Media Analysis of Kamala Harris' Involvement in Politics

Introduction

The news sources I have chosen to use for this essay are The Blaze, a Republican-biased news source, and CNN, a Democratic-biased news source. As of October 1st, Kamala Harris wants to have President Donald Trump’s Twitter account suspended. The article from The Blaze is titled "Kamala Harris wants President Trump’s Twitter account suspended over his whistleblower tweets." The title from CNN is much the same, titled "Kamala Harris says Trump’s Twitter account should be suspended." The Blaze claims that they are “news and entertainment for people who love America.” As a conservative news source, it is pretty safe to say that they are targeting an audience that is conservative and loves the United States of America. The Blaze does not have an explicit audience report, thus the generalization. On the other side is CNN, which has a target audience of Democrats who are middle to high-income college graduates.

Media Analysis of Kamala Harris' Involvement in Politics

The Blaze used this photo of Kamala Harris at the beginning of the article on Kamala Harris wanting to suspend Trump’s Twitter account. The most obvious thing in this photo is Kamala Harris as the main subject. The Blaze, in my opinion, uses this photo to show who they are talking about and to possibly instill some negative sentiment toward Harris. By prominently featuring Harris, they are trying to provoke some sort of, presumably negative, reaction from the Republicans reading the article. A presumably negative reaction is assumable because many far-right conservatives are against the majority of people on the left. The gesture Harris is making can also be a part of why they chose the photo. An assumption that can be made is that she is making a chopping movement. In an article by Nicolas Fradet, titled "13 Revealing Body Language Hand Gestures," he mentions chopping movements are for “emphasis, and is usually authoritative. A person who 'chops' has made up his mind and is not likely to change it... It can often be used as a way to make a point.” This can easily be used to show the audience that she is another liberal who is stuck in her ways and will not budge. The black background is believed to bring more focus to the main subject of the photo, Kamala Harris.

CNN uses this photo of Kamala Harris as their cover photo before a video. In this photo, the main focus is again Kamala Harris. I believe the intent of this is to show who they are talking about in the argument, as the majority knows who Donald Trump is, but not as many may know Harris. The photo also shows a different facial expression from Harris. In the photo from The Blaze, Harris appears to be more amped up, whereas CNN uses a photo where she appears calm and collected. This may be as they are portraying her as well as possible, as they are a more left-biased news source. It also helps with their article as it shows her calm, making her appear like she has a better idea of what should happen with Trump’s Twitter account. Then they also fade out the background in the photo in order to maintain focus on Harris.

Conclusion

After analyzing the photos from both sources, there is not a significant difference in how they use the imagery, as they are primarily trying to put a face to a name. They both focus on Harris and try to leave as little distraction in the background as possible. However, the choice of photo can subtly influence readers' perceptions, reinforcing existing biases. Overall, they use the pictures in a similar manner, with minor differences in the photos reflecting their respective biases.

References

3. Fradet, N. (n.d.). 13 Revealing Body Language Hand Gestures. Retrieved from [insert URL here]

4. The Blaze. (2019). Kamala Harris wants President Trump’s Twitter account suspended over his whistleblower tweets. Retrieved from [insert URL here]

5. CNN. (2019). Kamala Harris says Trump’s Twitter account should be suspended. Retrieved from [insert URL here]