Blog #3

The Six Freedoms of the First Amendment have been talked about more in the past year than it probably has been in the last ten years. Throughout the Black Lives Matter Movement, everyone has taken a side; for or against.  Those who are for it will talk about freedom of speech and the right to assemble peacefully. However, those against it will suddenly put all these restrictions on those “Freedoms” to fit their ideas more accurately. People or news sources might not directly say which side they are on, but they make it clear with how they speak of the topic. Those who are supporting Black Lives Matter tend to refer to it as a movement or activism. Those who are against the issue will most likely call it riots, destruction, or simply just violence. If you read an article from a media outlet that has a bias towards the extreme right, such as Fox News, you will see accusations of violence and cults. In an article Fox News did in September 2020, it says, “Black Lives Matter has become a major political force during this intense election year, getting favorable coverage in the left-wing media as its foot soldiers have been the center of violent riots, looting, protests and other unrest breaking out in recent months” (Smith). However, if you look at a media outlet that is skewed left, such as CNN, there will be more talk of activism, movements, and change. The same month the Fox News article was released, CNN released an article saying, “About 93% of racial justice protests in the US since the death of George Floyd have been peaceful and non-destructive” (Kaur). No one has the right to take away the Freedoms of the First Amendment, yet the media only likes to recognize those freedoms when it is useful to them.

Kaur, Harmeet. “About 93% of racial justice protests in the US have been peaceful, a new report finds.” CNN, 4 Sept. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/04/us/blm-protests-peaceful-report-trnd/index.html.

Smith, Rob. “Rob Smith: Black Lives Matter doesn’t really care about Black lives lost unless group can blame police.” Fox News, 9 Sept. 2020, https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/black-lives-matter-protests-rob-smith.