Critical Thinking in Communication: Detecting Media Bias
Critical Thinking in Communication: Detecting Media Bias
The issue of illegal immigration has been discussed for decades. State and federal legislation has been drafted in order to respond to the issue, however, these policies have had an insignificant effect on the flow of people coming into the country illegally. In addition to the anemic effect that laws related to illegal immigration have on solving the problem, politicians will commonly leverage the issue as a means to manipulate their own popularity. The divisive nature of the issue is such that the nature of proposed response can influence the voting decisions of voters, hence politicians will take positions that will influence voter sentiment. One current event related to the issue of illegal immigration is the Donald Trump visit to Mexico. In terms of media bias, some commentators are taking Donald Trump’s side, however, there are others who refuse to take his side. In two articles from two different sources the differences in how media outlets view trump is evident. In an article by Sumner (2016) for the Daily Kos, Trump quotes are used as a device to mock him and to point out how poorly qualifies he is. In an article on Breitbart, Trump is described as a leader who is seeking to work with the Mexican government and that Trump is right to be assertive in accomplishing the goal of building a wall on the US-Mexico border. The conclusion is that there is a great deal of media bias surrounding commentary on this event, with commentators generally supporting or not supporting according to their general political alignment.
In terms of Trump as the messenger driving this current event, his personality is a salient element for commentators. In an article by Sumner (2016) published in the Daily Kos, the author gives the reader several quotes from Donald Trump on the topic of Mexico, specifically on the building of a wall along the US border to solve the illegal immigration problem. In a comedic tone, Sumner notes that the US should “be extremely glad that Mexico does not have the bomb” (para. 2), eluding to the idea that Trump’s rhetoric is antagonistic and bullying towards Mexicans. In quotes given by Sumner, the author identifies instances where Trump had taken the position that Mexico is intentionally sending criminals to the US, and that the government of Mexico itself was corrupt. In doing all this, Sumner is trying to make the case that Trump describes Mexican people and government as being beneath the US and not trustworthy, and that they are an enemy. Sumner (2016) does this in his article in order to build to a counter-argument that Trump is playing to the emotions of people, rather than influencing them with fact. At the conclusion of the article, the author explains that Trump has made an element of his campaign telling crowds things that are negative about Mexico, hinting that Trump seeks to manipulate support through classism and racism.
In the article for Breitbart, the recent trip to Mexico to meet with the Mexican president is the focus of the article (AFP, 2016). The author noted that Trump took a polished tone and that the discussion between the Mexican president and Trump was constructive in nature and a joint opportunity. This is different from the elements of Trump rhetoric described by Sumner (2016). While Sumner essentially described Trump as being a top-down bully who sought to dictate the terms of any wall built, in the Breitbart article Trump is described in terms of being focused on outcomes and building alliances in order to accomplish them.
The language used in the article is structured in such a way that the reader perceives Trump as someone who tries to get positive things done. The writer explains that building the wall is something that was a goal for the Trump campaign and that even as Trump is campaigning, he is trying to get the wall done. The purpose of the wall in the Breitbart article is to sustain the “prosperity and security” (AFP, 2016, para. 11). In terms of image, this would make Trump appear to b looking out for what is best for the US. In the Sumner article, however, the purpose of the wall is to be a political football of sorts that Trump could use in order to get elected (Kuypers, 2002). Sumner does not seem to believe that Trump cares much for the wall beyond what the concept could mean for his campaign.
Comparing Logical Fallacies
While Sumner (2016) hints at several logical fallacies in the Trump campaign, Sumner himself performs several logical fallacies. One is the appeal to emotion. Sumner points out how Trump is seeking to appeal to emotion by saying that Mexicans are using American resources that Americans require before anyone else and that it is not right to let illegal immigrants stay because they are criminals, however, Sumner is appealing to emotion as well. Sumner does this in a few spots in the paper, however it is most pronounced in the conclusion of his article. Sumner states “nothing makes you call up your local politician and tell him to send money to an American billionaire like seeing your kids go hungry” (para. 24), this is an emotional argument on the part of Sumner in the context of what the country would be like with Trump as president. At the same time, Sumner commits the slippery slope fallacy by pointing out that Trump would lead to other Right-wing politicians that would have similar policies to Trump’s and who would essentially lead to there being complete elimination of new immigrants coming to the US. While much of Sumner’s analysis appears accurate and Trump commits several logical fallacies himself, Sumner has done the same in this case.
There are a few logical fallacies in the discussion in the Breitbart article (AFP, 2016). There is even one that seems to be relatively latent in the discussion. The genetic fallacy seems to underlie the overall argument of the article (Alterman, 2008). This is because the author seems to assume that the Trump assertions that Mexicans require his leadership and that the entire culture is one of corruption are correct. The author seems to support these Trump assertions. Another is the appeal to emotion. In this article the author points out that if the wall is not built, then there could be a detrimental impact on the future of our children.
Overall, the way that the authors structure their arguments are quite different in terms of the content and the devices used, however the nature of the fallacies in their articles are quite similar in nature. Both of the authors seem to rely on the appeal to emotion in order to gain support for their ideas and to prove a point. Both authors also seek to describe Trump’s policies in terms of how they will have a cascading effect. In terms of Sumner (2016), the author describes what would be a slippery slope that the US would fall down if Trump was made president. In the Breitbart article (AFP, 2016), however, Trump is painted as having a potentially positive effect on relations through strength and being able to gain support for complex ideas that will conclude with the US continuing to be a leader in the world.
Conclusion
In closing, the Trump campaign has relied on emotional arguments in order to gain support for a number of ideas. Building a wall around the US border with Mexico is an example of how Trump has been able to rely on emotional arguments himself. Commentators on the other hand have been using the same logical fallacies that Trump has been using. While the content of the commentary on both sides of the issue will be relatively different, it appears that the fundamental structure of the arguments of these commentators comes from a similar place. It may be that the overall nature of politics and political discussion needs to be emotionally driven if people are going to become engaged in issues, and that these emotional arguments that solicit engagement are also the emotional arguments that drive the differences that people of different political orientations have with one another.
References
AFP. (2016). In Mexico, Trump asserts US right to build border wall. Breitbart. Retrieved from http://www.breitbart.com/news/in-mexico-trump-asserts-us-right-to-build-border-wall/.
Alterman, E. (2008). What liberal media?: The truth about bias and the news. Basic Books.
Kuypers, J. A. (2002). Press bias and politics: How the media frame controversial issues. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Sumner, M. (2016). Donald Trump goes to Mexico: Quick build the wall! The Daily Kos. Retrieved from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/8/31/1565422/-Donald-Trump-goes-to-Mexico-quick-build-the-wall.
