Steering the Story

When I was a eleven or twelve, my brother and I spent a summer at our grandparents' house in Iowa.  Grandma was a skilled card player and we played many card games while there.  Grandma also had a magic trick.  You would select a card and place it in the deck and she would then ask you to select suits until you had only your suit left.  Then she would ask you to select card ranges until it finally narrowed down to YOUR CARD!  However, after a couple of times through, it became clear that she was really the one selecting.

Grandma: "Pick two suits."

Me: "Spades and diamonds."

Grandma: "That leaves you with Hearts and Clubs.  Pick one of those."

Me: "Clubs."

Grandma: "Among the clubs, pick face cards or numbers."

Me: "Face cards."

Grandma: "That leaves you with numbers.  Pick high or low numbers."

As you can see, Grandma either eliminated my selection or stuck with it, depending on what my card was.  She always steered me to my card.  The mainstream media does something similar.

BLM firebombs a police station in Minneapolis.

Media: Mostly peaceful protest

Tea Party protests tax and spend policies

Media: Intolerant racists hate black president

BLM blocks off part of Seattle and declares it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ)

Media: Mostly peaceful protest.  Look! Someone has started farming!

Truckers protest mask & vaccine mandates in Canada by driving to Ottawa and honking horns

Media: Nazis!  Fascists!  Danger to democracy!

Antifa tosses firebombs in both Berkley and Portland, deface buildings, break windows

Media: Antifa are activists and protesters who oppose Trump's fascist agenda

Parents attending school board meetings demand removal of Critical Race Theory curriculum

Media: Domestic terrorists threaten teachers

After a while, it becomes clear that the media describes violent rioters who lean left as mostly peaceful and generally justified in their actions, though perhaps a bit overenthusiastic.  However, non-violent protesters who lean right are domestic terrorists and insurrectionists.  These wrongheaded radicals need to feel the full force of the law and be denounced at every opportunity.  The media selects the adjectives and positive or negative coverage based more on the politics of the 'protesters' rather than the actions.