The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
How truthfulness, honesty, and respect can affect what we read, see, and hear

Since the 2016 NFL season began, alongside the rise in violence between the police and people of color, many professional football players have began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and systematic inequality. However, President Trump has reported differently, causing this protest to turn into an allegedly “un-American” act. Due to the inability to source truthful information and growing suspicion against the protest, led by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the media has twisted this issue into one it never had the intentions of becoming.
In an article written by Nate Davis for USA Today, “President Trump tweets NFL players shouldn’t play or be paid if they kneel for national anthem”, the news story covers Trump’s response to new NFL rules among teams, threatening fines or suspension for kneeling during the national anthem. The President tweets a positive response to these new rules, as the article covers his history of opposition to Kaepernick and his protests. What the article fails to do, however, is obtain information of the protest directly from the source. The story only cites tweets to emphasize its point and refuses to acknowledge the importance of the protests- or why they even began, for that matter. The article leaves us questioning what the NFL’s next moves may be, as it uses uncertain language and has a lack of education on the issues behind the symbolic act of kneeling. The article fails to provide readers with a fully informed understanding of why NFL players kneel and why the issue cause such controversy between whites and people of color.
Alternatively, an article written on sports blog SBNation, “The truth behind why NFL players are protesting and how their message gets lost in the politics”, quotes Kaepernick directly, explains his reasoning clearly, and fully extends the issue to cover all topics surrounding it. The article not only raises questions, but provides paths for answers to those witnessing police brutality and the responses that come to fight it. The article also provides statistics that go on to highlight the purpose of writing about the issue. Furthermore, the article presents an opposition as a part of the background information that ultimately goes on to present an increasingly obvious racist and ignorant point of view.
A lot of people are confused as to why NFL players are kneeling. That’s because the mainstream media only highlights the backlash there is against it, instead of informing the public of the root causes that originate it. By ignoring the connections between oppressed people of color and the actions taken in attempt to inform the public on it, people do not understand why these actions are being taken. When reporting reactions to players kneeling, it should be included that these reactions are to players kneeling against the deaths of unarmed black men. Not until all aspects of the issue are covered can readers fully understand what President Trump tweets about, and how it can be seen as relevant in the news.
https://www.sbnation.com/2018/7/31/17614874/nfl-national-anthem-policy-player-protests-reasons-trump
