Allison Booher

Professor Riley

ENG 1101

4 November 2022

Media Bias COVID-19 Vaccines

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the world around us and has changed

people's lives dramatically. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, people have had to face

quarantining, working from home, schools being shut down, and much more hardships. Although

society has been facing these hardships and has taken safety precautions, there are some people

that have no way around being exposed to this virus. This brings up the question to the people of

America, should people get vaccinated and boosted, and should or will it be required? Knowing

the possible effects and benefits of this is important. With seeing this controversy all over

America, AllSlides Headline Roundup presents three articles that gave their own evaluation of

the conversation that COVID-19 vaccines will start to be required.

A center article from Jessica McDonalds' that is presented on FactCheck with the

headline, “States Determine School Immunization Requirements, not CDC” has given out the

facts and information on the topic of whether not COVID-19 vaccines will be required in the

future specifically in schools, and who would be enforcing it. In the article, it clearly states, ‘The

process for adding a vaccine to school requirements varies by state, she said, but typically

involves the health or education departments, sometimes working together” (McDonalds 1). This

answers the question of whether who is in control of making requirements of the vaccine and

does not give personal commentary of their own opinion. This suggests that this article has no

bias to the topic and can state the facts without their opinions getting in the way.
 Looking further into the articles presented by AllSlides, Washington Examiner gave its

input on October 25, 2022. This website article headline is “Yearly COVID Booster ‘Is Going

To Be Required,’ Biden Says While Getting the Vaccine” talks about the topic of President

Biden’s thoughts that the COVID-19 vaccines could be required in the future. Specifically, this

was written by White House reporter, Katherine Doyle, who wrote an article on the Washington

Examiner website. This article presents the topic in the context of President Biden getting his

booster shot and how he has recommended people do the same in advance of the holiday season

coming up. The possible audience could be more right-winged individuals, or those interested in

whether the vaccine may be required in the future.

Throughout the article, there are apparent signs of media bias. In the article, they add in

something mentioned McDaniel when he noted “The president promised to shut down the virus,

but instead, Biden and Democrats pitted Americans against each other, and forced families to

decide between their livelihoods and the left’s political agenda” (Doyle 1). This suggests that

there is some flawed logic or reasoning because the author is jumping to conclusions that are not

justified by any given evidence.

This article has an obvious presentation of ethos (credibility). Using direct quotes from

the President and the health department appealed to and persuaded readers because these sources

can be trusted and credible. This is where they gained evidence to back up what was in the

article. In the article, it has mentioned from President Biden, “Almost everyone who will die

from COVID this year will not be up to date on their shots, or they will have not taken Paxlovid”

(Doyle 1). This article gives credibility and trust in the aspect of how the President recommends

the American people to get their COVID vaccines and boosters, but on the aspect of them being

required, there is no evidence or mention on the topic. The article has left out any information on
whether the vaccines will be required and only says it in the headline to grab readers in. The

purpose of this article was to show how President Biden wants the American people to get their

vaccines for their safety, and they add their opinion gives a little bit of bias. The overall

judgment of this article is that they fairly presented the context and what was going on but left

out the answer to if vaccines may be required which takes the effectiveness out of the overall

point trying to be portrayed.

Lastly, the final article that was provided was a more left-leaning article on the website

CNN. This article is presented on CNN's website and the author of the article is Deidre

McPhillips. It was published on CNN on October 20, 2022. This article in a nutshell is about

how the COVID-19 vaccines will and are recommended to the people of America, but they are

not required yet because of the option of each state making its own decision. The possible

audience that will be targeted in being interested would be more left-leaning individuals, those

interested in the idea of what it's like for an area with high vaccination rates, as well as whether

vaccines will be required.

In this article, there are some under-the-radar signs and expressions of media bias. In the

article, it added, “But the vast majority of parents are not opposed. They’re hesitant, or they’re

uncertain.” (McPhillips 1). This is giving the type of bias of mind reading. This comment in the

article suggests that the parents are not vaccinated because of the assumption that they are

hesitant or uncertain, but there could be many other reasons ranging from religious, cultural, or

personal reasons. There is also not any evidence, or specifically, a survey, to back up this

statement.

This article seems to be using logos (logic) and ethos (ethics) throughout the article to

lure the readers in. Deidre effectively uses logos in the article by using statistics and information
and evidence from credible health officials. The article includes Dr. Nirav Shah when he

mentioned, “We recognize that there is concern around this, but moving Covid-19 to the

recommended immunization schedule does not impact what vaccines are required for school

entrance if any” (McPhillips 1). Using logical evidence from a trusted health official successfully

persuades the reader and informs them. There is also the use of ethos (ethics) which creates

persuasion for a reader by using credibility from where they get their information for the most

part. Possible information that was not included in the article was whether the vaccine should be

required because of the possible effects or if the benefits are worth it with facts and evidence. In

relation to the analysis of this article, the overall purpose is to explain how COVID-19 vaccines

may be required but it varies by state, and the statistics on how many people are vaccinated can

be beneficial. Although there is visible bias in the article, it is trustworthy on the topic of how

they may be required. The overall judgment of this article is that the information is fair on the

aspect of the topic of vaccines being required, even though there is persuasion in the

recommendation of getting the vaccine.

My overall judgment of the articles presented to me by AllSlides gave me a lot of insight

into how there can be a lot of bias from the media, and I also got information on the questions of

the vaccines possibly being required. The articles for the most part were presented fairly,

precisely the center article. The bias in the other articles caused me to have a lot of unanswered

questions. This especially had me thinking about whether there is a benefit or not in having them

required with facts and not opinions. What surprised me the most was how much media bias can

influence the knowledge I will be obtaining. This made me learn to look out for media bias and

to not be affected by it.

Works Cited
Doyle, Katherine. “WATCH: Yearly COVID Booster 'Is Going to Be Required,' Biden Says

While Getting Vaccine.” Washington Examiner, Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2022,

www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/yearly-covid-booster-required-biden.

McDonald, Jessica. “States Determine School Immunization Requirements, Not CDC.”

FactCheck.org, 30 Oct. 2022, www.factcheck.org/2022/10/scicheck-states-determine-

school-immunization-requirements-not-cdc/.

McPhillips, Deidre. “Covid-19 Vaccines Will Be on the 2023 Vaccine Schedule, but That

Doesn't Mean They're Required in Schools.” CNN, Cable News Network, 30 Oct. 2022,

www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/health/child-vax-rates-school-mandates/index.html.