Bias in the News

Another example of bias in the news has appeared (surprise, surprise!) on the KCRA TV news channel and web site today. I'm not singling out KCRA; most major national news media are guilty of the same thing hundreds of times over everyday. The police investigation so far has determined that the suspect, Eugene Gallegos, Jr., tried to run down a police officer responding to an armed robbery report. Witnesses claim the suspect was accelerating toward the officer and the officer jumped on to the head of the suspect’s car to avoid being pinned between a squad car and the suspect’s vehicle. However, KCRA news reporter Mike TeSelle, while failing to report the results of the investigation and trying to turn the incident into a case of police doing something wrong, focuses on the mother's remarks of doubt that the police officer had justification for defending himself.

First, while the mother, Michelle Andrade, was being interviewed, she didn't show any signs of grief, no tears, nothing. Oh, she tried her best to sound grief stricken. She said, “My son was terrific, man; my son was great. I thank God that He gave me my son in my life. I thank God. My love for my son and my son’s love for me, was just totally (pause) I thank God for giving me my son.” Watch the video and judge for yourself how grief stricken this mother is (isn’t). But this really doesn’t speak to the question of whether Mr. Gallegos is at fault. What is more to the point can be found in Ms. Andrade’s admitting that her son was not a saint; by Sacramento Police Chief Albert Najera commenting, "There's no doubt in my mind that the driver of that vehicle intended to kill the officer. All of our investigation thus far supports that statement as well." What’s more, two of the car’s occupants fled the scene after the shooting. Hmmm, let me see now. They were so afraid for their lives they decided to make a run for it. No, innocent people don’t run from the law. Criminals run from the law.

Then Mr. TeSelle asks, ”…do you think it’s at all justified?” And Ms. Andrade answers, “No, it’s not; no it’s not justified. I don’t know (pause) there’s a lot I don’t know still.” Which begs the question, which is it? They weren’t justified, or you don’t know?

This is a glaring example of the news media playing to the “bleeding hearts” to create something more sensational for their news report, quoting someone as allegedly calling it a “Hollywood style shooting”, but failing to name the person making the quote. For all we know it could have been a by-stander who watches too many violent TV shows and gets reality confused with fiction. But, gee, anything Hollywood seems to get a lot of attention these days, what with shows like Entertainment Tonight, E! News and so–on. Often these stories are created and sensationalized to try and grow their viewing audience. But more often than not these type stories paint the policemen and deputy sheriff's as the bad guys, when in fact; it’s almost always the opposite. Deputy Sheriff’s and Police Officer’s put their lives on the line each and every day. And as a law abiding citizen I thank God and them for doing it. They know the streets, and they know who the bad guys are; which is more than I can say for many news reporters.

The community would be better served if the media provided more coverage on the growing crime rate in the Sacramento area. Just in the last week there have been, multiple murders, armed robberies, home invasion robberies, auto thefts and robber’s grabbing purses from women, physically assaulting one of them before fleeing. Every night there are new stories about violent crimes and the news media focuses on the poor mistreated suspect instead of the violated victims and the need for measures to reduce the crime rate. Do you notice anything wrong with this picture? I do, and I hope the main stream citizen does, or we’re in for some rough but predictable times ahead.