ICE coverage exposes partisan media’s not-so-hidden agendas: Bias Breakdown

Straight Arrow News

3 months ago

Transcript

00:00You've got to keep in mind that more than likely, an agenda is at play among the partisan media.

00:05We're going to talk about ICE today, something many people have strong opinions on.

00:10But I'm going to really challenge some of those perspectives today.

00:13You've got to ask yourself, are you really willing to peel back the politics to see the facts?

00:19It's probably easier staying in the media echo chambers that are telling you the news through a lens that you agree with.

00:25But you're not doing that because you're here.

00:28We've got a lot to talk about today when it comes to getting the full picture

00:32and how ICE operations are a legal tool the government uses to expedite deportations,

00:38but also how they're not without flaws.

00:41Welcome back to Bias Breakdown.

00:44ICE operations have consistently stayed part of our news cycle since President Trump's inauguration.

00:49But the way the stories are told sharply differ depending on the outlet you're watching.

00:54Let's start with one of the latest high-profile ICE arrests,

00:56the superintendent of Des Moines Public School District, was arrested on Friday.

01:01Let's hear how Fox, on the right, started their report.

01:05Ian Andre Roberts is, quote,

01:07a criminal illegal alien from Ghana in possession of a loaded handgun.

01:11Roberts was working as the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools,

01:16despite being an illegal alien, with a final order of removal and no work authorization.

01:21And this is how CBS News started their coverage.

01:28Protesters rallied outside of the U.S. citizenship and immigration offices in Des Moines Friday,

01:33stunned by the arrest of public school superintendent Ian Roberts, an immigrant from Guyana.

01:38The general public, I think, is not okay with what's happening.

01:42The consensus from how Fox reported it, wow, good thing ICE got this guy.

01:47The takeaway from the CBS report, whoa, now ICE is going after immigrants in schools.

01:53And did you pick up on that language there too, from illegal alien to immigrant from Guyana?

01:58These labels provoke a reaction out of an audience.

02:01They're intentional and a form of media bias.

02:03Media watchdog group All Sides describes it like this.

02:07Words and phrases are loaded with political implications and can reveal an outlet's perspective or ideology.

02:14Illegal alien is commonly used by the right.

02:17And immigrant, without acknowledging illegal status, is often used by the left.

02:22Now let's also compare how the stories wrapped.

02:24First, back to Fox.

02:26And so the question is, did he provide a fraudulent social security number and was operating as someone else?

02:32And if not, I think there's a lot of questions that that school system has to answer.

02:39And the question is, are there others there as well?

02:41And here's CBS.

02:42Roberts, a former Olympic athlete, had been well-liked by many in the community.

02:47And while some are now questioning what background checks were done by the school district,

02:52others are questioning the motivation behind the arrest.

02:55He was targeted specifically because he won't give access to ICE to arrest our kids.

03:01We are 100% behind him.

03:03Fox's focus was questioning how the school district could have allowed this person with deportation orders

03:10and a prior weapons charge to become superintendent.

03:14While CBS humanizes Roberts, reminding its audience that he was a former athlete and well-liked.

03:22They do acknowledge questions around background checks, but lean in on questioning ICE's motives.

03:28This is a great recent example of how if you watch the same story, but from different left-right networks,

03:35you'd likely walk away with a very different conclusion.

03:38While we compared how left and right media covered the same ICE story differently,

03:43we honestly can't do that very often.

03:45Because a lot of times the left and right media are platforming very different ICE stories.

03:50They strategically select what stories to cover based off of what supports their political narrative.

03:55There's two media vacuums.

03:58On the right, coverage focuses on ICE operations that take criminals off the streets.

04:04Major takedown by ICE agents in Nebraska as they bring in an MS-13 kingpin

04:09who has been on El Salvador's 100 Most Wanted for nearly a decade.

04:15In Philadelphia, ICE recently arrested this suspected Al-Qaeda member

04:19previously released into the U.S. by the Biden administration.

04:23ICE officers arresting a three-time deported convicted pedophile who was found living in an at-home daycare run by his wife.

04:32The suspect, a Mexican national and confirmed gang member, has a lengthy rap sheet.

04:38All of these stories are factual.

04:40Arresting MS-13 gang leaders, suspected terrorists, and convicted child predators

04:46show ICE doing exactly what they're set out to do.

04:49But when looking through the big three networks' coverage, both broadcast and online articles,

04:55left-leaning ABC, CBS, and NBC, none of the networks highlighted any of these arrests.

05:01Instead, these news outlets often feature stories on ICE interactions that go completely wrong

05:07or cases where agents misidentify their targets.

05:11So an ICE officer is relieved of current duties after a violent confrontation with a woman

05:17whose husband had just been detained in New York.

05:20The agent then lashing out, slamming her into a wall before shoving her to the ground.

05:25This is the moment an ICE agent smashed the window of the vehicle to remove 29-year-old Juan Francisco Mendez.

05:33His lawyer tells CBS News the agent was looking for a man named Antonio and mistook him for the wrong person.

05:40Marcelo Gomez da Silva is 18 years old, attending high school in Massachusetts.

05:44He came to this country on a visitor's visa at just seven years old, later getting a student visa.

05:49He was detained on May 31st on the way to volleyball.

05:53The agents, it turns out, were looking for his father, but took him in when they realized his visa had expired.

05:58These cases are also factual.

06:00An ICE agent was suspended after shoving a woman to the ground at an immigration courthouse.

06:06And these two individuals were cases of mistaken identity, but neither had legal status in the country,

06:12so they were still taken into ICE custody.

06:15We couldn't find any coverage from Fox News broadcasting any of these cases.

06:20This is biased by omission, and it shows up in both left- and right-leaning news outlets.

06:25Sure, national media can't cover every single story about ICE across the country.

06:31But when there's a clear pattern in the types of stories they choose to cover,

06:35it can reveal a political bias either for or against ICE.

06:40You know the editorial decision-making crosses the line into media bias

06:44when certain stories that don't support a political narrative are neglected,

06:49as media watchdog group All Sides puts it.

06:52This also means that if you're only consuming news through partisan outlets,

06:57you're likely not getting the full picture.

07:00You're only getting select stories, either ICE nabbing the worst of the worst

07:04or agents nabbing the wrong targets.

07:07There's a case to be made that the partisan media is further fueling the division over ICE

07:12given how split and intentional the coverage is.

07:17And that makes me think of this.

07:19I have a strong belief that perception is reality.

07:25I grew up with Dr. Phil playing in the background thanks to my mom and grandma.

07:30But the statement, perception is reality, I think it's a strong one.

07:33And I think it applies here.

07:35Because the news we consume that is driven by a narrative shapes our perception of ICE.

07:40And these opposing left versus right perceptions are the reality of each side.

07:45And maybe by exposing how the media is framing the story,

07:49it can help us understand, we don't have to agree with each other,

07:52but it can maybe help us understand why people have polarizing views

07:56based on what they're consuming.

07:59Americans nowadays really don't agree on too much.

08:02And someone commented on YouTube, either last week or the week before this episode,

08:07that we don't need to agree on issues.

08:09It's reminding me and my scripting to not frame stories that way.

08:13Like we all need to agree here because we definitely don't.

08:16But rather, it's okay and actually good to not agree and have diverse opinions.

08:21That's what makes us great.

08:23What weakens us is when those differences turn into sharp division.

08:27And there are new polls that show anywhere between 70 to 80% of Americans

08:32do agree that our differences are making our society more divisive, polarizing,

08:38and even dangerous, more at risk of political violence.

08:42Political opinions shouldn't strip away our compassion for one another.

08:47And let's not give the media control over our emotions through their not-so-hidden agendas.

08:53And that's your Bias Breakdown.

08:56Thank you for watching this week's episode.

08:58I appreciate you being here with us.

08:59Remember to be the first notified about new episodes dropping.

09:03Download the Straight Arrow News mobile app and sign up for notifications to our podcast.

09:08You can always find us on your go-to podcast platforms as well.

09:11We're starting to pick up more viewership over on Spotify, which is exciting to see.

09:16So thank you for streaming over there and leaving comments for us.

09:19We're also slowly but surely starting to build a pretty loyal group of you on YouTube, I feel like.

09:24We had hundreds of viewers send in feedback last week, which honestly was amazing to see.

09:30What I love most is the honest and respectful dialogue we have in the comments

09:34when talking about really sensitive issues.

09:37So thank you for your kindness and contributions to the conversation.

09:41Thank you to Ian Kennedy on our video edits and to Allie Caldwell for her help on graphics.

09:47Thank you for watching and I'll see you next week.

ICE coverage exposes partisan media’s not-so-hidden agendas: Bias Breakdown

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