Showcase Paper

Multiple Views on D.A.C.A.

D.A.C.A., which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is currently a very controversial topic in the United States. DACA protects illegal immigrants, who were brought to America as very young children, from being deported. President Trump ended DACA, an Obama era executive order. Many people argue the reasons in which he terminated it, whether it was to deport illegal immigrants or to have something similar to DACA in the constitution, it is a very controversial topic. Many media sources have written articles on this topic in which they express their bias opinions on the situation. CNN, FOX, and PBS portray their bias through their word choice, tone, placement, statistics and selection or omission.

CNN shows a lot of negative bias in this article through the use of word choice, tone, and placement. It begins with a very loaded headline stating, “Trump’s DACA decision triggers anguish, political firestorm” (Collinson). Using the word “anguish”, Collinson is trying to illustrate a feeling of severe pain throughout America due to President Trumps actions. He then goes on to call it a “political firestorm” to further show how the President is causing a heated disagreement between Americans. As the article progresses, Collinson states that the White House “insisted that Trump had wrestled with the question”. This sentence not only shows bias through word choice but also through tone. Using the word “insisted”, the author creates the tone that the White House is not very trustworthy. Using the word insisted versus a word like says, the author is making the tone shift to a more negative vibe regarding the White House. Collinson goes even further to say, “Trump did not appear in public to announce it himself, perhaps seeking to avoid paying a political price for his action”. Incorporating his view points on the issue and stating them as somewhat of a fact creates a very strong bias towards what he believes and also make President Trump seem afraid of Americans and criticism, which questions his power. Placement in this article also plays a key role in the bias it portrays. The author begun the article by stating, “No one is happy with this outcome”. For people who just skim this article, they will solely believe that the Presidents decision to terminate DACA benefited nobody. By placing this at the beginning of the article it gives it more importance, as if saying that it is all that needs to be taken out of this article. The author of this article uses word choice, tone and placement to show bias throughout this article.

Fox News shows a more positive bias towards the issue of DACA through word choice and selection. Word choice throughout this article also effects the tone. The author mentions the “success of President Trump’s leadership” (Bowman), showing a bias towards how he is addressing this issue. Talking about how successful the President has been gives the reader a feeling of pride in Trumps accomplishments, diminishing doubts about the way in which he has gone about DACA. In addition, upon talking about President Trumps accomplishments, Bowman says, “we can take pride”. This creates a more positive vibe surrounding this issue because the author is telling Americans that they should “take pride” in what the President has done, almost creating a feeling of patriotism. When discussing the possible outcomes of negotiation regarding DACA between the President and Democrats, Fox News reports that President Trump is “leaving the door open” for negotiation. By using this phrase, Trump seems very open for discussing possibilities and open to compromise, making him seem very open minded.  Selection is also a big factor in creating the bias that is present in this article. Incorporating that “The Trump administration argued earlier this year that federal courts were ready to strike down DACA as unconstitutional”, takes the blame off the President (Bowman). When people read that, they would immediately spread the blame throughout the government instead of focusing solely on what the President has done wrong. Throughout the article, the author uses word choice and selection to push their bias on the reader.

PBS uses word choice, tone, and placement to express bias throughout the article. Starting right off the bat with bias, the headline of this article is: “If Trump revokes DACA, it will create a humanitarian crisis” (Wadhwa). This headline puts President Trump as the center of attention, in which he is creating a “humanitarian crisis”. His word choice and sentence structure allows for someone reading this to feel hatred from the beginning. When someone reads the beginning of this article, they will immediately have a negative opinion towards the Presidents decision on DACA. Placement is also adding to the bias within this article. The author starts out by stating, “As Americans are still reeling from the shock of hearing their President dignify the actions of hate-mongers, there is another social crisis brewing.” Incorporating past issues within America not only fuels anger within people but it pushes that towards the issue of DACA. Using the word “hate-mongers”, people who just begin this article will believe that President Trump is a terrible person. It goes on to imply that Trump will do the same thing he did during Charlottesville regarding DACA, “upset” and “disrespect” Americans. This bias is shown even stronger when Wadhwa says, “the ugliness we have seen in Charlottesville and Washington D.C. will pale in comparison to the images of students being handcuffed, forced into buses, and ejected into the dark”. Wadhwa not only uses past controversial events to fuel an anger in people, but he also paints a very dark picture of what he believes will happen if DACA is terminated. This changes the tone drastically into a sad, anger-filled article. Wadhwa displays his strong bias in many ways throughout this article in order to persuade the reader to dislike Trump and his decisions regarding DACA.

Overall, there are many different bias’ shown throughout media and many different ways that they are shown. Although it is always good to hear other opinions on issues, it was impossible for me to find a non-bias media source. I think people should be able to find news that is not pushing towards a certain view. We should be able to trust the information that we are given with out having to read multiple sources and try to decide for ourselves what the truth of the issue is.