The science of discernment - Bill Wilson -
President Donald Trump held a rally in Duluth, Minnesota last night at a hockey arena. The venue was packed with "thousands" of people. The AP report about the rally was full of one-liner "tweet"-like sentences that showed the visceral toward the president under the guise of reporting just the facts. Certain word phrases were used: "Trump is complaining," Trump is also falsely accusing the media," Trump is continuing to rail," Trump has been interrupted several times," Trump is "returning to his hardline immigration rhetoric," and "Trump is accusing the media..." Can anyone detect the bias here?
In determining a narrative about a topic, there are words to use and words to lose. For example, if you don't want the narrative to give the feel to people that something is unsafe, you may choose words that establish security or protection. You may not use the word "safer," because it implies that something is unsafe. In just this one story by AP about the Trump rally, there are many words designed to create bias. Words like "accusing" implies that there is no substance to the claim. If the reporter was unbiased, the sentence may read, "Trump also said media coverage of..."
The words "Trump is complaining" also indicate that the president has no case regarding his complaint. Use of words like "hardline" imply that the president is aligned with right-wing, or nazi-like approaches. These are subtle ways that the media injects its bias against the president while at the same time claiming to report "just the facts." Compare this reporting to that of the previous "president" where softer words were used, explanations about not upholding the law were painted with a word brush of thoughtfulness and reason. When a writer wants to escalate an emotion toward a topic, aggressive words are used. When a writer wants to deescalate, softer words are used.
This is media bias. In reality, it is fake news. The AP took a very positive rally with mainstream Americans and turned it into a suspicious-looking, bigot-slanted, hate event by the words it used to describe the gathering. The reporting looked straightforward, but it had a message with it. 1 John 4:1-6 speaks about discerning the spirits, and it is not unlike discerning the news. Verses 5-6 say, "They are of the world: therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them; We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears us not. Hereby, we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." The science of discernment for disciples of Christ is to discern the spirit of the worldly things to know the truth-in news or in other aspects of life.
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