Bias Response: NFL and Abuse: It's not just Ray Rice

     In her article NFL and Abuse: It’s not just Ray Rice, Mel Robbins explores domestic violence, an issue that is in the spotlight because of the recent allegations against Ray Rice. Robbins provides an educated opinion on how the abuse should not only be punished, but prevented with precautionary measures. She criticizes Roger Goodell, and how the NFL has handled domestic abuse allegations. Robbins states that, “Ray Rice has been punished for his despicable elevator assault on Janay Palmer, who's now his wife. Now it's time for the NFL to be punished for its despicable handling of it. The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, must go”. Throughout this article Robbins continually makes claims based on her gender and hostile media biases, which generalize the NFL as an organization which condones domestic violence; when in reality the actions are those of the individuals and not the league.

     Although it is not necessarily a negative bias, Mel Robbins has a journalistic gender bias, she sees domestic abuse as a more prevalent issue because she is a woman. She takes this bias a little too far, claiming that “the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens have handled the incident so horrendously that they're guilty of abusing Janay Rice too.” Obviously the NFL, nor the Baltimore Ravens assaulted, or condoned the assault on Janay Rice, so stating that they are guilty of anything other than covering up the story and letting Rice play is ridiculous. Although it is very easy to see how Mel Robbins is biased towards a mostly male-on-female violent trend that is happening in the United States currently, taking her opinionated rant as truth would not be wise.

     Another bias that plagues Mel Robbins’ writing is her hostile media bias. She goes on a tirade on a topic that is currently in the public eye. Domestic violence in sports and everyday life has been a problem well before the NFL brought it into the public eye, and to blame this nationwide problem on Roger Goodell and the NFL is just a desperate attempt to get people to read her editorial. In reality the only thing the NFL is guilty of is covering up one isolated incident, when they have documented proof of handling domestic violence incidents by the league protocol countless other times. Although Mel Robbins is correct in saying that we need to address the nationwide problem of domestic violence, I believe she let her biases get the better of her in her writing, blaming the issues on the NFL and Roger Goodell.

    

     

Interview Assignment

     Who is Tony Cerce? I sat down to get the answer to that question and found myself face to face with the man himself. Throughout the conversation, as I got to know him, I found quite the personality in this small kid. He is a rugged American kid stating that he typically spends his time "outdoors playing soccer" with his friends, and "playing hockey on Sundays". He is a fierce competitor, claiming that the most memorable thing he did was "Probably scoring the game tying goal in my soccer game the other day." The most surprising answer I was given during my conversation with Tony was when I asked him what kind of dinosaur he would be. "Probably a T-Rex, I've always just pictured myself  running around with little arms" he replied, saying it calmly and quickly like a man who had thought deeply on the subject. Above all he is a modest man with a love for where he grew up, saying "If I has a million dollars to spend I would build a house down the cape and with whatever's left I would buy a boat." He is also a rugged man, who insisted "Sundays are for hockey and work." Tony Cerce, competitor, soccer enthusiast, rugged American teenager who is a big fan of cinnamon toast crunch, classmate, and all around good kid.