See anything biased about the image below? (It’s from an early May edition of US News and World Report.) Think about it a minute, and see if you can find 3 points of possible bias.
I fancy myself somewhat media savvy, and I did notice that this magazine cover presented a very slanted message: note the draft-dodging, AWOL, appointed President, in uniform. Compare that to the photo of John Kerry, clad in a suit, on the left (oh! I just noticed that one!). I told myself that, yes, it’s biased, but, and this is where I give them credit, it’s true. In 1971, Kerry was already out of the service, and Bush was nominally serving his country.
So, let’s recap the points of bias:
* veteran Kerry, show in in suit, vs. AWOL Bush, shown in uniform.
* liberal Kerry, on the left; conservative Bush, on the right
And finally, courtesy of Slapnose, comes the observation that Kerry is decked out in a nice shade of commie red!
If you agree, please let the magazine know your feelings. Every little bit helps!
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April 28th, 2004 at 7:14 am
Also notice - Kerry is looking away and Bush is looking straight ahead - that is Kerry looks “shifty” and Bush is “looking you in the eye”
April 28th, 2004 at 7:57 am
Well, Kerry is “shifty.” Listen to him for 10 minutes, and you’ll have no idea what his position is.
April 28th, 2004 at 9:59 am
I’ve never had trouble figuring out Kerry’s positions. They simply lack the sledghammer “moral clarity” (er, oversimplified) of Bush’s thems-just-evil declamations.
The color choice is key in this image. Red is the color of danger. For a different story they would have put Saddam Hussein or Kim Jong Il on the left.
May 2nd, 2004 at 2:40 pm
Misleading — the colors have always (AFAIK) been blue = democrat, red = republican. Google for “election map” (or “cnn election map” — CNN has many good ones). For example, http://www.sptimes.com/election2000/map.shtml or http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/election/map.htm
Why reverse it? I don’t know. Tring to confuse readers?