A Reading Republican-Conservative News for A Day
For 24 hours, I chose The Blaze as my news source, because I carry left-wing beliefs, and largely despise the system that the US was built upon. This includes but is not limited to the amount of power that money holds. For example, having no limit on political contributions means that everything including the way the country is run and the safety of citizens can easily be balanced on a dollar bill.
Recently, it has been exposed that the US political and judicial systems, along with other social institutions, are largely corrupt. The country is run and ruled by the rich and privileged, and in this case, pertains to white people and especially now Republicans. With Trump in administration, the rate of hate crimes and other violent acts against minorities, including people of colour, has skyrocketed.
In the words of John McCain, US Senator, “What (Trump) did was fire up the crazies” (2016). As someone who is so passionately angry about this, it seems so obvious to me why Trump is one of the worst possible selections for a leader for the United States, and it baffles me to why anyone could possibly see him as a decent President. I realized in these 24 hours that a lot of Conservative journalism includes blatant lies, terror-managing tactics, or the framing of Democrats as crazy evil people.
The Blaze put out an article about a man who tried to cheat the voting system by requesting a ballot for his deceased wife and was arrested. In the headline, however, they specifically chose to mention that he was a Democrat, even though this issue has nothing to do with his political views. The tactful inclusion of his political standpoint makes it easy for anyone reading to subconsciously create a cognitive link with law-breaking individuals with Democrats.
There’s also the fear-mongering aspect of Republican politics: a very common practice to spark terror in people, which leads to irrational thought and behaviour. In a minor example, The Blaze asks for reader subscriptions by claiming that “Conservative voices are being suppressed”. This is simply not true at all, but it is a simple yet powerful sentence that may convince people to believe that their ideas and beliefs are being drowned out by ‘the enemy’.
On a larger scale, Republicans love to create the idea that losing their ‘power’ in the US would obliterate their entire sanctity of living. In this second article by The Blaze, they discuss how “Mark Kelly is hoping Arizonans are so impressed with his background that they ignore the fact that his plan for the eventual government takeover of health care could end Medicare as we know it.” This, along with a long string of false and dramatic statements, reflects the fact that Republicans tend to fear that Liberals are the one thing that will ruin life ‘as they know it”. The most commonly voiced fear for Republicans is losing their freedom, which in this day and age, typically means their freedom to hate, to be ignorant, and be violent. I also find it extremely ironic that Republicans fear for their freedom because they don’t care to be fighting for the freedom of unfairly incarcerated individuals, or PoC, LGBTQ+ members, or even the health and safety of future generations in regards to the topic of climate change.
All in all, switching news sources made me realize that the only stories being chosen to feature on the front page of The Blaze are ones that promote Republican and bash Democratic, and any story that could potentially cause cognitive dissonance in readers and go against their own beliefs is ignored and not covered. The extent to media framing and censorship, particularly in this circumstance, not only sways the audience but dangerously misinforms them. Without the full story, Republicans continue to be ill-informed and ignorant about real-world issues, and will never be able to realize the depth of these issues can be. Now, more than ever, we should finally be begging, God Bless America.
