Analyzing how politics gets discussed in aggregate regarding media and politics.

1.    choose one specific TV show and website (ex: Breitbart for online periodicals and Anderson Cooper 360 for television news). Consider the approach to each story as they were discussed. Did either source display implicit or explicit bias (as discussed in class, remember that this does not mean “opinion” or “judgment” or even “inference”; this means that the source had an agenda beyond the pursuit of truth)? For example, Breitbart’s reporting on Trump’s rally includes the headline “Watch: Antifa Leftist Protester Takes Pepperball in the Groin”; Cooper’s show began with a sixteen-minute long fact check of the president’s speech itself. Also consider: what is the format of these media? (Example: Breitbart’s coverage of the rally is mainly a series of people’s Twitter feeds and short responses; Cooper’s show opens with the nightly fact check titled “Keeping Them Honest,” followed by a panel discussion and then a one-one-one interview).

2.     Did either source provide support for whatever information they were reporting? If not, what claims did they make to justify reporting the story? If so, what kind of support? Were their sources reliable/available? (Example: again, Breitbart’s reporting is largely blog-style op-ed reporting, or supported mainly by tweets when and if there is a source; Cooper often uses the president’s own words in video clips, or else asks establishment politicians or political commentators to weigh in).Finally, research and consider the demographic for each source