One story
that has been developing this past week has finally come to an end. An Alabama
bus driver was killed last week after an armed man came onto his bus demanding
two children be given to him. After the bus driver refused, he was fatally shot
and then the armed man, Jimmy Lee Dykes, took a child off the bus with him and
held the boy hostage in his bunker for a week. Now that the boy is safe and
sound, I decided to follow Fox News and MSNBC News online and check their
coverage on the story.
One difference
the two media outlets had was that Fox News made this their top story on their
homepage while MSNBC posted it as their second top story. Another difference is
how the two networks covered the story; one medium focused more on the history
of the gunman while the other medium focused more on the rescue. Both articles
covered what happened throughout the week and readers were informed that the
rescue of the boy and the death of Dykes were unclear at the moment.
MSNBC News,
after informing the readers about the rescue, went on to explain how the public
reacted to the news of the rescue and they even presented a statistic about
standoff situations. Fox News on the other hand took a different route and went
on to explain the gunman’s past. The article included his criminal records and
his relationships with family and neighbors.
With two
different platforms, I learned something new from both media outlets. MSNBC
News informed me about the rescue and the public reaction while Fox News shined
a light on the gunman and his past. It got me thinking as to why he committed
this act.
