#Enough: Students “walkout” to protest gun violence in the U.S.
On February 14, 2018, one of the world’s deadliest school massacres occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As a result of the attacks, students from all over the United States took to the streets to advocate for heightened gun control policy through “#Enough” school walkouts.
Using reports covering the 2018 student-led “#Enough” school walkouts from a moderate media source, a left-wing media source, and a right-wing media source to guide my analysis, I will work to identify the ways in which media bias and political devotion influence the narratives of influential current events.
For my analysis of a moderate media source, I am using The Wall Street Journal. This daily newspaper is widely influential and popular among both American conservative social circles and American liberal social circles. Because The Wall Street Journal has the reputation for being a thorough and reputable source among both political parties alike, I selected this publication as my moderate media source.
To reflect on and to report statistics from the 2018 student gun-violence protests, The Wall Street Journal published an article titled, “Gun-Violence Protests Drew an Estimated 1 Million Students.” Directly under the title the article is subtitled, “More than 3,000 registered demonstrations took place across 50 states,” and eleven photos of demonstrations are depicted just below this text to provide visuals.
Throughout the beginning of the article, author Arian Campo-Flores uses a multitude of factual statistics to outline the general breadth of the “#Enough” movement. Campo-Flores uses specific times of day, numbers reflecting turnout approximations, and specific towns and cities to offer a better understanding of the protests.
Throughout the majority of his article, Campo-Flores alternates between delivering numerical statistics, such as the roughly 1 million person tally mark for the demonstration as a whole, and personal accounts, such as those from student and adult advocates, to summarize his report. Without using personal opinion or media bias, he is able to stick to a concrete narrative of the events.
Furthermore, the author is able to stray away from using personal opinion or bias when offering updates on the happenings in Washington. Without aligning with a particular political ideology, the author is able to provide a concrete outline regarding Washington’s response to the student-led protests. The author is able to relay this report without any bias due to his careful use of language and his avoidance of personal opinion.
For my analysis of a left-wing media source, I selected Slate. Slate is a digital magazine that has reported on news coverage from an American liberal perspective for roughly 22 years. Although this publication self identifies as a “general interest publication offering analysis and commentary about politics, news, business, technology, and culture,” it is widely known for its left-wing political ideology.
Using the publication’s article titled, “The Parkland Teens Will Win. Eventually.” we can identify the ways in which an extreme-left news publication reports on gun control controversy. In this article, author Christina Cauterucci uses emotionally-charged language and biased diction to outline gun control controversy.
From the very start of her article, author Christina Cauterucci delivers an emotionally-charged expression in her opening line, “The shape of the Parkland, Florida, shooting’s aftermath is unlike that of any other American massacre.” Before delivering any other information relevant to the school shooting in Florida, she immediately uses language that sets the tone for the rest of her article. Following this extravagant expression, she goes on to discuss Washington’s lack of attention to gun control reform when she says the country is moving on to the next massacre “with a regularity that begets a shameful, inescapable numbness.” This emotionally-charged trend can be found throughout the roughly twelve paragraphs that follow her opening statements, and is exemplified in her closing line that states, “If the thousands of students marching in the streets this week are a representative cross-section of their generation, that may not be such an impossible obstacle to overcome.”
Furthermore, Cauterucci uses a considerable amount of personal opinion, which can be understood through her use of language. For example, in her line, “Likewise, the brilliant Parkland activists may fall short of their immediate goals, but they are shaping a political future that will outlive the NRA’s best-funded apologists.” By using the word “brilliant” to characterize the Parkland activists, she is taking herself out of the role of the reporter and, instead, she aligns herself with activists of a particular organization.
For my analysis of a right-wing media source, I selected The Blaze. The Blaze is a conservative news and entertainment network that advertises its publications as “Authentic. Unfiltered. Fearless.” On their site, readers can identify headers that read, “ Stories That Matter Most” and “Our Perspective On Stories That Matter,” which accurately separate the publication’s right-wing perspective from the standpoints of general media publications.
Using the publication’s article titled, “Twitter only invites anti-gun Parkland students to Q&A panel. Pro-gun student has perfect response.” we can work to identify how a right-wing media outlet reports on anti-gun political movements. In his article, Chris Enloe uses distinct language choices and contradictory statements to ultimately yield extreme bias.
Just by reading the title of the article, it is apparent that the author does not care to use unbiased diction. By characterizing the response of the pro-gun student as “perfect,” it can be understood that the author has chosen “a side” to guide his report. As Enloe goes on to describe the situation, he states that the “perfect” response of this 16-year-old is also telling of his “maturity.” These are all words that place pro-gun activists as more advanced than the latter; a tactic that should not be used by reporters if they wish to remain unbiased to deliver their report of a newsworthy situation.
Furthermore, Enloe uses contradictory statements that further yield bias in his article. There are multiple times when Enloe first introduces a situation as unbiased, but then contradicts this statement with an extremely biased follow up. For example, Enloe states that Twitter has announced a Q&A panel with the invitees being “students,” “survivors,” and “activists.” However, instead of continuing this unbiased report, Enloe states, “Problem is, Twitter only invited students who push anti-gun message.” By stating that there is, in fact, a problem with the aforementioned situation, he is immediately taking himself out of the role of the reporter and offering an opinionated account.
