PROTEST: Reader finds article on protest misleading

While reading an article in the Jan. 7 Press, a couple of things came to mind. First, rules for writing a story might include setting the tone to start with and leaving an impression to end with. The article regarding a demonstration about the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol incursion includes both. 

The writer opens with a description of cold, wet weather along with a picture of a person bundled against the cold. For most people who have experienced similar weather, that sets a chilling tone or frame of mind. Then it ends with the line “At least five people died in the Capitol siege and its aftermath, the AP reported.” Good work, right? Neither is a lie but the intended message is. The lead-off description of the weather establishes a negative reader mindset while the ending leaves the distinct impression that the people who died did so at the hands of those demonstrating (not so). 

So, while I do not favor getting swept up in a demonstration (one might catch one’s death of cold), one ought also to be careful with what one reads.

PAT TEBO
Hayden Lake