Biden Trumps Trump, According to CNN…
Shortly after dinner with my parents the night of Election Day, I sat down at around 8:10 with my parents and Notability on my iPad to tune into CNN’s coverage of the election for about an hour. After more than enough time jotting down numerous examples of bias and digesting the Democrat-favoring information, I found that the coverage of the election on cable TV impacts public perception of the candidates and the election itself in that it firmly and clearly boosts one candidate over the other.
Primarily, our eyes tend to gravitate towards images clearly displayed across the screen as we consume our media. Keeping that in mind, CNN took advantage and used a bright headshot of Joe Biden softly and happily smiling for his profile as his Electoral College votes are shown beneath. Beside him, though, President Donald Trump’s profile has his head tilted slightly down as he stares up at the camera with a villainous smirk. In looking closer at the image selection of both candidates, it is apparent that CNN wants viewers to perceive Biden as the “hero” of the election. The choice for his headshot makes him immediately come off to viewers as the more approachable, trustworthy, and overall likable candidate with that sweet and proud smile — the face of a President. Meanwhile, viewers will perceive Trump as the bad guy swooping in to destroy America with his menacing smirk that resembles something of the supervillain of a corny superhero comic.
Furthermore, as the vote totals of key states Wisconsin and Michigan were being covered, the importance of not forgetting mail-in ballots was a main point of focus, as they would greatly boost Biden in securing both states. But, the fact that mail-in ballots received after Election Day would not be counted in either state was excluded from coverage. This example of gatekeeping is enormous. As Biden has pushed for voters to not be afraid to vote by mail, whereas Trump has encouraged in-person voting, it is clear that the majority of mail-in ballots will be in favor of Biden. Had CNN included that mail-in ballots received after Election Day will not be counted, viewers may begin to fear that Biden would lose a significant number of votes, thus favoring Trump instead. CNN’s decision to “close the gates” and hide that fact from the viewers keeps viewers believing that Biden is ahead and succeeding in the two states with no need to worry at all.
Moreover, the strong word choice of anchor John King quite possibly had the most force in swaying viewers towards former Vice President Biden. Throughout the segment as he covered the status in each state, his diction was powerful. For example, King stated, “If Ohio stays blue, it’s a warning shot to the Trump campaign headquarters” and “Joe Biden is making the Republicans in Ohio nervous tonight.” King’s repeated diction in support of Biden concerning the state of Ohio not only pushed viewers to perceive that Biden could very well win the state, but it also sent the message that Republicans and Trump’s campaign itself should go so far as to be nervous and fearsome of Biden’s successes. King powerfully boosted Biden’s confidence while simultaneously tearing Trump down. King went on to repeatedly tell viewers Biden was “over-performing” in states he had great leads in, and he also twice said President Trump was “getting shellacked.” Such strong words like “over-performing” and “shellacked” further impacted viewers’ perceptions of the election on just how successful (or unsuccessful) both nominees were. Biden was not simply winning a few states — he was entirely over-performing and destroying Trump in the polls. Trump was not just losing in those states — he was being greatly and decisively defeated. All in all, anchor John King used such strong words, some that I have never even heard of before, to demonstrate to viewers that the election simply is not close. His diction too builds up morale for Biden while also tearing Trump down from his confident pedestal.
Such deeper analysis of CNN’s coverage of the election demonstrated to me that it could very well impact viewers’ perceptions of the candidates and election as it clearly promoted one candidate over the other — Biden over Trump. The big-picture consequence of watching such a one-sided news source is that viewers do not get so much as even a glimpse at the opposing side’s status, viewpoints, and values. In watching CNN, viewers are almost brainwashed into automatically perceiving Biden and the Democrats as the leaders over Trump and his Republicans. Rather than give viewers an opportunity to decide for themselves, CNN wastes no time pushing their ideals forward while simultaneously blinding us from any other viewpoint. Moreover, so many people viewing this station dramatically impacts our society in that it creates a further party divide between the Democrats and Republicans. The constant ruthless bashing of Trump and promotion of Biden’s campaign separates the two sides, when there should not even be two sides to begin with. We as a society are pushed to implement our political parties and views into the forefront of our identities to the point where it has even become nearly impossible for us to coincide with one another. We are pushed to see one another as Democrats or Republicans first, rather than Americans above all else.
