San Antonio Police Brutality

Name & date of news source

CNN

BBC News

The Guardian

Type of news source

News Article, Web Version and

Video Report

News Article, Web Version and

Video Report

Newspaper, Web Version and

Video Report

What approach does this news

report take?

Neutral approach shown.

Evidence of facts, figures and
direct quotes are given. No direct
claims are made by CNN.

Neutral approach shown.

Evidence of facts, figures and
direct quotes are given. Evidence
of quotes from other news
providers are given to exhibit a
non-biased stance. No direct
claims are made by BBC news.

Neutral approach shown.

Evidence of facts, figures and
direct quotes are given. The
article is predominantly built up
with quotes.

Are there any differences in

content with other news
sources?

CNN is the only provider of this

article which provides a direct
quote from the police stating how
they will minimise the chance of
similar actions in the future
(please see comment 1.10).
Although the article is neutral
against the actual offence and the
officer, however it appears that
CNN are very much protecting
the local police to avoid them
losing respect and trust from the
community in that area.

Whilst CNN and The Guardian

put in effort to allow the local
police to protect their perception
to maintain respect from society,
BBC news include a range of
quotes and links against the police
such as "You could just hear
where she hits the ground. And it's
nothing but concrete, cement or
links to previous articles (as
shown in comment 2.7). No
quotes were provided from the
police superintendent.

The Guardian present much more

through information and data as
they go into detail of what the
next steps for the officer are.
Implementing the quote from The
Combined Law Enforcement
Associations of Texas that states
there are two sides to the story.
This displays that they are by far
the most neutral provider of this
article out of the three, constantly
contrasting each point or quote
with the other side of the story.

How does news report portray

the public service/s?

Although CNN accept the wrongs

of the police officer and clearly
provide evidence of his actions,
the report still positively portrays
the police in this article. Direct
quotes have been embedded from
the local police superintendent
such as in comment 1.2 that states
such actions are absolutely
unwarranted. CNN allows the
police to stand their ground and
protect their image.

The BBC uses clear evidence and

quotes to portray the unlawful
actions of the police as a whole,
as well as the individual police
officer. A lack of quotes from the
police superintendent show that
the BBC did not want to allow the
police to be able to give their side
of the story as they believed the
actions did not deserve a side
story. The BBC then embeds
different cases of police brutality
in school, further giving negative
perspectives on the police as a
whole.

The Guardian takes a very fair

approach towards the police
department as they very much
base the story on the actions of
the individual officer, rather than
an action of the entire force. This
is shown in the first line of the
first paragraph (as shown in 3.1),
the article starts with the name of
the officer, pointing the finger
directly at him. This is then
followed by a response by the
police superintendent stating that
his actions were unwarranted.
This portrays the individual as a
aggressive and power hungry,
however the report does not
portray this for the entire force.

What impact might it have on

societies views of the public
service/s

Although some trust may be lost

in the area as a result of the police
officer, citizens and society can
feel more confident that the local
police will take action to
minimise such actions as the news
article has allowed the police to
state their thoughts and intentions.

Citizens in the US who send their

children to public schools may not
only be afraid of crime, but also
the potential police brutality that
their children could suffer from.
With multiple cases all over the
country, society may look at the
police as aggressive and lose faith
in their protection.

It may be the case that many

citizens would become afraid of
allowing their children into
schools similar to the one in this
case, however the Guardian
allows people to still have some
faith in the police as shown in the
quotes that were given by the
police. The report portrays that
serious action is being taken, and
the justice can act as a trust factor
for citizens that these actions were
not right nor are they the norm for
police officers in schools.

What is your opinion of the

quality of this news report?

I believe that the quality of the

report is respectful of the local
police and that no accusations are
made against them. On the
contrary actions of officers should
be closely monitored and I think a
comment should have been
included that the police should
have taken some responsibility.
Overall, the article is effective and
does the job of reporting the
police brutality, but more focus
should have been put on the issue
of police brutality as a whole, due
to the fact that it is a rising issue
in the US.

Although I believe that this report

is noteworthy and provides a fair
story, it does not provide in-depth
information on the story, nor
much say from the police
department. The article as a whole
is very short, especially compared
to the others. I believe a great
selection of figures are given to
provide evidence of police
brutality, providing them with a
negative view. Nevertheless, I still
think the story was reported well,
however more could have been
added to make the report more
fair on the police department
rather than taking more to the side
of the victim.

I believe that the story reported by

the Guardian provide is very
thorough, respectful and neutral.
Quotes are given from both sides
of the story in full, and there are
no direct judgements made. They
took a very professional approach
by not harming the perspective of
the police department and giving
another side of the story for the
police officer, whilst still being
able to report the news in full,
which is their intended purpose. I
would personally say that the
Guardian reported the story in the
most professional, and fair
manner out of the three articles
presented.