Portrayal of Gun Violence in the Media

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Recommended: Politics and media influence

In today’s society media plays a major role in the perception we have of how certain issues in our society are improving, worsening, or staying the same. One hot bed issue over the years has been that of random shooting and gun control. It seems a few times a year there is a very high profile random shooting spree in schools or other public locations that draws the entire county’s attention for a week or two. During this media fallout many different strong viewpoints come out as to why gun control is not doing enough to protect ourselves from these atrocious crimes or that it is not the gun control that is the issue, but better yet the people committing these crimes that are the problem. Many reporters and news outlets quite often take a stand on gun control during this time and create a bias against guns and the right people should have to possess them. The following will compare and contrast opposing media outlets and their biased reporting on gun violence and how the general public perceives this based on what information is presented the news. The sources will be analyzed on the placement of articles, headlines, visuals, what information is included and omitted, and organizations attached to the news. NBC and Fox news will be the sources of the gun control issues. Recently a random shooting in an Indiana grocery store took place that served as a news item on both NBC and Fox internet websites. The first comparison between the two was where this article would be found. Both websites had a US news section with a subheading of crime and courts where this article could be found. The placement here is straightforward as both are categorized the same exact way. The difference between the two sources however is also quite clear... ... middle of paper ... ...omes off more bland and disconnected. A neutral reader would surely get a different outlook if they came across the articles independently of each other. This confirms that there is a bias in the media, which would have a profound effect on how one viewed gun control issues if they were only getting one side of the argument. Works Cited "Gunman, 2 Others Dead in Shooting at Indiana Grocery Store." Fox News. FOX News Network, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. . Smith, Alexander, and Elizabeth Chuck. "Gunman Shot Dead after Killing Two Women in Grocery Store: Cops." NBC News. N.p., 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. .

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