Media...and Politics

  This week, President Biden had his first official press briefing since his administration came into office. I thought I would compare and contrast it to the average Trump press briefing.  During the conference, the president talked about his new goals for Covid vaccinations, the economic stimulus bill that was passed, and answered questions regarding immigration and border control, voting rights, climate change, and the occupation of troops in Afghanistan. He was also asked about his promised bipartisanship with Mitch McConnell.  While speaking about these issues, Biden did not call anyone names. Trump would often question the intelligence of the reporters (mainly the female ones) when he was asked a difficult question or one he felt was 'threatening' to him. Biden did not make any grand promises that he knew he couldn't keep but was reassuring that the issues would be handled with care, compassion, and to the best of the administration's abilities. Trump would often

Earlier this week, I asked my friends and family on Facebook, “What news source do you trust the most?” I got some interesting answers.  My friends and family on Facebook are all over the political spectrum. So, I expected a variety of answers and hoped for no arguments (it is Facebook, after all). Here I will share some snippets of the comments.  Scotty said, “Great question.  If you watch a little CNN and then a little Fox News and then combine them, you probably get a true picture.” Daniel had a longer answer:  “Fox News is consistently known for avoiding real news, and repeating white nationalist and KKK propaganda. Especially Tucker Carlson. None of the American news paints a very truthful picture, and honestly some of our comedy 'news' programs are better news than many news stations. However, watching world news from other nations is probably the clearer picture overall. In particular, BBC and German news. But in general,  no matter what source, always double check credi

I don't know of a politician who isn't guilty of occasionally spinning a story to put themselves in a better light to the general public. We just lived through 4 years of a man doing this every single week he was in office. And while I do believe the Biden administration has been much more up-front with the American people thus far, a story I saw circulating this week really caught my eye and in my opinion, is a great example of framing the message.  President Biden ordered an airstrike in Syria on an Iranian-backed military base on February 26th, which was all over the news, of course - a decision that was received with praise as well as backlash. However, the story this week paints the ordeal in a different light. Sure, the first airstrike occurred, but there was going to be a second.  Biden reportedly halted the second airstrike because he got word that a woman and some children were out in the courtyard of the base. What a great guy, what a humanitarian who cares about civi