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Abstract

This article conducted a thematic analysis to examine 100 articles from US newspapers and their biased inclinations when discussing the Kyle Rittenhouse case. More specifically, the US newspapers included in the study were two left-leaning newspapers – the and the and two right-leaning newspapers – the and the . Driven by two research questions, three main themes emerged to demonstrate how the left-leaning newspapers included biased statements and omissions to make Kyle Rittenhouse guilty of unfairly killing and harming innocent people. The other two newspapers did the same on the opposite end of the political spectrum by making the teenager look innocent and acting in self-defence. The three themes are ‘selective phrasing’, ‘influential background stories’ and ‘beneficial citations’. Ultimately, the left- and right-leaning newspapers’ long-established beliefs and agenda increases the likelihood of readers to voice their opinions about the Kyle Rittenhouse case based on what they read from such biased US newspapers.

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2025-03-21
2026-04-14

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/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00166_1
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Comparative analysis between left- and right-leaning US newspapers in the coverage of the Kyle Rittenhouse case
Intellect ; https://doi.org/10.1386/ajms_00166_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00166_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00166_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keywords: United States ; political agenda ; crime ; audience ; media effects ; media bias

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