Avery McClellan
September 30, 2018
Mr. Hansen
AP Gov
Biased In The Media
For the past few months, India Landry, a teenager from the state of Texas, has been silently
protesting alongside some NFL players against police violence on African Americans. For a long
period, India’s refusal to stand made little to no impact on her surrounding community. Until one
day when she refused to stand in the principal's office and was asked to leave the school. Three
different news sources have covered this same story and interpreted it in their ways. The
Washington Post, Newsweek, and The Root all vary in their expression of biassed through the
diction and set up of their articles.
First, The Washington Post delivered a definite, concise, non -biased, informative article. For
example, the title of the article is not in big boasting letters, but instead in not so large letters
with a neutral font. This title allows the reader to begin to understand the base of this story in his
or her light. The title is inviting rather than demanding. Also, this article covered the
fundamentals of the story while providing unbiased opinions from each side. Throughout the
article, The Washington Post used diction such as, “ India’s reason for sitting… some say
protesting… Critics of the protest say…” these are all examples showing how the article includes
non biased perspectives of all parties involved with this incident. They allow you to understand
where all of the groups affected stand; they are not saying that anyone's statements are wrong but
instead just acknowledging what they all believe.
The next article, from NewsWeek, is slightly biased. The article is informative about the news
story but shines on a harsh light on a Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton is a
Republican candidate striving for re-election this coming November. Paxton was not personally
involved in the case but decided to take it on in the courts when the Landry’s attempted to sue
the school. The article begins with an averagely sized font title with all capital letters. This
makes the report seem more urgent to the reader and may persuade people to think that this story
is of more importance than an article with small letters. The article is titled, “ Texas Attorney
General Takes On Black Teenager Expelled For Sitting During The Pledge Of Allegiance.” A
couple of things stand out in this title. First, the title begins with “ Texas Attorney General”
which immediately brings the focus to the Ken Paxton. Following that statement is, “ takes on
black teenager.” The fact that the article specifies the teen as black instead of by name squares
this article to focus on a race issue rather than a protest on constitutional rights. Newsweek
continues the article with non- biased information on the case itself then comes back to a strong
biased towards the end. The article uses quotes to accuse Paxton of having evil intentions by
taking on a case that did not even apply to him. The article states, “...
