By: Tobi Omole
Reading the papers is always and will always be one of mans' most favorite things to do in the morning, whether it be an online news article, the news on TV or the classic regular old newspaper. But what if the article you're reading represents you or a social group you are a part of in an unfair or right out ridiculous way? Being portrayed as the troublemakers, claims being made that most of your problems are due to your own culture is never fair, especially not by a nationwide news aggregate. Fox news is one of those news outlets. Listening to Fox News' ''Talking Points'' it becomes clear that portraying a particular social group in a bad light is what they do best. Through the use of sensationalist words, obsolete statistics and an offensive way of speaking Fox News portrays the African American community as a self-destroying one.
The title of the 12 November, 2014 Talking Points is ''Mistreating black Americans''1 and it includes several sections: an introduction which is based on a report (no source is even mentioned), an audio clip of Ben Stein explaining why African Americans are suffering, and the response by O'Reilly. The episode is based on the end-2014 shootings and riots in Fergusson, which have incited debates, discussions and opinion differences around the world. It is to be noted however, that even though Bill O'Reilly is doing the segment, Fox News channel executives have a great amount of control over what is being said in the show.
Firstly, the introduction. Bill O'Reilly talks about a report which indicates that ''people who live in and around Ferguson, Missouri are buying guns at a record rate. That's because the decision on the police shooting of Michael Brown is due soon and there could be more rioting in that area.''2 and the fact that ''liberal pundits'' claim blacks are being mistreated in US