Two stories from this past weekend caught my eye for hidden and what I consider unnecessary comments.
Race car driver Danica Patrick had a rough start to her season. Patrick crashed early in the Honda Grand Prix. The crash happened as the result of a pass or attempted pass by another driver. At the end of the story, the writer, Mike Harris of the Associated Press, wrote, "Patrick, the only woman in the field, ended her day in 19th and Matos was 20th. Each completed just 31 of 100 laps." WHY was it necessary to mention her being the "only woman in the field?"
My other story is about the tragedy in Graham, Washington, where a father shot his children and himself.
Here's the first sentence of the story from the Associated Press. "A father apparently shot to death five of his children, ages 7 to 16, at their mobile home and then killed himself at a casino miles away, police said Saturday."
My question with this story is how relevant is it that they lived in a MOBILE home? What if the family had been living in a one-story ranch house? Does the one-story ranch home get reported? Or do we associate mobile homes with arguments, guns, and violence?
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1 comment:
You make good points, Struke. The relevance of certain details should be questioned. Are they really important to the story or are they added to sensationalize it or add fuel to the fire of stereotypes. Journalists have a responsibility to portray the facts, but they also have the responsibility not to slant the story in an unfair direction.
Hope you have a happy Easter. :)
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