Essay
Today Radio 4 covering Capitol Hill Riot
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News Source: Today Radio 4 QUESTION: How has the Today Radio 4 news programme covered the riots on Capitol Hill?
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Question: How has the Today Radio 4 news programme covered the riots on CapitolHill?
The Today Radio 4 news programme has covered the events of the riots on Capitol Hill, its
descriptions and analysis portray the riots clearly as a serious, threatening event. In addition,
it characterises the people present in the event, for example, Donald Trump is presented as
the Proppian villain and the rioters are presented as a dangerous group of people with the
desire to harm others. Bias can also be identified in the coverage through the clever,
deliberate inclusion of certain words and speeches which implies that the Today Radio 4 is
an anti-Trump news source.
Evidence of the riots being portrayed as a serious event may be recognised through the use
of war imagery and hyperboles. For a former White House advisor to anticipate Trump
engaging in an ‘“international warfare”’, it suggests the extent of danger that Trump is
capable of putting the country in as well as the power or agency that Trump possesses if he
continues to remain in his current position. This may cause worry amongst audiences as it is
not something that one would be hopeful to look forward to, but rather something that holds
connotations of danger to innocent people, the loss of lives, starvation and the damages to
buildings and thousands of homes. To describe the events of the riots as an ‘international
warfare’ portrays it as an event that will affect many countries, further suggesting the extent
of danger that could be forced upon people. This use of hyperbole may even cause moral
panic in audiences as they will likely fret and feel distress in regards to their future and the
future of their country, even if they have no relation to America’s election votes. To describe
the event as something that is to be incredibly impactful only implies the weight of the
seriousness within this hard news story. The use of anaphora through the repetitive ‘I don’t
know’s emphasises the fear that the advisor feels not know what will happen next. It may
also increase the anxiety that the audiences will feel, causing them to wonder of the
possibilities that will happen after the riot, and how threatening they may be, especially if
Trump has still not regained his position as president. The anaphora therefore presents the
riots as a frightening, unnerving occurrence. Furthermore, the use of contractions in the
advisor’s speech provides a casual, informal tone to the story. This may mould the narrative
as more credible since it adds an element of realism to the story. The audiences may
therefore feel pity for the people. It is likely that audiences will feel sympathy knowing that
these are real people, due to their casual speech, and are not fabricated to speak with
higher, intelligent vocabulary. This then portrays the event as serious, that it is real and is
the truth.
The style of the description of the rioting scenes further implies imageries of a war. To
include specific phrases such as police ‘guarding the streets’ and ‘a 14-day curfew is in
operation’ more or less depicts a war scene than that of a riot. To guard the streets may
remind audiences of times during the world wars when soldiers or guards were patrolling
around the streets in case of an emergency or invasion. Not to mention the fact that in World
War II, strict curfews were commonly implemented by the government for patrols at night to
stop people from leaving their house and walking around the streets freely. The strict control
and authority influenced by the police and law accentuates the seriousness of the situation,
that it is not something to be taken lightly and that the police are prepared to prevent any
more rioters or rule-breakers to disturb the peace around the area. The fact that the streets
needed to be guarded can indicate that the rioters are a danger to the people around them,
which may worry audiences and force them to not leave the house. To employ a short
snappy sentence ‘Four are dead.’ provides weight to the words. It draws focus to the four
people who have tragically died, and warns the audience of the hazard out there. The fact
that the coverage has deliberately constructed the sentence to be factual and straight to the
point with no exaggerative description of how the people died communicates to the audience
the seriousness of the event. It may induce sadness out of the audience knowing that this is
the reality of the world and that this is the impact of the extreme rioting. To include a list of
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