by John Tyler

Created on: December 10, 2009

One striking characteristic of media outlets within the United States is the ability of different news outlets to convey the same story in lights so different that one is left to wonder whether or not they are reading coverage of the same event. This is the case in the coverage of a skiing accident by On Point News and Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, although, not as dramatic as outlined above the coverage of the same event in these two faucets is noticeably polar. While trying to understand how the same story can be covered so differently in the two reports we must look at the organizations and examine motives of the parties funding the reports, then look at the context and style of the reports to determine why the story is presented the way it is. In doing so, we will discover how underlying interests and white-collar funding push the de-politicization of political issues through, interestingly enough, called upon aspects of populism.

Two news outlets, On Point News and Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, both covered the story of a seven, or eight depending on which source you reference, year-old child who was sued after a skiing accident that occurred in Colorado. On Point News is headed by editor Matthew Haller, who created the On Point blog for Courthouse News Service. Courthouse News Service is a “news wire for lawyers.” The articles come from a network of correspondents whose goal is to examine and report new legal developments from federal and state courts. The attorney based attorney serving news source covered the ski accident by citing the family’s failures in properly handling and responding to initial letters from the plaintiff, the inconsistencies in the family’s story, and the nature of the law that justified the suit as the law was applicable to skiers of all ages. This fits nicely with the motives of the organization, as it is a fact-based representation of the proceedings eliminating moral interpretation and placing the nature of the case in the hands of the legal system. Because the news service serves lawyers, an opposing lawsuit-happy proclamation of the lawsuit would likely be responded to with dissatisfaction by the reader base.

It is important to note the article was not actually posted by the Courthouse News Service, it was posted on an affiliate website headed by self-proclaimed blogger Matthew Heller. Educated readers will realize that the word blog in the online discourse equates the opinion-editorial pages of print news. This

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