WE’VE GOT ELECTIONS COMING UP NEXT WEEK. THESE CYCLES ARE A TIME WHEN SUBTLE PATTERNS EMERGE FROM MEDIA OUTLETS THAT CAN GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA OF WHERE THEIR PARTISAN ALLEGIANCES SIT…IF YOU KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR!
TODAY, WE’RE DIVING INTO HOW NEWS OUTLETS DECIDE WHICH STORIES ARE “NEWSWORTHY” — AND HOW THOSE CHOICES, TO COVER SOMETHING OR NOT – REVEAL MEDIA BIAS.
SOMETIMES, THE COVERAGE STARTS TO SOUND LESS LIKE JOURNALISM AND MORE LIKE CAMPAIGN ADS.
ELECTIONS CAN CAUSE OUTLETS TO BECOME SLIGHTLY MORE TRANSPARENT AS TO WHICH SIDE THEY FAVOR OVER THE OTHER — JUST REINFORCING THIS DEEP POLITICAL MEDIA DIVIDE WE’RE IN.
WELCOME BACK TO BIAS BREAKDOWN.
LET’S REVISIT THE BIG APPLE — THE NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL RACE THAT’S BEEN MAKING NATIONAL HEADLINES. IT’S DOWN TO THREE CANDIDATES: DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST ZOHRAN MAMDANI, REPUBLICAN CURTIS SLIWA, AND ANDREW CUOMO, RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT.
BUT MUCH OF THE MEDIA ATTENTION HAS FOCUSED ON THE FRONT-RUNNER MAMDANI.
WE’VE COVERED THE NARRATIVES IN THIS RACE BEFORE, EXAMINING HOW LEFT AND RIGHT OUTLETS HAVE TAKEN OPPOSING ANGLES ON HIS CAMPAIGN.
“Zohran Mamdani runs an exceptional, inspiring, extraordinary campaign, and he’s galvanized the city.”
“This guy is frankly trash on a lot of levels, and most frightening in my opinion is the antisemitism.”
WHILE THAT’S SOME OF THE LEFT-RIGHT NARRATIVE NOISE ON CABLE TELEVISION –
TODAY WE’RE DIVING INTO THE HEADLINES AND STORY FRAMING OF THE RACE.
THE MEDIA’S STORY SELECTION HAS BEEN STRATEGIC — AND THE PATTERNS YOU’RE ABOUT TO SEE MAKE THAT CLEAR.
LET’S LOOK AT THESE THREE HEADLINES ALL FROM RIGHT-LEANING OUTLETS.
EACH ONE HIGHLIGHTS AND CRITICIZES MAMDANI’S CONNECTIONS WITH A CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE.
THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER WROTE – “Mamdani extravagantly praised the imam at the mosque, Siraj Wahhaj.” THEY CALL IT A “WARM CONNECTION” BEFORE POINTING OUT THAT “Wahhaj had been an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.” He also “refused to condemn Osama bin Laden” CONCLUDING THAT “Wahhaj has a notable relationship to terrorism” –
THIS IS SOMEONE MAMDANI RECEIVED AN ENDORSEMENT FROM — POSTING THIS PICTURE ON X.
THE NEW YORK POST QUOTED REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE CURTIS SLIWA, WHO SAID MAMDANI STANDING WITH THIS IMAM SHOULD BE DISQUALIFYING,
ALONG WITH INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE ANDREW CUOMO, WHO ALSO CONDEMNED HIS OPPONENT.
AND VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE WHO CALLED ON DEMOCRATS TO CONDEMN MAMDANI’S POSE WITH WAHHAJ.
IN FOX NEWS’ WRITE UP, THEY SIMILARLY INCLUDE 5 VOICES CRITICIZING MAMDANI FOR THE PICTURE – AND INCLUDED IT DURING EVENING PRIMETIME COVERAGE ON THE NETWORK.
The saying goes, “Show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are. That is applicable here. Mamdani has pranced around with communists and now this radical extremist imam.”
THIS CONTROVERSY WAS LARGELY COVERED ONLY ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MEDIA SPECTRUM.
WE DIDN’T FIND ANY STORIES ON MSNBC, CNN, ABC, OR NBC.
THAT SAID, CBS NEWS HAD A LINK, AND THE NEW YORK TIMES PUBLISHED A STORY —
BUT THE FRAMING READS VERY DIFFERENTLY.
ON CBS’ WEBSITE, A SEARCH FOR THE STORY CAME BACK WITH THIS HEADLINE:
“FRESH ATTACK LAUNCHED ON MAYORAL RACE FRONTRUNNER ZOHRAN MAMDANI.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES USED SIMILAR LANGUAGE, REPORTING THAT CUOMO IS “DOUBLING DOWN ON A LINE OF ATTACK” BY LINKING MAMDANI TO WAHHAJ.
THE TIMES ALSO GAVE MORE DETAIL INTO THE NEW YORK POST’S “CHARACTERIZATION OF WAHHAJ AS AN UNINDICTED CO-CONSPIRATOR.”
NOTING “HE WAS NEVER CHARGED IN THE CASE, AND LINKED TO THE OUTLET’S PREVIOUS COVERAGE SHOWING THAT THE LIST MR. WAHHAJ APPEARED ON WAS CRITICIZED BY FORMER TERRORISM PROSECUTORS AS BEING OVERLY BROAD.”
IN ITS ARTICLE – THE TIMES INCLUDES VOICES CRITICAL OF CUOMO’S CRITICISM.
YOU CAN SEE HOW THE SAME ELECTION STORY IS FRAMED DIFFERENTLY, WITH OPPOSING TAKEAWAYS DEPENDING ON WHICH ARTICLE YOU READ.
MULTIPLE FORMS OF MEDIA BIAS ARE AT PLAY HERE.
STORY CHOICE: Bias by story choice occurs when media outlets choose to cover stories that align with their political ideology. Story choice reveals which topics the outlet’s editors and writers find most notable, meaningful, or important, which can lead to unbalanced coverage of issues.}
WE’LL START WITH BIAS BY STORY CHOICE, AS DEFINED BY MEDIA WATCHDOG ALLSIDES.
RIGHT-LEANING OUTLETS HIGHLIGHTED THE MAMDANI–WAHHAJ STORY HEAVILY, FRAMING IT AS A POLITICAL SCANDAL.
LEFT-LEANING OUTLETS, ON THE OTHER HAND, EITHER DIDN’T COVER IT OR FRAMED IT AS A POLITICAL “ATTACK,” DOWNPLAYING THE ELEMENTS THE RIGHT SAW AS NEWSWORTHY.
THIS IS A CLEAR EXAMPLE OF HOW STORY CHOICE SHAPES PUBLIC PERCEPTION — THROUGH WHAT GETS COVERED, WHAT GETS EMPHASIZED, AND WHAT GETS LEFT OUT.
THE DIFFERENCES IN POLITICAL OPINION BETWEEN OUTLETS CREATED UNBALANCED COVERAGE — MAKING IT EASY TO UNMASK HOW EACH NEWS OUTLET VIEWED THE STORY.
STORY OMISSION: Omission of viewpoint, information, or stories is when media outlets choose not to cover certain stories, omit information that would support an alternative viewpoint, or omit voices and perspectives on the other side.
SINCE THERE WAS A BROAD PATTERN OF NEWS OUTLETS ON THE LEFT NOT COVERING THE STORY AT ALL. THAT’S ALSO BIAS BY STORY OMISSION – BECAUSE FOR PEOPLE WHO PRIMARILY CONSUME CNN, NBC, OR ABC NEWS – THE CONTROVERSY NEVER EVEN HAPPENED.
THE ABSENCE OF STORIES CREATES ITS OWN KIND OF PUBLIC PERSPECTIVE DISTORTION.
THE AMERICAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE IS FILLED WITH DAILY “MISSES” BY BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL LEAN. STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS COMPILES THEM FOR YOU TO SEE AT SAN-DOT-COM.
BACK TO IT… NEWS OUTLETS ON THE RIGHT THAT CHOSE TO GIVE THE MATTER ATTENTION OFTEN OMITTED ALTERNATE VIEWPOINTS TO THE STORY.
THE NEW YORK POST AND FOX NEWS STACKED VOICES CONDEMNING MAMDANI.
THAT IMBALANCE OF PERSPECTIVE ALSO FITS THIS FORM OF MEDIA BIAS.
AND EVEN AFTER MAMDANI SPOKE OUT TO EXPLAIN HIS INTERACTIONS WITH WAHHAJ,
FOX NEWS AND THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER DIDN’T FOLLOW UP TO COVER HIS DEFENSE.
THE NEW YORK POST HOWEVER DID PUBLISH A FOLLOW-UP.
I’M NOT SAYING ONE SIDE OF THE MEDIA IS RIGHT OR WRONG IN HOW THEY COVERED THE STORY.
YOU’RE WELCOME TO COME TO THAT CONCLUSION — BUT THAT’S NOT MY POINT.
WHEN THE SAME STORY IS COVERED VERY DIFFERENTLY ACROSS LEFT AND RIGHT OUTLETS – THAT PATTERN REVEALS A CLEAR DIVIDE — AND BIAS — IN MEDIA COVERAGE.
THESE NEXT EXAMPLES WE’RE GOING TO RUN THROUGH MORE QUICKLY WITH LESS SPECIFIC DETAILS TO EACH STORY.
BUT JUST POINTING OUT THE SAME SORT OF MEDIA BIAS BY STORY CHOICES AND FRAMING.
THESE ARTICLES, AGAIN FROM RIGHT-LEANING SOURCES, FOCUS ON REMARKS BY NEW YORK CONGRESSWOMAN ELISE STEFANIK, WHO CALLED MAMDANI A “JIHADIST” AND WARNED OF A “JIHAD COMING.”
LEFT-LEANING OUTLETS, ON THE OTHER HAND, DESCRIBE GOP CRITICISMS — INCLUDING STEFANIK’S REMARKS — AS “ATTACKS” AGAINST MAMDANI AND LABEL THEM “ISLAMOPHOBIC.”
THE RIGHT-LEANING COVERAGE FOCUSED ON AMPLIFYING INDIVIDUAL VOICES CRITICIZING MAMDANI, GIVING THOSE PERSPECTIVES MORE WEIGHT IN HEADLINES.
LEFT-LEANING OUTLETS, IN CONTRAST, HIGHLIGHTED VOICES CALLING THOSE CRITICISMS RACIST OR ISLAMOPHOBIC, MAKING THAT PERSPECTIVE MORE PROMINENT.
RECENT CONTROVERSIES INVOLVING BOTH MAMDANI AND CUOMO WERE COVERED DIFFERENTLY ACROSS PARTISAN OUTLETS.
FOR EXAMPLE, CUOMO FACED SCRUTINY ON THE LEFT AFTER A RADIO SHOW HOST CLAIMED MAMDANI WOULD CHEER ON A TERROR ATTACK ON THE U.S. – TO WHICH CUOMO RESPONDED “THAT’S ANOTHER PROBLEM.”
THIS CONTROVERSY RECEIVED HEAVY COVERAGE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE MEDIA SPECTRUM.
AND WHILE SOME RIGHT-LEANING MEDIA DID COVER THE CUOMO CONTROVERSY – IT READ A LOT DIFFERENTLY.
FOX NEWS HIGHLIGHT CUOMO’S RESPONSE TO THE CRITICISM – WHO “RIPPED MAMDANI’S VICTIM NARRATIVE” – WHILE THE NEW YORK POST DOWNPLAYED THE RADIO INCIDENT, FRAMING IT AS CUOMO BEING CRITICIZED BY DEMS FOR LAUGHING AT THE HOST’S JOKE.
THE SAME STORY — BUT TOLD IN VERY DIFFERENT WAYS.
COVERAGE WAS ALSO UNEVEN, AS OTHER RIGHT-LEANING OUTLETS LIKE THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER, THE DAILY WIRE, AND BREITBART OMITTED THE CONTROVERSY AND DIDN’T TOUCH IT AT ALL.
AND FINALLY, A SPEECH BY MAMDANI WAS DESCRIBED BY LEFT-LEANING OUTLETS AS “EMOTIONAL” WITH FOCUS ON HIS CONDEMNATION OF WHAT HE CHARACTERIZED AS ISLAMOPHOBIC ATTACKS.
BUT RIGHT-LEANING OUTLETS FOCUSED ON CRITICISM OF THE SPEECH FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT – FOCUSING ON A PORTION OF MAMDANI’S REMARKS THAT HIS MUSLIM AUNT DID NOT FEEL SAFE RIDING THE SUBWAY AFTER 9/11.
SAME SPEECH – SAME STORY – TOTALLY DIFFERENT TAKEAWAYS IN NEWS COVERAGE FROM LEFT AND RIGHT OUTLETS.
IF ALL THE HEADLINES ON ONE SIDE OF THE POLITICAL MEDIA ARE NEGATIVE TOWARD A CANDIDATE — AND THE HEADLINES ON THE OTHER SIDE LARGELY DEFEND THAT SAME CANDIDATE — THAT’S A SIGN NEWS OUTLETS ARE CHOOSING AND FRAMING STORIES BASED ON THEIR OWN POLITICAL LEANINGS AND THE POLITICAL VIEWS OF THEIR AUDIENCE.
IF YOU LEAN RIGHT, RIGHT-LEANING NEWS REINFORCES YOUR BELIEFS.
IF YOU LEAN LEFT, LEFT-LEANING NEWS DOES THE SAME.
YOU’RE ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN POLITICAL OPINIONS — AND I GET IT, IT’S EASIER AND SOMETIMES MORE FUN TO STICK TO THE SIDE YOU AGREE WITH.
BUT I CHALLENGE YOU TO SEE THE BIAS IN HOW BOTH SIDES SELECT AND FRAME THEIR STORIES.
TODAY WE HIGHLIGHTED JUST A FEW EXAMPLES… OF JUST ONE RACE.
BUT MAYBE IT MAKES YOU THINK ABOUT OTHER RACES — IN VIRGINIA, IN NEW JERSEY, THIS ELECTION CYCLE… AND THE NEXT.
AND HOW THE PARTISAN NEWS KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT THEY’RE DOING.
CAREFULLY CHOOSING WHAT STORIES TO TELL AND HOW TO FRAME THEM –
IN ORDER TO FUEL ONE BASE.
AND THAT’S YOUR BIAS BREAKDOWN.
USUALLY, DURING THE WRAP, I TELL YOU WHERE TO FIND US AND HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW — BUT YOU KNOW THE DRILL, AND I’LL BE IN THE COMMENTS WITH YOU ON YOUTUBE AND SPOTIFY!
TODAY, IN MY LAST FEW MINUTES, I WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING MORE PERSONAL. I WANT YOU TO GET TO KNOW ME A LITTLE BETTER, BECAUSE I HOPE YOU’LL COME BACK TO HEAR ME EACH WEEK.
I’VE MENTIONED MY GRANDPA WHO I CALL PAPA IN SEVERAL EPISODES OF BIAS BREAKDOWN.
BECAUSE HE REALLY TAUGHT ME SO MUCH AND I AM WHO I AM BECAUSE OF HIM.
HE VALUED KNOWLEDGE LIKE NOBODY ELSE I KNOW.
HE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT. SELF-TAUGHT. AND ALLOWED CURIOUSITY TO BUILD HIS WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE.
I HAVE ONE EXAMPLE THAT I THINK CONNECTS TO THIS EPISODE.
PAPA HAD SUCH A STRONG FAITH. HE KNEW WHAT HE BELIEVED – BUT HE WOULD GO TO CHURCHES OF OTHER FAITHS TO LEARN. NOT TO CHALLENGE THEM OR HIS OWN BELIEFS.
BUT HE WOULD PUT HIMSELF IN THE PEWS OF OTHER CHURCHES SIMPLY TO LEARN. AND TO UNDERSTAND OTHERS. HE VALUED PERSPECTIVES. AND PEOPLE IN GENERAL.
WE TALK A LOT ABOUT POLITICS IN THIS PODCAST – IT CAN RILE PEOPLE UP I KNOW!
BUT I WANT TO BE A RESOURCE FOR YOU TO SEE OTHER PERSPECTIVES.
NOT TO CHALLENGE YOUR BELIEFS, BUT TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHY OTHERS MAY THINK DIFFERENTLY.
PAPA PASSED AWAY ONE YEAR AGO TOMORROW.
BUT BY GETTING TO KNOW ME. I HOPE YOU GET TO KNOW A LITTLE PIECE OF HIM TOO.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING TO ME AND GIVING ME THE TIME OF DAY –
AND THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO ARE HELPING BUILD OUR BIAS BREAKDOWN COMMUNITY IN THE COMMENTS ON YOUTUBE.
I LOOK FORWARD TO JUMPING IN THERE LATER TO RESPOND TO Y’ALL!
BIG THANKS TO IAN AND ALI FOR PUTTING THE GRAPHICS AND THIS VIDEO TOGETHER!
AND I WILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME!
