APOA - Op Ed Daniel Stuebs

Biases of the Media Against Cops

In a time of constant news it is up to us as citizens to find out what is generally biased. One of the biggest topics that is subject to bias is stories about officers. Officers are constantly subject to the bias of the mainstream media, whether it is Fox News or MSNBC. Many of the stories are negative about police officers. There are plenty of good stories about officers as well. These positive stories will rarely get published in our mainstream media. It is up to us as citizens to siphon through the media bias and look at all the information from our own point of view. We need to hold our media accountable for the stories that they publish.

Some of the biggest stories that do not get the great media attention is the stories about officers arresting illegal immigrants. In the article it states that multiple illegal immigrants were arrested. Some were convicted previously of crimes like child enticement, sexual battery, and human trafficking. Stories like this will almost never get published in our mainstream media. This goes against the media narrative that officers are horrible. This also goes against the narrative that all illegal immigrants are decent people. This is why this story will never get published in the mainstream media.  

Another story that is barely getting media attention is the story is not getting the major media is stories about officers helping during the COVID-19 epidemic. One of the stories is coming out of Flint Michigan. The article states that law enforcement unions are donating lunches to hospitals. During the epidemic many of the stories that are coming out from the mainstream media are focused on the horrible part of the epidemic. There are many other stories like this one out there. During the pandemic, a Minnisota officer pulled over a doctor for speeding. Instead of giving the doctor a ticket, the officer gave the doctor all masks he had. 

We all should care because this puts our officers walking a tightrope of media press. When the only stories that get into the supposedly “unbiased” news networks, are those that put the officers in areas of grey. They will have to constantly defend themselves from verbal and physical attacks from citizens. In rare cases sometimes officers will be killed as payback. This happened in Dallas in 2016. When stories about officers that can put them in a bad light, the media should be responsible for giving us only the facts. This way we can make our own decision on whether the actions that were taken by the officer were good or bad. We need to combat the constant negative coverage of police officers with stories that put them as heroes.  

All three of these articles go to show the media bias against our officers. These articles will rarely get published in the mainstream outlets. The story about officers arresting criminal illegal immigrants will never get published. It shows that our officers are going in harm’s way to protect us from the criminal illegal immigrants. The articles that show our officers doing good in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, those will rarely get published since it puts officers in a positive light. We need to start holding our media accountable for this biased reporting. We need to take a stand and always question the stories about officers when they come out and get all the information.

So called “red flag” laws are sweeping the country and threatening the second amendment rights of citizens everywhere. Ostensibly designed to limit dangerous individuals’ access to firearms, in reality these laws enable authorities to unilaterally decide who can and cannot own guns. Read more here.

American Police Officers Alliance