I compared two news articles written today about the defacement of a statue of Christopher Columbus in our own Central Park. The first article is from the Gothamist, a neutral to left leaning news blog, while the second is from Breitbart, a far-right news/editorial website. While both articles report on the general details of the incident, they differ wildly in their analysis of the implications of the incident, as well as in their portrayals of the parties involved.
The first noticeable difference is in the headline of each article. While both articles use the word “vandalize” to describe the actions taken upon the statue, only the Gothamist mentions the message “Hate Will Not Be Tolerated”. While the contents of a graffito don’t negate the legal consequences of the crime, the message, in a vacuum, is generally one that most people could agree with. One could wonder if Breitbart left it out on purpose, or if the Gothamist put it in on purpose, as they did neglect to also mention the red hands in the headline.
The Breitbart article very quickly implied a cause-and-effect relationship between Bill de Blasio’s announcement of a commission to review “symbols of hate” in New York City, and specifically pointed out his failure to specifically state whether or not that specific statue would be removed. On the other hand, the Gothamist first quoted a resident who supported the actions taken by the vandals, while mentioning de Blasio’s previous comments parenthetical at the end of the article. These differences could mean that Breitbart is biased against de Blasio, and sought to implicate him in this crime, or that the Gothamist is supportive of both de Blasio and the incident, taking care to provide a supportive voice and minimizing any connection to the crime to the Mayor’s comments.
Barnes, D., & Whitford, E. (2017, September 12). Christopher Columbus Statue In Central Park Vandalized With “Bloody” Hands & Message: “Hate Will Not Be Tolerated.” Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://gothamist.com/2017/09/12/columbus_statue_central_park.php
Houston, W. T. (2017, September 12). Statue of Christopher Columbus Vandalized in New York’s Central Park. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/12/statue-christopher-columbus-vandalized-new-yorks-central-park/
