What is the relationship between power and the news media? How successful are they at delivering messages when communicating stories to a mass audience?
The media is considered to be a powerful tool and can have a subtle yet significant impact on an individual’s perception. News framing and power are two factors which the media hold that signify certain messages within news pieces to society. Entman defines framing as ‘the process of culling a few elements of perceived reality and assembling a narrative that highlights connections among them to promote a particular interpretation.’ (Entman, 2007) It is further explained that ‘power is the ability to get others to do what one wants (Nagel, 1975), ‘‘telling people what to think about’’ is how one exerts political influence.’ (Entman, 2007) Studies suggest that frames can influence people’s ability to recall specific aspects of news stories. It is an ongoing and debatable topic whether it is the media that holds immense power over society through the means of news framing, or if the power lies within the people of what to do with the media. I proposes a discussion regarding the relationship between news framing and power with reference to theories and relevant case studies, to offer a deep analysis supported by clear arguments.
It is important for a journalist to remain objective throughout the process of reporting. However, Van Gorp discusses how framing can ‘bring subjectivity in rather than it takes subjectivity out’ (Kuypers & D'Angelo, 2009, p. 103) He further explains how to a degree, subjectivity is inevitable within framing and that additional procedures must be followed to restore acceptable levels of reliability. It is important that audiences are able to observe and perceive news in their own way. Though, framing can hold a certain power over audiences and shape their reactions and beliefs which could be down to the element of subjectivity. This is generally due to negative stereotypes and discrimination within the media. It has often had a tendency to demonize and categorise who is good and who is bad. Pushing facts to form a predetermined frame can hold a big threat to the fairness and balance. Words are powerful as they manifest into thoughts and action, hence why it is crucial for the media and journalists to be objective when reporting.
The Hypodermic Needle model commonly referred to as the magic bullet theory supports these points as it argues that the media has direct effect on audiences and is powerful enough to fuel ideas into an audience. According to this theory, the ‘media is like a hypodermic needle injecting its messages into consumers or a magic bullet that upon hitting its targets creates uniformity in thought and action’ (Kirsh, 2009, p. 27) It suggests that the media messages are received in a uniform way, meaning all people will understand and respond the same. The messages have a direct effect on audiences and automatically trigger certain responses, for example fear.
The theory can be exemplified through the representations of Islam in the media. According to Media and terrorism: global perspectives, the media has influenced ‘Islam as a ‘violent’ religion’ and relates it to terrorism on countless occasions. (Freedman and Thussu, 2012, p. 18) Another book expands on this by revealing the significant rise in the news reporting of Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans in the ‘half-a-year period after 9/11 than in the six months before the event.’ (Norris et al, 2003, p. 139) It is as if the media tactically kept them in the limelight after a horrific terrorist attack. Consequently, it had resulted in fluctuating Islamophobia revealing the power the media has and the way which they frame, and construct articles have an impact over society. Thus, by applying the hypodermic needle theory to the way Islam has been portrayed in the media, it is thought that audiences would be influenced to believe that that 9/11 attack is linked to all Muslims. Representations are systematically constructed and from an ontological perspective, there is no subjective, neutral or fair representation. It has been suggested that the media can frame news, while abiding to traditional attitudes and prejudices of society’s predominant groups. This expresses that stereotypes can ‘affect a broad range of public perceptions, among them how people think about race, ethnicity, and religion.’ (Norris et al, 2003, p. 163) This depicts audiences as, to some extent, mindless as well as powerless since they believe what it is portrayed in the media.
The cascading activation model is particularly applicable to the representation of terrorism in
the media. It ‘acknowledges that the ability to spread frames is stratified across a variety of political actors.’ (Entman, 2003) Elites in Congress possess the power to spread frames to the news media as well as other officials. Officials such as Presidents, who are at the higher levels of the ‘cascade’ seize superior power to share frames to lower-level officials. The lower level officials of the cascade are reporters and the public. They depend on extra energy, ‘a pumping mechanism’, in order to stimulate their frames with the news media and higher-level officials. (Handley, 2010) This model focuses on how interpretive frames are spread from the top of the cascade to the bottom, which can be recognised with the representation of the 9/11 attack. When the ‘elite consensus emerges, news organizations reflect that consensus in their reports.’ The presence of consensus means that the relational characterization would become uncontested, and so journalists remain as responsible participants of the formation. (Handley, 2010) Robert Entman enlightens us on how President George Bush constantly used the terms ‘enemy’, ‘evil’ and ‘act of war’ to describe the event. This was part of the strategy of ‘framing September 11 to “unite” the country behind its solution: a war against terrorism.’ (Entman, 2003) Words and images can create a frame which is distinguished from other news due to the capacity it stimulates support or opposition to the sides in a political conflict. (See USA Today image) An image can speak a thousand words as it reflects on a moment in time and words can trigger certain emotions, both are two important aspects to create a compelling frame.
People from different ethnicities and religions have also been the perpetrator of terrorist attacks, however it is the way these news stories are constructed and represented which changes the audience’s perception. (See Daily Mirror image) It clearly shows the man’s religion in the left article and the choice of words are far more negative in comparison to the right article. Ultimately, this alters the audience’s opinion as it is clear the media reinforces the stereotype that Muslims are from a violent religion.
On the other hand, the audience should feel almost sympathetic, for the ‘angelic boy’ despite the mass murder he committed. In this situation, there is a clear representation of white supremacy which is interesting as ‘white middle-class men continue to occupy the vast majority of positions of power’ within newspaper and broadcast organisations. (Allan, 2010, p. 148) If it is predominantly owned by white people, this could be a reason as to why the white race is often glorified with the way they are represented in the media or justified for wrong doings. Entman describes bias as ‘consistent patterns in the framing of meditated communication that promote the influence of one side in conflicts.’ (Entman, 2007) There is a sense of bias within media companies in constructing the representation of ethnic minorities, particularly with black people and Muslims. It is often unfair and typically associates them with pessimistic behaviour.
Ofcom revealed that ‘the internet is the most-used platform for news consumption among 16-24s (79%) and those from minority ethnic groups (74%)’. (Ofcom, 2020, p. 3) This could be due to the false representations of ethnic minorities in the media, therefore making this particular group reject mainstream media as a news source. News Culture discusses that televisual news contributed to an ‘ideological shift around discourses of ‘race’ and morality' and ‘defined members of ethnic minorities as deviants, dependants and threats.’ (Allan, 2010, p. 182) The media used their power to frame black and brown people as committing more crimes and lack respect and civic responsibility. Ultimately, this causes a construction of black/white dualism which divides society. (Allan, 2010, p. 182)
Certain ideologies can mask and distort important aspects of news which then offer a negative and cynical view. It is no surprise that when people challenge the elite, it is often portrayed in a negative way. Power in the people and power in the media is a continuous debate. The killing of George Floyd sparked a global movement where people across the world joined together to protest for his justice, along with the many other innocent black killings. An article by The Sun dug into Floyd’s past exposing his criminal past. It revealed that he had a previous conviction in 2009. (White, 2020) Despite his fresh start, the media decided to put this in the limelight, perhaps to paint a negative image of him and justify his murder. It reveals that journalists and the media have the power to swift the audience’s attention away from the real matter by pushing additional and irrelevant information their way.
Studies have shown that crimes which have been committed by African Americans ‘receive a disproportionate amount of coverage’ in comparison to if the suspect was white. (Allan, 2010, p. 182) Furthermore, the British news media discovered mugging in the early 1970’s and ‘to be blamed primarily on young, black, West Indian males.’ (Allan, 2010, p. 183) Whether guilty or not, the mediated identity of black men is racialized, sexualized and criminalized. According to Fiske, this type of news coverage is ‘dislocated racism’, when it is found only in the ‘behaviours of a racial minority and never in those of the white power structure’ (Fiske 1996: 272; see also Dyer 1997; Jacobs 2000). This is all origins from the power of news framing and representations which, consequently, fuels the dominancy in white people and creates a racially divided society. (Allan, 2010, p. 183) The media plays a powerful role in society and impacts how people will encounter their world via media landscape. Subsequently, their perspective and opinions can be altered to the way the media desires.
Alternatively, it is argued that the media can send messages which individuals will perceive in their own way. Meaning, that the news media does not send messages in a uniformed way and instead, it is the audience which has the power to dissect news information enabling them to create their own conclusions. An article with Gameson’s research demonstrates that frames are negotiated within discussions and that ‘their frames also come from other sources than media, i.e. popular wisdom and experiential knowledge.’ (Vliegenthart and Zoonen, 2011) It suggests that people’s opinions, beliefs and values originate from before media influence. There is a shift in focus from what the media does to people, to what people do with the media. It can empower rather than oppress individuals allowing them to interpret news in their own way.
The Uses and Gratification model focuses more on the audience and supposes that individuals take an active role in understanding media messages. The approach advocates that audiences use the media to fulfil particular gratifications, and implies that the media compete with additional information sources for viewers’ gratification. (Cruickshank, 2011) The audience are considered to be victims of alteration beyond their control due to the exposure of media content. However, this angle views audiences as ‘having volition and being able to determine which media they use and which media content they choose to consume (Blumer and Katz, 1984).’ (Gunter, 1999, p. 15) Although frames have a level of influence and power, this approach suggests that power is within the audience. This approach opposes the arguments regarding racism being injected into us and instead it can occur from an individual or organisation level. The UK’s state is largely neutral with regards to racism, compared to other places around the world. Donald Trump’s presidency is an interesting case to exemplify this model, as the media has portrayed him as a racist and misogynistic politician. Despite this, people still voted for him showing that the power is in the audience as they do not let the media alone, to influence their political views.
The extent to which the media has power and the way which it can alter an audience can be challenging to demonstrate. There are other factors which can contribute to an individual’s beliefs and opinions such as the rise in usage of social media and direct experiences. However, news media remains a powerful source in modelling behaviours and attitudes. Framing has shown to be an influential part as a way for audiences to perceive news stories and current affairs. Several studies have suggested that the media has a tendency to portray news which can hold subjectivity to some degree. There can be level of bias, impartiality or poor representation, for example of minorities, which can affect the audience’s view on certain events. Nevertheless, with the help of new laws and rights, today journalists and the media can use frames which can provide a fair and balanced view of current affairs and events.
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