Dublin Core
Title
New York Times Headlines - May 20, 1918
Description
Headline from the front page of The New York Times, May 20, 1918. This headline was cited in Lippman and Merz’s A Test of the News as an example of the bluntly interventionist positions present in purportedly objective news articles. There are a number of particularly notable elements in this headline. Note the use of “Russia” to mean Tsarist Russia, months after the Bolshevik Revolution. The Bolsheviks are unabashedly referred to as “foe.” Who’s foe? The foe of the Tsarist regime, or the foe of the United States? In this case it seems to be both. Also of note is the unclear attribution of the opinions presented. The uppermost headline is clearly from the perspective of Washington, but the following headlines present claims of unclear origin. “View is Taken” could mean Washington’s view or the view of the article. Again, in this case it is both.
In presenting the view of the state department as factual truth, a headline such as this could be used to validate the communist argument that the mainstream media is simply a mouthpiece for the American government. Lippman and Merz argue that these biases are not necessarily products of conscious propaganda but of the authors’ own biases, of which the assumed reference of words like “Russia” and “foe” are examples.
In presenting the view of the state department as factual truth, a headline such as this could be used to validate the communist argument that the mainstream media is simply a mouthpiece for the American government. Lippman and Merz argue that these biases are not necessarily products of conscious propaganda but of the authors’ own biases, of which the assumed reference of words like “Russia” and “foe” are examples.
Creator
The New York Times
Source
"WASHINGTON SEES CHANCE TO BRING RUSSIA BACK IN WAR." The New York Times 20 May 1918: 1. Print.
Publisher
The New York Times
Embed
Copy the code below into your web page
Comments