Independent.com retells the events in a very black and white fashion, giving the details but not making many embellishments.

COMPARING 2 REPORTS .

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/who-ahmaud-arbery-what-happened-b1963063.html

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-hate-crime-arbery

DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS OPINION? EXPLAIN.

“The article posted on independent.com retells the events in a very black and white fashion, giving the details but not making many embellishments. When describing Bryan’s involvement, and his reasoning for including himself, it was described that he “mistakenly” thought Arbery had been responsible for several break-ins in the area. The article could have easily skipped the word “mistakenly”, and it would not necessarily change the meaning of the sentence, but it could leave room for misinterpretation from readers, possibly giving them reason to question if maybe Arbery had been involved. 

The FOX news article immediately seemed to be a little biased, as in its opening description of the incident, it did not outright say that Arbery was shot and killed. Instead, careful wording was chosen, saying that “investigators say [he] was shot”, leaving room for speculation from readers. Similar dodgy wording was used later on in regard to the video of the men killing Arbery, describing that it “appeared to show” the incident, despite it being a very clear video. The article does also rely on quotes from the men being considered for hate crimes, and all quotes are regarded to as “in the police report”, making them sound official. The article does address that McMichael’s claims of being attacked first were not reflected in the video, but did also suggest that it could have been blocked behind McMichael’s truck, giving the shooters the benefit of the doubt over the victim. 

Language, and mostly using very direct language, is probably the most important key to being able to eliminate racial bias. As shown above, it’s mostly word choice that leaves the reader to fill in blanks, or misinterpret. While the author didn’t technically share incorrect information, wording can change the tone and insinuation of an article, giving their audience an incorrect, or incomplete, understanding of the incident. 

This doesn’t really change my views on racial bias in reporting. Obviously it exists out there, especially through publishers that are pretty open about leaning politically in one direction or the other. I did purposely use the indepent.com article as they are based out of the UK, and it was more likely to have less bias, as there is less of a personal connection or affiliation. “