The Sturgis Rally and The Media

Already Guilty

You barely have to try to see a bias in the media these days when it comes to subjects that can be used for some political agenda. It seems the media will do anything to create more division in hopes that it will somehow benefit them. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was one of the subjects this year that really got some attention for these same reasons.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

If you are not familiar with the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, it is an annual gathering of bikers in Sturgis South Dakota. Every year thousands of bikers arrive in the tiny town of Sturgis to celebrate the history of Sturgis, the comradery that bikers share, and simply just to have a good time. Camping, concerts, bikes and fun is what Sturgis offers for the people that attend. There is a lot of great riding in the area, and people come from all over the country to participate in this week-long event every year for the last 80 years. This was the 80th Sturgis rally and before the China virus it was expected to see over 1 million visitors for the rally. This was comparable to the numbers that attended during the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The 2020 attendance numbers are far below that expectation with most reporting between 200 and 300,000. Many of the people that would usually attend the rally simply decided to stay home due to the China virus. If you read the media headlines you would believe this was the biggest rally that ever took place. Words like “massive” and “huge” were used to describe a much smaller rally than would normally occur.

Rally Visitors

The people that visit the rally are more than just bikers. Many of them are professionals, parents, grandparents, veterans, and patriots. It is a diverse group of people and if you spend some time talking to these bikers, you will realize that. Unfortunately, if you read the majority of the articles about the rally this year, you would think these bikers were nothing more than a group of Trump loving, careless, law breaking, conservative alcoholics looking to spread the corona virus and conspiracy theories. The coverage of the rally is simply pathetic. The media reported headlines about huge crowds of Trump loving bikers, and t-shirts with anti-Covid slogans. Then the media switched gears and started posting stories online talking about how many traffic violations and arrest were made during the rally. Anything to make the rally participants look irresponsible and careless.

Media Bias

It takes nothing more than a simple comparison search on Google to help you see things clearly. I took a moment to search “BLM (Black Lives Matter) protest and the coronavirus” and then did a comparison search for “Sturgis rally and coronavirus”. The results tell a tale of the media doing what they always do. Some of the headlines consisted of “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally attendees pack Bars like Covid-19 isn’t real” , and  “Scenes from the 2020 Sturgis Rally, Undaunted by the Coronavirus”. These headlines were blatantly different from the BLM protest headlines that read, “Black Lives Matter Protest Didn’t Contribute to the Covid-19 Surge” and the “Black Lives Matter protests did not cause an uptick in Covid-19 cases”. The agenda is blatant and obvious. They spin a story that fits the agenda they want to push and a majority of the public gobble it up without a second thought. They don’t question anything anymore. They simply agree.

The Results

The fact is it will be impossible for anyone to see if there is a China virus, Corona virus, Covid-19 (whatever you want to call it) spike due to the Sturgis Rally. I do think there will be more effort from the left to try to prove there was a spike. I would bet money that the media will write stories that claim they have proven there was a spike and they will use lies or whatever it takes to do so. We can get into the numbers and lay out some statics here, but that is not the point of the story. The point is the media painted a picture of guilt before anything could be proven. When it came to the BLM protest the media gave them a pass before any statistics were gathered. They didn’t even bother to see if the statement was true. Don’t let the media label these people for you. We need more unity and less division these days. These people are not just “careless bikers”. They are your fellow Americans, your doctors, your nurses, and your veterans. Question what you read before you make judgements based on a paragraph you read on social media. You will be better off for it.