Presidential Immunity 

The question of leadership and consequence

According to allsides.com, Fox News leans to the right while MSNBC leans to the left. 

Illustration by João Fazenda; newyorker.com

The Headlines 

Fox: Supreme Court angers liberal pundits after agreeing to review Trump immunity case: 'Supreme arrogance'

MSNBC: The Supreme Court is asking the wrong question in Trump’s immunity case

The Story 

The Supreme Court has decided to review Trump's Immunity case. Whether you are on the left or right, I beg you to see the urgency in this matter. THIS IS CRUCIAL AND ITS IMPLICATIONS COULD RESHAPE THE COUNTRY AS WE KNOW IT!!! 

According to the Supreme Court, the review will determine "Whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office." 

Both of the articles I have gathered today are opinion pieces and boy are they highly opinionated. Fox reports this story in a National Inquiry-type voice rather than informative news reporting. The message of the article is clear-- democrats ( the liberals) are the enemy. The story takes a hit at the liberal media which has criticized the move by the supreme court. Throughout the article, there are plenty of quotes from the liberal media bashing the Supreme Court. There is not much to takeaway here besides that. Fox's piece feels more like a rhetorical appeal to the emotion of anger. 

MSNBC's reporting of the story is more formal ( again not taking sides, I encourage you all to read the articles for yourselves) but is critical of the move by the Supreme Court. This opinion piece focuses on the bigger question - "whether a former president is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office.” (Conway, 2024). The article goes on to describe how complicated this question can become and the danger behind this decision. The article concludes with " Instead, some number of the justices have managed to both delay Trump’s trial and complicate the legal issue to be decided. And the danger to our rule of law is all the worse for it." (2022)

The Takeaways 

Fox News:

• Democrats are criticizing the Supreme Court. 
• Specific examples are used to display liberal commentary. 
• Republicans support the review.

MSNBC: 

• Trump is being charged with undermining our democracy. 
• Reviewing this appeal will have major implications. 
• Democrats do not support the review. 

Connection to Class 

In an attempt to remain as neutral as possible, I will keep this section short. The purpose of this blog is to provide different takes in hopes that the audience will look beyond political biases. To conclude, I will provide a quote from our class reading Mass Media and Politics, "Coverage of politics is determined by what is timely, novel, and sensational—focusing on the aspects of politics that capture and hold the attention of mass audiences." (Dunaway and Graber, 2022). 

QUESTION: WHAT IS THE REAL STORY BEHIND THIS?  BEHIND ALL THE SMOKE AND MIRRORS; SHOULD POLITICAL LEADERS NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS?  If it is determined that they may not be held accountable, what does this mean for the future of our country? 

Resources 

Panreck, H. (2024, March 3). Supreme Court angers liberal pundits after agreeing to review Trump immunity case: 'Supreme arrogance'. Fox News Channel  

https://www.foxnews.com/media/supreme-court-angers-liberal-pundits-after-agreeing-review-trump-immunity-case-vested-interests

Conway, M. (2024, March 3). The Supreme Court is asking the wrong question in Trump’s immunity case. MSNBC

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/supreme-court-wrong-question-trump-immunity-case-rcna141509

Dunaway, J., & Graber, D. A. (2022). Mass Media and American Politics (11th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781544391014