Source: Free Malaysia Today
Mainstream Media Discourses versus Public Opinion
By Arielle Chin, Staff Writer
The Case
At 6:44 am on December 4th, 2024, outside the New York Hilton Hotel, 26-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate Luigi Mangione allegedly shot and killed Brian Thompson, the then-CEO of the US health insurance company UnitedHealthcare.
Almost immediately, mainstream news outlets began publishing articles with contrasting headlines.
Some headlines focused on the tragedy of the victim, as CBC reports “UnitedHealthcare CEO shot dead in New York by attacker who waited for him.” Meanwhile, others spotlight the attacker’s life and the corruption of the U.S. healthcare industry. BBC’s headline reads “The dark fandom behind CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione,” and PBS’s states that “Most Americans blame insurance profits and coverage denials alongside killer in UnitedHealthcare CEO death.”
These articles generally centered their point of view on either the suspect or the victim, avoiding emotional syntax to maintain an impartial tone.
Public Opinion
Suspect Luigi Mangione has received media attention from Gen Z users on platforms such as TikTok that glorify his actions. Numerous fan edits coin him as a contemporary hero similar to Robin Hood.
CBC reports that despite already paying the most for health care among high-income countries, Americans are still experiencing increases in their spending on health-related insurances and services in the last five years. Internet discussions on healthcare often overlap with other social issues, such as income inequality, racial disparities, and affordable housing. This reflects a growing skepticism in the current systems, whether it be healthcare, welfare, education, or politics.
“Health insurance companies can encapsulate so much of what feels, to many, heartless and broken about the system—they can be cold, remote and impossible to navigate in a way that can seem as though it’s on purpose,” the article adds.
Another perspective to consider, the CBC article states, is that “the crime mirrored the Hollywood method of solving problems: A rogue vigilante—usually a young, muscular, white man—swoops in to break the rules and save the day, often with drama and violence laid on thick.”
Some on social media have painted UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as the villain: a greedy CEO who made $10 million USD a year off of denying coverage. Many also sympathize with the victim, who leaves behind a wife and two high school-age sons. They highlight his legacy as “a humble man with working-class Midwest roots” and “always fighting for the employees and members, making sure everyone understood the importance of compassion and appreciation.”
Enough Is Enough
For too long, big corporations and industries have exploited common citizens by molding them into players who have been blindly following the “rules” of this capitalistic society’s “game.” Climbing the social-economic ladder of success appears to be the only way to gain an upper hand, even at the cost of damaging the livelihoods of others.
This case is one of thousands (whether they are covered in public media or not) where someone decided that “enough is enough” with corporate America. Although violence should not be the means for this anger, the case provides a much-needed wake up call for corporations to change their ways and individuals to take action and speak up.
Deconstructing Industry Ideas With Our Collective Voices
Once the public learned of the case, many took to social media to express their disdain, particularly with the U.S. healthcare system, which created immense and fiery online traction.
Social media allows first-hand accounts of real-world events to be publicized without having to undergo the scrutiny of traditional news outlets and their bureaucratic processes. As a result, individuals can access information that would otherwise be censored or skewed due to major news outlets being owned by wealthy interests groups with their own underlying agenda.
In recent years, social media has allowed users to hold corporations and countries accountable. The Occupy Wall Street of 2011 movement spread across the U.S. and other Western nations, digitally and physically; its opposition to big finance and corporate greed inspires youth activism even today. Ongoing first-hand reports in Gaza are able to bypass Israeli restrictions on foreign media and mainstream media biases against Palestinians.
While social media have its own share of censorship, they still expand spaces for discussion which can manifest change. This is especially important for marginalized groups, who can now broadcast their voices to the world more easily.
Digital public discourse is stronger than ever before—over 50% of U.S. adults tune in to social media for news. While we should always be on alert for misinformation, we should also recognize that digital platforms help democratize and diversify discourses. Informal outlets challenge institutional barriers in ways that big name news cannot, allowing our collective voices and grassroot movements to thrive, post by post.
