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00:00The latest document dump of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's emails has given us plenty of

00:05examples to show you in terms of media bias. Now while some examples are more subtle, others are

00:11pretty easily spotted attempts to sway a narrative to fit one agenda or another. Political opinions

00:18are pretty strong over Epstein and how the government is handling the case. As you're about

00:23to see, there's a way to frame the facts of this story that's beneficial for both the political left

00:29and the political right. Today, we're going to show you just how left and right-leaning media

00:35outlets do it. We'll be bringing in another guest in this week's episode to help us further peel back

00:40the media's flaws in coverage. Welcome back to Bias Breakdown. Here's the latest stirrup in a

00:48nutshell. House Democrats released three screenshots of email correspondence between Jeffrey Epstein,

00:55Ghislaine Maxwell, and writer Michael Wolff. Hours later, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee

01:00released another 20,000 pages of Epstein documents. These are the files that created a flurry of

01:07headlines, with left and right-leaning media reporting the facts in totally contrasting ways,

01:13a duel over control of the narrative. Here are some examples. A left-leaning headline from Al Jazeera

01:19highlighted this quote from one of the emails released first by House Democrats, an email that

01:25alleged Trump spent hours with victim at Epstein's house. But a right-leaning headline from the New York

01:31Post highlighted the White House's response to that released email, revealing the redacted victim

01:37was Virginia Giuffre, someone who always said Trump never did anything wrong. It's the same sentence from

01:44an email, same story, but framed in two different ways. It fit a broader trend among news outlets and

01:51the perspectives highlighted in headlines by each partisan side. Take these headlines from left-leaning

01:57outlets. These are examples of outlets emphasizing quotes from the emails and Epstein, tying the sex

02:04offender to Trump. But then take these headlines from right-leaning news organizations. These are examples

02:11of outlets emphasizing quotes from the White House and Trump minimizing the emails or ties to Epstein.

02:18We're bringing media watchdog group All Sides back into our conversation this week to further talk

02:24about this media divide and story framing of Epstein. We sent over several stories and together with

02:30All Sides Editor-in-Chief Henry A. Brechter, we broke down different types of biases in the media's

02:36reporting, starting with how some outlets are slanting and spinning the story.

02:43There's a ton of different types of bias at play here. Narrators are being slanted to favor one side

02:49or the other. That's what you see when a particular piece of content is just focused on quotes from

02:54Trump or just focused on quotes from the emails from Epstein and then interpretations of those emails

03:01from people who might be on the left, Democrats or otherwise. So that definitely examples of both

03:07slant and spin, the sort of manipulation and framing of a narrative in such a way that it puts down

03:13the other side of the argument. It wasn't just headlines that would read in contrast of one

03:18another, but take coverage from MSNBC on the left and the Daily Wire on the right. The headlines read

03:24similarly to each other, highlighting another portion of an Epstein email that alleged Trump knew about

03:31the girls. But the story is told very differently within the articles. MSNBC started the story with

03:37multiple Epstein email quotes, then summed up the email correspondence as evidence that undercuts

03:43the president's attempts to distance himself from Epstein. The White House's response is in the last

03:49paragraph. Whereas take the Daily Wire's report and the White House's response is in the first paragraph,

03:56calling it a fake narrative and smear. Their last paragraph starts with Trump not being

04:01accused of any wrongdoing. So it was the same story, nearly identical headlines. But these outlets

04:07favored one political perspective over the other, evident in how they prioritize certain quotes and

04:13voices, which is another form of media bias by viewpoint placement. It's one thing to just not cover

04:21a point of view at all. That's what we call bias by omission, if that's just straight up left out of the

04:27content altogether. Bias by viewpoint placement is a little bit harder to detect sometimes because

04:34that might occur when an article or a podcast or any piece of content, it does include the different

04:41perspectives, but it organizes or addresses them in an imbalanced way. It's not just perspectives or

04:49interpretation of the facts that read differently among left and right news outlets, but the facts

04:55themselves can be construed. There is a discharge petition in the House that just received enough

05:01votes to force House Speaker Mike Johnson to call for the vote on the Epstein file's release. Out of 217

05:08signatures, only these four Republicans put their name on that petition to call for a vote. There were

05:15reports circulating that President Trump spoke with Boebert and Nancy Mace regarding their signatures on

05:21the petition. It was framed by left-leaning Axios as Trump pressuring Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace.

05:27But right-leaning Washington Examiner reported there was no pressure put on the Congresswoman who spoke

05:34with Trump about the Epstein files. When the headlines are in such direct opposition from different sides of

05:41the media on a story like this, it shows that outlets are, unfortunately, a lot of news outlets and

05:47journalists are more focused on appeasing and appealing to their base rather than appealing

05:53to a diverse audience. Two more quick examples for you of how media framing matters. Then the

05:58political analysis behind why these partisan patterns in Epstein coverage persist. First, Politico on the

06:05left, a headline that reads, latest Epstein files knock White House on its heels.

06:10Right away, that headline is framing the White House as being on the defense, as being unstable

06:17and unsteady. The Politico writer describes the emails as the latest blow to a White House

06:23already reeling. Subjective qualifying adjectives like that are something that we see used a lot.

06:30And Politico writes the email revelation followed a brutal week for President Donald Trump.

06:36Even though six paragraphs down, they quote White House officials who pushed back

06:40against their own characterization. Politico describes Trump's wheat as brutal.

06:46That's a very subjective assessment. To reach for such a subjective qualification like that

06:52is a just clear-cut example of bias, something that we point out a lot.

06:57Then there's this article from Newsmax on the right. Trump blasts Dem's Epstein email deflections.

07:04It leads with that charged adjective blasts. And it also uses a quote from Trump calling them

07:11deflections. And in the context of that headline, it does read like Newsmax is endorsing his point

07:18of view. Newsmax describes Trump as coming out swinging in response to the Epstein emails.

07:24And that sort of frames him as, you know, on the attack

07:27and sort of fighting back against unjust criticism.

07:32And throughout the article, only Trump and the White House are quoted.

07:36At all sides, our position is you can't claim to understand an issue if you can't articulate

07:42the side of the issue that you disagree with. If a perspective is omitted entirely from a story,

07:49that's an egregious example of bias.

07:51So why do we see this sort of, quite frankly, obvious divide in how the media is covering this

07:57story? There's a lot of different angles to take, but there are partisan patterns in what

08:02voices to amplify and what information to showcase. Henry has this explanation and analysis to offer

08:09as to why left and right media are choosing to cover Epstein the way that they are.

08:15All that's on the left know that their audience is generally going to be more likely to want to

08:20criticize Trump or find evidence that Trump did something wrong with this story.

08:23So it's natural that they would focus on the critics of Trump.

08:27The right, the exact opposite is true. They know there are audiences looking for information

08:31that absolves Trump. So if they can lead with his defenses or evidence that goes against what

08:37Democrats are presenting, they're going to lead with that. And that's what, that's when you start

08:41dealing with, like I said earlier, these different truths and, and real extreme polarization

08:47on an issue where seemingly there's like no common solution to be, to be had.

08:52The media is aware of the current landscape and left and right media often try to criticize

08:58the opposing side's coverage. NPR criticized right-wing media's coverage, describing it as

09:05shrugging off the story. Meanwhile, the Daily Wire was critical of legacy outlets pointing to

09:11Bill O'Reilly's claim that mainstream media omitted testimony from Epstein attorney Alan Dershowitz

09:17that exonerates President Trump. Henry says this sort of storytelling in the form of finger pointing

09:23says a lot about the current climate.

09:25It's unfortunately illustrative of just how combative all of politics is. And now it's sort

09:31of seeped its way into the media circulation and into how people read about issues and learn about

09:37issues. And that's more of that vicious cycle of constant negativity focused on enemies, covering

09:46that, encouraging readers to engage with that. And then readers become more and more polarized and less,

09:52less open to discussions with people that they disagree with, less open to, you know, the core

09:58functions of a healthy democracy and a healthy society.

10:02And that's your bias breakdown. Thank you so much for watching this week's episode all the way to

10:09the end here. This is a big story with a lot of public interest, and there should be plenty of

10:13updates as the week progresses. The House voted on the Epstein files and President Trump is now calling

10:19on his party to support the release of all files. And the DOJ will likely have to respond. Trump is also

10:26calling for several Epstein related investigations. So it's likely this story will stay in the news

10:32cycle for weeks and maybe even months. So as you continue to follow coverage on this subject,

10:38hopefully you'll keep some of the talking points from today in mind to spot potential media bias and

10:43approach the story with a critical eye. A big thank you to Henry for taking the time to talk with us

10:50about this complex story and for helping identify the media narratives and spin. Now, if you missed

10:56last week's episode, be sure to find our podcast on any of your favorite podcast platforms. There,

11:01you can catch our story on Nigeria and how the media is cherry picking data on Christian deaths.

11:07We had Julie from All Sides help us break down the coverage and explain the left and right media

11:12narratives in that story. And if you're watching me now on either Spotify or YouTube, then help me out,

11:18give us a like and leave me a quick comment. Give me your thoughts on the media you've been consuming

11:24over this Epstein story. And if you've already noticed some of these partisan patterns in your

11:29own news consumption. Thank you to Ian Kennedy, our video editor and Ali Caldwell on our graphics.

11:36Again, thanks to Henry for sharing your perspective with us on this week's episode

11:40and thank you for watching. I'll see you next time.

Epstein emails expose media political bias: Choose sources carefully | Bias Breakdown

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