Newscasts all across the nation (including both Univision and Telemundo) led with news of the awful shooting at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The tone of the coverage on the Spanish-language networks should surprise no one.
Telemundo’s coverage was just-the-facts. Anchor José Díaz-Balart gave a brief lead-in before tossing to reporter Vanessa Hauc. Hauc indicated that there was not yet a motive for the shooting, and reported the amount of casualties.
Hauc bolstered the story with reactions from the local Sheriff, the Governor of Oregon, a local student, and closed by quoting some of President Obama’s reaction, which included a call for more gun-control legislation.
Hauc then wrapped the story and tossed it back to Díaz-Balart. There was no editorializing, no advocacy for any position left or right - just the facts. Telemundo chose to report the story and leave viewers to form their own conclusions.
Across the dial, Univision went Univision. Anchor Jorge Ramos opened thusly:
“Good evening. As though it were a movie we had already seen before, today saw another massacre in another school in the United States, with many dead.”
Reporter Juan Carlos Aguilar covered the story. At first, Aguilar recounted the basics of the story, such as the Sheriff’s reaction and the casualty count. But here is where coverage diverges. After linking the Oregon shooting with other recent campus shootings, Aguilar went into much more detailed coverage of the President’s remarks.
“Just a few minutes ago, President Obama spoke about the massacre. In an emotional message, he said that this incident changes the lives of the Oregon victims’ families forever, young people of whose lives we will know more in the coming days, young students who were thinking about their future. He reiterated what he says after each shooting: that the nation has done nothing to avoid events that, like this one, repeat themselves frequently and that the United States has done little regarding gun control. There are not enough laws to regulate their use. Back to you, Jorge.”
Ramos again linked the Oregon shooting to those in Littletown, Newtown, and Virginia Tech, emphasizing details of each horrific event before showing details of the shootings in Aurora, Ft. Hood, and Charleston.
One network chose to report the story. The other chose to use the story in furtherance of an agenda.
