Framing

Media is everywhere in our lives, TV, Radio and Internet. If it is everywhere in our lives how can it not influence us in basically everything we do or even how we think? Every form of media out there has its own views and opinions, that they may blind us of the general view. People, for the most part, do not realize that what they read or view is is up to the writer; they decide what you get to see and what you dont. This is called Framing. It influences how you think.

Framing is the idea that the creator of a certain type of media can influence and change the way you think of something and they can even alter how it is presented. Its up to the creator what type of tone he/she is conveying, typically his or her word choice set the tone therefore making you the reader feel a certain way about the subject. In some instances the creator can leave out facts that are not beneficial. Basically Framing is how a writer projects or presents a story, they are able to decide which view they will take.

A great example of framing may be the fact that Fox News and MSNBC have both been accused to be bias to ether the liberal or conservative parties. Studies suggest that during the Iraq War the White House had control of framing news that included "foreign policy and war" which indicate that the Bush Administrations positive effect of Fox reporting stories from Iraq. 1 MSNBC has also been accused of focusing more to the left side (liberal). One example is that on MSNBC's "evening lineup" of shows have been moving to a more liberal side in recent years.2 “The basic problem is the way news organizations assemble stories. You don't report on a dog that doesn't bite”1 Even though both news sources lean to a certain side, they each word their stories and report certain things that the competitor may not so that their "party" may be beneficial.

Finally we'll see a video where we clearly see the different sides of Fox and MSNBC during Michelle Obama's speech. A great example of framing.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Pjudf0810

1: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2009.01472.x/full
2:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052703047_pf.html