Media

From social media, newspapers, or radio, different forms of media can influence the public. Media is a form of a linkage institution because it connects the people to the government; citizens can learn about new laws in place or people can also have the chance to spread awareness about a particular topic. Based on the source of news consumption and bias present, this affects the way the public think and hence the way they vote. News sources have different biases and through examining sites on opposite sides of the spectrum, biases can be identified. The Blaze is a news source where the audience is more consistently conservative and The New York Times is one where the audience is more consistently liberal. A current event that has been written about on both of these websites is when football players take a knee during the national anthem as a form of protest for police brutality.

On The Blaze, there was an article that was recently written by Dave Urabnski on October 30, 2017 regarding the kneeling. In this article, Urbanski reports how when three high school football players took a knee, the referees fired back at them, saying that he has a problem with anyone who disrespects the flag and national anthem. This happened in New Jersey at Monroe High School. This article is relevant since it talks about a topic that has been of the public’s recent concern. It is also credible because the article includes quotes from the referees. This article is influenced by the context in which is was written because the events leading up to this movement have prompted a time of change. From the Black Lives Matter, increasing cases of police brutality, and the Trump presidency, the article reported what people have done in attempts to shed light on the situation. Even though The Blaze falls on the right side of the ideological spectrum, the article is still able to remain mostly unbiased. This is due to the fact that the include both sides of the story. Urbanski includes quotes from both the referee (who believes that the protest is disrespectful) and also the coach (who believes that no one should be yelling at a group of high schoolers.) For the audience that read this article, they were informed about the kneeling protests has even spread to high schools in America. Therefore, they are influenced to believe that this is a significant issue that needs to be changed.

The New York Times also posted an article about football players kneeling during the national anthem. In an recent article titled "Police Shooting Protesters Kneel Before Vikings Home Game," the associated press reported how before a football game in Minneapolis, about 50 people kneeled outside the stadium to raise awareness about police shootings. This article is directly related to the current event of police brutality because it shows how people have become united and what they're doing in response. Similar to the article on The Blaze, this article's main focus to inform readers of an event that happened rather than try to persuade them in a specific direction. However, there are some subtle biases; one of them is right in the title of the article. The headline starts with "Police Brutality..." in contrast to the "HS Football Players Kneel for Anthem..." from The Blaze. This shows how in the more liberal news source, emphasis is put a problem that needs to be solved, whereas the conservative article's emphasis is about respect of the country. Given this, audience of the New York Times might have a slightly more negative thought about police, which supports the liberal ideology of not as much money being put towards defense. Another bias present is that unlike the article from the Blaze, both sides of the issue are not addressed. The article does not mention the group of people who might have said negative things about the kneeling protests, which results in the audience of this article seeing the protests only in a positive light. Similar to the previous article, this article was also written in the context of ongoing police brutality; they even cite recent shootings near Minneapolis to strengthen the significance of this protest.


In conclusion, although the two articles came from sources from opposite sides of the political spectrum, overall their main focus was to report and inform on current events. However, just as in most writing pieces, bias was present. Though not the most obvious bias, there was still subtle biases that occurred in the title or content of the article. By analyzing and being able to look at articles from a critical lens, it can help readers better process information and take into account biases that are present.

Thanks for reading and tune in next time where voting and elections will be discussed!