Media bias has become an important role in what political conversations or topics get discussed in social discourses. Media outlets like Fox News politicize certain events to push their agenda and “party” lines.
After the events of Las Vegas and later the New York attack Fox used very specific rhetoric to push their opinions on crucial political issues; gun control and immigration. Their comments after both events showcase their hypocritical use of politicizing current events.
The Las Vegas shooting that occurred October 1st, 2017 was a tragic event. It is being marked as the deadliest mass shooting committed by one person that has occurred in the U.S. With 58 people dead and over 540 people injured this event was national news. The tragic shooting was committed by a lone gunman who owned 42 guns. Stephen Paddock was a white male in his mid-sixties and like most news broadcast stations, Fox News was all over the event.
For Fox News, the fact that he was a white male and not a minority changed their rhetoric on the event.People talked about how they "can't even hate him" referencing the fact that as a white male they should not jump to the conclusion that he is a monster.
Multiple Fox News castors who covered the topic made a similar claim that society’s tendency to politicize topics like this is disrespectful.
On air for Fox on October 2nd, Sebastian Gorka stated, “the bodies are still warm and people are exploiting this for their own partisan gain.” Jason Chaffetz stated on air on October 3rd that “it’s just not the time to dive into the politics and try to score political points.” T.V host on Fox Sean Hannity said on October 2nd “In the midst of tragedy the rush to politicize the worst shooting in American history is shameful, now the Left has no shame.”
The topic they later chose to focus on was hotel security. Instead of discussing topics of gun control, or even the bump fire stock Paddock used to turn his semi-automatic weapons into almost fully automatic weapons, hotel security was the forefront of their later coverage.
Their bias towards Second Amendment followers and Right-wing politics eliminates the desire to discuss the fact that this man had 42 guns, and maybe gun control would have stopped this.
If this was how they talked about all tragic events like this it would be different. Then on October 31, 2017, Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov drove a truck into cyclists and runners in New York claiming he did it for ISIL killing eight people and injured 11 more. Fox News was once again commenting on the event but this time they quickly worked to denounce Saipov and immigration, turning the event into a poster for why America needs more restrictive immigration laws. They took no time in politicizing this event.
Fox News asked the same commentators about the event and they had these things to say a day after New York. Sebastian Gorka said “Sadly this event just reinforces all the efforts the president has made with regards to reforming immigration,” Jason Chaffetz said “This guy who committed this crime… his entire family should be deported,” and Hannity said, “What about people that are here that were never vetted, you can’t even vet people that aren’t here without being called racist and Islamophobia.” They jumped at the chance to talk and push immigration reform rhetoric.
The difference between these two events was the person who committed them. If Saipov had been the shooter in Las Vegas and claimed the event for ISIL the rhetoric would change. Immigration would be the topic of Las Vegas. The hypocritical use of denouncing politicizing or demanding it showcases how media bias plays a large role in social discussions on important topics.
Fox News is not alone in this practice. Large stations like NBC News and publications like the Huffington Post or New York Times all allow their Leftist bias to influence the rhetoric they use in their news coverage. The goal as consumers of news media is to be able to recognize bias and consume media with a grain of salt.
Knowing the bias of a media organization and using that knowledge to objectively understand their point of view on the topic is better than taking everything they say as fact or fiction. Bias is unavoidable but being aware of it can lead to more productive discussions and solutions for our nation’s problems.
