The Ways We Express Our Feelings (Continued)

In addition to the text that media providers use, the way the

media formats their articles can indicate a certain sway, if you

will, to one side or the other. For instance, when Donald Trump

won the presidential election in 2016, it was undoubtedly obvious that

every news outlet worldwide was going to be headlining such a historic

event. As I was sifting through the archives of newspapers regarding the

outcome of the election, I noticed there were various ways that the same

exact information was being distributed. Two of the most noticeable

examples were the Star Advertiser and The New England Herald. The front

page of the Star Advertiser was structured to look like a simplistic voting

card that displayed an enlarged check mark under Trump’s name as well

as a picture of the President that indicated his approval of the outcome.

This really spoke to me because it felt as if the newspaper was trying to

convince readers that Trump was the sure-fire choice in this election. On

the other hand, The New England Herald had other things to say about the

election. On the front cover, Trump was the only image displayed in patriotic

colors with the words “Dear America… NO YOU CAN’T!” complementing the
suggestive image. Not only that, in a small section entitled “Our View,” there
was a quote taken from that very article that suggested that Trump cannot be
trusted and therefore hints at the idea that this media outlet is attempting to
persuade their audience in the opposite direction of the aforementioned newspaper.
[2 images, 1 quotation, 2 links, 259 words]