Immigration raid Fake News from Iowa's Des Moines Register
'Criminals good, laws bad.'
Skewed reporting leaves readers with false conclusions. Accounts that misrepresent events or topics disserve readers who rely partly on media to inform their world knowledge and who, potentially, direct national, state, and local governments through the electoral process.
A slanted presentation can be effected in various ways. One method was this morning demonstrated by Des Moines Register reporter Mackenzie Elmer.
Elmer's report was titled: "Dozens rally in Mount Pleasant day after ICE arrested 32, mourning families torn apart and demanding answers from local police." Unsurprisingly, that hysterical headline's perspective bias was reflected throughout the article itself.
Appearing with the article online were 20 for-sale photos. Some depicted protesters waving placards with such treacly slogans as the Hillary-influenced "Community rights are human rights" and "Keep Families Together."
(Endorsers of that last never acknowledge that it was illegal immigrant parents who made the original choice to place their families at risk of disunion. That they are exempted from later censure and enforcers of democratically enacted laws are portrayed in sinister lights is ridiculous.)
Elmer quoted ten opponents of the raid and of immigration law enforcement. These included residents whose relatives had been caught, a store owner, a law professor, and an Obama-era ICE official.
No person advocating that immigration laws be obeyed was quoted. Not even one.
The message implicitly communicated by Elmer was that violators of law are sympathetic and merit public heed. Those who believe in law enforcement, though, are enemies of human decency and deserve disregard.
Elmer did quote the Mount Pleasant police chief. But his words belong in the neutral column. The raid was "part of my job," he said. "This wasn't our decision."
Hardly a sturdy declaration of support for upholding law.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/05/10/mount-pleasant-immigration-raid-illegal-immigration-iowa-raid/598598002/
Arguing that existing immigration codes are broken and need future reform doesn't justify disobeying laws presently on the books. Nor is intentionally presenting only one side of a story fair to the parties involved, readers, or the larger public interest.
'Criminals good, laws bad.'
Skewed reporting leaves readers with false conclusions. Accounts that misrepresent events or topics disserve readers who rely partly on media to inform their world knowledge and who, potentially, direct national, state, and local governments through the electoral process.
A slanted presentation can be effected in various ways. One method was this morning demonstrated by Des Moines Register reporter Mackenzie Elmer.
Elmer's report was titled: "Dozens rally in Mount Pleasant day after ICE arrested 32, mourning families torn apart and demanding answers from local police." Unsurprisingly, that hysterical headline's perspective bias was reflected throughout the article itself.
Appearing with the article online were 20 for-sale photos. Some depicted protesters waving placards with such treacly slogans as the Hillary-influenced "Community rights are human rights" and "Keep Families Together."
(Endorsers of that last never acknowledge that it was illegal immigrant parents who made the original choice to place their families at risk of disunion. That they are exempted from later censure and enforcers of democratically enacted laws are portrayed in sinister lights is ridiculous.)
Elmer quoted ten opponents of the raid and of immigration law enforcement. These included residents whose relatives had been caught, a store owner, a law professor, and an Obama-era ICE official.
No person advocating that immigration laws be obeyed was quoted. Not even one.
The message implicitly communicated by Elmer was that violators of law are sympathetic and merit public heed. Those who believe in law enforcement, though, are enemies of human decency and deserve disregard.
Elmer did quote the Mount Pleasant police chief. But his words belong in the neutral column. The raid was "part of my job," he said. "This wasn't our decision."
Hardly a sturdy declaration of support for upholding law.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/05/10/mount-pleasant-immigration-raid-illegal-immigration-iowa-raid/598598002/
Arguing that existing immigration codes are broken and need future reform doesn't justify disobeying laws presently on the books. Nor is intentionally presenting only one side of a story fair to the parties involved, readers, or the larger public interest.
posted by DC Larson at
May 12, 2018
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