Comparing FOX and CNN

Upon reading about Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, donating $100 million dollars to Newark Schools, I thought comparing CNN and Fox's presentation of this story would be interesting. 

The first difference between the two articles was the difference in presenting the heading. Fox News chose to describe how the Newark Schools are "one of the worst in the county." CNN chose to be less emotionally driven and describe "improving  the  troubled district." This first example presents that FOX went for a more emotional driven heading rather than being subjective.

The following paragraph diverges the two stories presentation of the news completely. Fox chose to describe about the Newark school system and how "only about half their students graduate. Of those who do, only one-fifth go onto college." CNN described how this is Mark's "largest known charitable donation." This difference points out how perhaps CNN is choosing to describe more about Mark rather than Newark, whereas, Fox is describing the Newark system.

In the next few paragraphs the decision on the topic of stories is presented. Fox is presenting Mark is a positive light describing how Mark "has had a long standing interest education." CNN analyzes Mark's donation calling into question the new movie about Facebook upcoming release and how "critics accuse him of making the donation as an image booster" due to the fact that the movie does not portray him in a "positive light.”

Another major difference is how the two stories end. Fox chooses to describe how “the announcement of the gift is planned for Friday on the Oprah Winfrey Show.” Choosing to use this as the ending is interesting in that it provokes the reader to watch the show. CNN also describes how he will “announce the donation the Oprah Winfrey Show,” however, they end the story describing how “No details have been released at this time about how the money is to be distributed or used.”

There are definite differences between these two news agencies presentation of the news. One main difference is Fox’s more emotionally driven sentence structure and choice of verbs and adjectives. CNN on the other hand delves more into the thought behind this donation but keeping it neutral by presenting both positive and negative views. CNN also ends the article describing how the donated money lacks a plan of distribution, whereas, Fox describes how the donation will be announced on the Oprah Winfrey Show, which in a sense is a pitch for a show.

It is interesting to read different news sources and see how their reporters report on a story. Some agencies add more zest and interest, whereas, other agencies delve into the 5 W’s and deeper than just the surface of the story so that readers receive a total view of the story.