Rationale/Disclaimer
The issue I chose for this media bias pastiche was abortion. I thought it was interesting how central textual bias is to the fight, as anti-abortionists call themselves "pro-life" while pro-abortionists call themselves "pro-choice". Below is the original article, which I found on the 'Life News' website, which details "pro-life" successes and stories. I rewrote it in the opposite pro-abortion ideology.
One of the first techniques I used in my re-writing of it was bias by headline, where bias through use of names and titles was also employed. "Pro-life advocate" became "unruly anti-choice protesters". The "potential arrest" was also focused on more than the "just for wearing a pro-life t-shirt", giving the article a heightened sense of importance. I also ignored some details in the re-writing, like the fact that some pro-abortionists "mocked Bryan Kemper's son". The re-writing also generally goes against conservative views, and (vaguely related) statistics are used in the article to paint Ohio in a more negative light.
This rewriting wasn't meant to make fun of anyone or any group, it was solely for educational purposes.
Police Threaten to
Arrest Pro-Life Advocate Just for Wearing a Pro-Life T-Shirt
STATE MICAIAH BILGER
NOV 2, 2015 | 8:05PM DAYTON, OH
A pro-life advocate says police threatened to
arrest him for wearing a pro-life T-shirt and an abortion advocate mocked his
10-year-old son during a pro-abortion rally Sunday in Dayton, Ohio.
Bryan Kemper, president of Stand True, reports
that he and two of his children joined about 20 other pro-lifers to peacefully
protest during the rally to celebrate Planned Parenthood and other
abortion providers in Dayton.
The Stand True blog reports more about the situation:
"After about an hour at the rally, Bryan put down his sign to
walk around the Courthouse Square, a public area in Dayton, to take photos of
the rally. The Dayton police were called to remove all pro-lifers from this
public area. While the rally organizers had a permit to gather and hold a
rally, they did not have ownership of this public square but the police
demanded all pro-lifers leave and go to the sidewalk area outside the
Courthouse Square.
Because the officers were claiming that he couldn’t be there
even though he was not protesting at the time, Bryan approached them to ask why
they were denying him access to public property. One of the pro-abortion
protesters claimed that his pro-life shirt constituted a protest sign and
disqualified him from being in the public area.
The officer mocked the pro-lifers and said, “It’s Sunday. Normal
people are out enjoying the day, not causing problems.”
When Bryan tried to explain that he had no sign and was not
protesting, the officer said, “I don’t care. You go over there.”
The
officer also admitted that there was no copy of the (pro-abortion protest)
permit on hand, and that he could not show it to us as he did not have it, yet
he still kicked us off public property."
Someone at the rally caught on video part of
the exchange between Kemper and the city police. Watch
it here.
At one point, Kemper’s 10-year-old son also was targeted for
harassment. A pro-abortion protester approached and mocked Kemper’s son as he
was holding a pro-life sign, but the boy did not waver as he stood for the
lives of unborn babies, according to the blog.
According to Stand True, the pro-life advocates did not
interrupt the rally, and they were peaceful and respectful to the abortion
supporters. Pro-lifers said they held images of the victims of abortion to show
abortion advocates “what it was exactly that they were promoting and
celebrating.”
“They wanted to give these victims the dignity of being
recognized as the human persons they are,” according to the blog.
Kemper posted a photo from the protest on his Facebook page and
called his exchange with the police an “outrage.”
“The Dayton Ohio Police Department just threatened to arrest me
for simply standing on public property with a pro-life t-shirt,” Kemper wrote.
“Apparently if someone is holding a public rally on public property they have
the right no deny citizens from simply walking on that public property. This is
our courthouse square and I should be free to walk around as long as I’m not
disrupting their rally.”
Link to article: http://www.lifenews.com/2015/11/02/police-threaten-to-arrest-pro-life-advocate-just-for-wearing-a-pro-life-t-shirt/
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