Fair warning: This post will not take a side, but it will ask you to stop, breathe, and think, and that may be far more uncomfortable than just debating.
By now, you have probably heard about last night’s interaction between Mike Pence and the Hamilton cast (in which the actor who plays Aaron Burr read a prepared statement to the VP-elect during the curtain call). In the wake of this incident, my social media accounts went nuts, so I decided to perform an experiment. I researched the event on both liberal and conservative news sites, Facebook feeds, and Twitter handles. Here is what I observed:
Conservative news sources are framing it as a rude snubbing of the VP-elect.
Liberal news sources are portraying it as a respectful plea to an elected official.
Liberal news sources are portraying it as a respectful plea to an elected official.
Conservative news sources are ignoring how actor Brandon Victor Dixon told the audience not to boo Pence.
Liberal news sources are leaving out how, though already just out the door, Pence stopped to listen to Dixon.
Liberal news sources are leaving out how, though already just out the door, Pence stopped to listen to Dixon.
Both sides leave out details and use judgmental language when talking about either the musical cast or the VP-elect.
So yeah, the media portrayal that you receive is entirely contingent on which news site you check first. Even worse, if you habitually get news from social media (as I admit I do), you probably saw a bunch of angry or sarcastic hashtag commentaries before even seeing the actual video of Dixon’s remarks to Pence.This is not news.
This is opinion.
Opinion is not news,
but it passes for news all the time.
Forget what you read on Facebook.
Take Twitter with a grain of salt.
Take Twitter with a grain of salt.
It’s not real,
and it’s thrusting an opinion on you.
Take control of your news.
I know I’m guilty of it too, but in a world populated by smartphones, there’s no reason we can’t track down original raw videos and watch them commentary-free. For example, it was pretty easy to find a video of Brandon Victor Dixon’s remarks to Mike Pence without any newscaster commentary. Please watch it and decide for yourself before reading any more opinions masquerading as news.
Unfiltered news is a powerful thing.
Your opinions, when allowed to form freely, are a powerful thing.
Checking filters is worth our time,
and I believe it will make our culture more open to all.
Unfiltered news is a powerful thing.
Your opinions, when allowed to form freely, are a powerful thing.
Checking filters is worth our time,
and I believe it will make our culture more open to all.