Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Baltimore Riots

The Baltimore Riots this past month are an example of how social media can skew your interpretation of current events. The media chooses to present stories on different topics. News  agencies are controlled by different authorities and therefore have agendas behind each news article. The first image is a screenshot of what happens when you search "baltimore riots" on cnn.com. You see stories focused on the destruction of parts of the city. What sort of image does this portray of the events that took place?
cnn.com search result of "baltimore riots"
In comparison take a look at the search results on nytimes.com for "baltimore riots." Yes, you do get some of the same coverage of the destruction that occurred, but you also begin to see the basis of a different story, one not mentioned in the results on cnn.com. Here we see mention of the peaceful activities and movement of the people of Baltimore. Which news source would you be more likely to believe? Which news source is portraying a more accurate representation of the events occuring right now in Baltimore?

nytimes.com search result of "baltimore riots"

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