Article Reframing: Assignment VII Critical Thinking John Peters

The article I choose to use for this assignment is titled: “Jay-Z Helped the NFL Banish
Colin Kaepernick” by Jemele Hill. It was published via the online news source, “The Atlantic,”
on August 15, 2019. This article covers the recent partnership between the NFL and hip-hop
mogul and businessperson Shawn Cater (also known as Jay-Z). There are many instances
throughout this article, where the bias of the author is present beginning with the title of the
article, and the word choice within the title. I feel that by using the hip-hop moniker of Shawn
Carter, the author creates an immediate association with his ties to hip-hop, black culture and the
black community. Further, the title suggests that specific actions of Jay-Z is a direct causation of
Colin Kaepernick not being in the NFL. This is a fallacy. Colin has not been “banished” from
the NFL, he just like hundreds of other talented players, is currently not under contract with a
team. This has been the case for three years prior to this deal. The term banished suggests that
he can never play again, which is not the case. The opening paragraph of the article describes
the joint venture between Roc Nation and the NFL as a “once-implausible partnership that isn’t
being received as positively as both parties probably hoped.” These words demonstrates an
immediate bias to the partnership, and suggests that the deal is negative. She goes on to describe
the defensiveness and criticism that both the NFL and Jay-Z are facing due to brokering this
deal, again using negative terminology. The next few paragraphs of the article describes how
Jay-Z “previously” supported Kaepernick, but “now he’s in business with the league.” The tone
and her wording suggests that Jay-Z no longer support Kaepernick since making this deal. This
creates a bias suggesting that if you support the NFL that you do not support social justice issues.
She goes on to describe how Kaepernick and Eric Reid are not happy with this deal. She
also states how those players were not contacted by Jay-Z in the decision making process. She
suggests by leaving them out of this process that Jay-Z is now “an accomplice in the league’s
hypocrisy” to keep Kaepernick out of the league. By using the word accomplice, the author is
suggesting that Jay-Z is partied to a crime. The article then goes on to describe several of the
social justice causes that Jay-Z has started, funded or supported. This was followed by stating
that the NFL is using him as a buffer when anyone discuss the fact that several NFL owners are
Trump supporters. The author’s bias for Trump was evident in this statement. It suggests that
NFL owners who support Trump do not support social justice causes. Additionally, the positive
Article Reframing: Assignment VII Critical Thinking John Peters

efforts that Jay-Z has made for social justice causes was immediately negated in subsequent
paragraphs.

After reading this article, it is evident that the author is opposed to the deal between the
NFL and Jay-Z. The negative tone of the article was present throughout the reading. If the
author would have eliminated some of negative terminology, this could have been more of an
informative piece versus an opinion piece. I feel that many of her personal biases, especially
towards Trump, were evident throughout the article. She also failed to mention the fact that Eric
Reid, who protested alongside Kaepernick and was a part of the lawsuit against the NFL, is
currently playing in the NFL. This goes against the premise that the protesting players are being
blackballed from the league. The message of this article is intended to persuade readers to not
support this merger. It further suggests that if you support this deal, that you then support Trump,
and that you no longer support Colin Kaepernick and social justice causes.

Reference

Hill, J. (2019). Jay-Z helps the NFL banish Colin Kaepernick. The Atlantic. Retrieved from:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/jay-z-helps-nfl-banish-colin-
kaepernick/596146/