit here. Instead of identifying the swarm of aggressive Trump supporters actively infiltrating the Capitol, the articles articulates negative viewpoints on one person as a representative of an entire movement as well as taking four words spoken in the distant past out of context. The focus of John Sullivan’s personal viewpoints is meant to urge the reader to place negative attention onto the Black Lives Matter movement rather than the point at hand, which remains Trump supporters raided the Capitol. They take his actions and passions for Insurgence USA and investigative journalism as a base for the right wing claim “Antifa caused the riot” when in reality he is known to record political strife in the community. That’s all.
Live Updates: US Capitol gets ‘non-scalable’ 7-foot fence after Wednesday’s rioting | Fox News
Rightfully so, Fox News calls the pro-Trump mob for what they are, mobsters and rioters. The ‘rioters breached security Wednesday to wreak havoc inside the building’.
People at the US Capitol riot are being identified and losing their jobs – CNN
CNN publishes those who attended the Capitol Seize. The ethical reasoning of doing so remains questionable as it works to further put people against each other and publicly brandishes individuals as unemployable. The exists debate about whether one’s beliefs should be used against them outside of their personal lives. In addition, by publishing this information, it works to intimidate a majority of moderate republicans who have no affiliation to the alt-right group into not voicing their opinion in fear of retribution and job loss.
US Capitol: What we know about the 5 deaths in the pro-Trump mob that stormed the building – CNN
Unlike FOX News, which only published content about the death of Babbitt and the police officer, CNN does mention the other individuals who lost their lives during the incident.
CNN Reports each death to not forget those who were too overwhelmed by the commotion that their bodies gave away due to past medical history.
Attributing positive light onto Nancy Pelosi, CNN comments Senator Pelosi ordered the flags to be flown half-mass in honor of Sicknick. By flying the flags half-mass for the police officer who died, there is no mention of Babbitt and the 4 other individuals who died during the incident. Although the article does not explicitly say so, the action and motivation works to deepen the divide between parties as the House Speaker expresses sympathy while mentioning the Administration did not order the same.
“The flag atop the White House had not been lowered as of mid-morning Friday, but the White House issued a statement about his death.”
In addition, there is no mention of the Republican counterparts who wished for the same action and would have greater claim to do so given the overwhelming supportive bond between the Republican National Party and the Police.
The point of including these examples is to demonstrate the focus of each news network. If you are to see Fox News you will remember that an innocent woman died by the hands of police, and the lack of media attention is unfounded given she is vilified while these protesters for Black Lives Matter were encouraged.
Meanwhile, CNN publishes that these rioters deserve to lose their jobs given their constitutional defiance and aggressive tactics.
In any case, neither one works to promote unity between political parties and only work to fuel the everlasting fire. So, when you are reading your own news articles, please be aware of what the objective of the article is.