In this weeks post, I will be comparing two articles published within the same hour! One article was published by Fox News and the other published by CNN. Both articles are discussing the recent decision by the Supreme Court declining to prevent the turnover of Trump's tax records to a New York prosecutor. Although both articles are discussing the recent decision by the Supreme Court, they use very different language, quotes, and tones when guiding their readers through the facts.
The headline of the article published by Fox News reads, "Trump: Supreme Court tax return decision a 'continuation of the greatest political witch hunt'. The Supreme Court declined to step in to halt the turnover of his tax records to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr." The article begins by explaining that former President Donald Trump slammed the Supreme Court for declining to halt the turnover of his tax records, calling it "a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country." The article then goes on to explain that Trump's tax records are not supposed to become public as part of a prosecutor's criminal investigation, but the high court's decision is a blow to Trump because he has for so long, and fought on so many fronts to keep his tax records shielded from view. Fox news then goes on to mainly discuss Trump's opinion on the matter, using a variety of different quotes from Trump. The article explains that Trump, in a statement Monday, slammed investigations that plagued his presidency, including former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe, which he called the "never ending $32 million Mueller hoax where there was a finding of 'No Collusion,'" and the "two ridiculous 'Crazy Nancy' inspired impeachment attempts where I was found NOT GUILTY." The article is mainly full of Donald Trump quotes, and lacks actual investigation into the facts. The end of the article is much of the same, but this quote they chose to highlight stuck out to me. The former president said that "the new phenomenon of 'headhunting' prosecutors and AGs- who try to take down their political opponents using the law as a weapon- is a threat to the very foundation of our liberty."
The headline of the CNN article is less theatrical and reads, "Supreme Court allows release of Trump tax returns to NY prosecutor." The beginning of the article discusses facts of the case and states how the Supreme Court cleared the way for a New York prosecutor to obtain former President Donald Trump's tax returns, dealing a massive loss to Trump who has fiercely fought to shield his financial papers from prosecutors. The article expresses that the ruling is a bitter loss for Trump, even if the tax records are shielded from public disclosure, after he consistently argues that the subpoena issued by the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was over-broad and issued in bad faith. Facts about the case are discussed by the article, describing that the subpoenas span documents from January 2011 to August 2019, including Trump's tax returns. The documents relate to the Trump Organizations employment of Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen and hush money payment Cohen allegedly made to two women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Trump.
Both articles discuss the same topic, but the way they do it is very different. The Fox News article is riddled with direct quotes from Trump and his allies, and actually discusses the facts of the case very little. The CNN article uses less quotes and more facts, describing the details surrounding the case and the history of Trump's fight against the release of this information.
What do you think? Which article do you resonate with more? This will definitely be interesting to watch as this issue plays out, and I am sure the media will continue to give us contrasting coverage when it comes to topics like this. Stay Tuned!
Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-reacts-to-supreme-court-tax-return-decision-claims-continuation-of-the-greatest-political-witch-hunt
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/supreme-court-trump-taxes-vance/index.html
Hi Kelly !
ReplyDeleteThere’s no question how much Fox News favors Donald Trump. We have seen how they spin any news about him, whether there are facts or not to back claims and allegations against the former president. Fox News is first and foremost a media outlet before it is a Trump supporter, their job is to present the facts as they are even if the news aren’t pretty, then people can give their opinion.
Sadly this is what our news has come to now. Both Fox and CNN do the same thing. In this case it's pretty obvious which outlet is on the defense. It seems, whether it be CNN or Fox, you only get more facts and less bias when the situation is in their favor.
ReplyDeleteExamining the different framing styles of news publications was never easier than in the Trump era. Stories that include the same general facts and situations can be told in such wildly different ways. In journalism classes, we are taught not to lead with somebody's defense against a situation that looks bad on them. But at Fox News, the key framing was always Trump's perspective, no matter what. I imagine if he ever actually did "shoot somebody in the middle of 5th avenue", the Fox News headline would read something like this: "Trump says man he shot was clearly asking for it."
ReplyDeleteAlthough both articles discuss the same topic, I resonate with the CNN article. The reason is that it uses fewer quotes and more facts. When reading an article that deals with facts, it feels the author was sure of their writing. Even though it’s heading "the supreme court allows release of trump tax returns to NY prosecutor" shows the facts in it. The author was sure of what they were writing without depending on other materials written by somebody else. The author begins by the fact of the case on how the Highest Law court of New York cleared the way for prosecuting attorney, which was meant to find a previous president Donald Trump's tax returns. The article has given how the presiding is an unpleasant loss for Trump despite the tax recorder being protected as of the community revelation. After President Donald Trump argues that the subpoena delivered by Attorney Cyrus Vance of Manhattan District was delivered in bad trust over-board. Issues like Trump's tax returns and the January 2011 to 2019 subpoenas span documents from are discussed in the articles as facts.
ReplyDelete