Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Egalitarianism e.g. If people were treated more equally, we would have fewer problems
Technological Enthusiasm e.g. A high-technology society is important for improving our health and social well-being
The Media
Newspapers
National & regional Broadsheet, mid-market, tabloid
TV & radio news TV & film drama Magazines & trade press Audience size and profile Commercial / public service Ownership / political bias - interests Free / censored
Four main news agencies - AP, UPI, Reuters and Agence-France Presse - together claim to provide 90% of the total news output of the worlds press, radio and television
Some generalisations:
Human interest stories Bad news more than good news People's perspectives
Ordinary people Experts Government Politics
Facts & figures - information Front-page news stories the big issues
Headlines
Considerable evidence exists that the media engage in selective and biased reporting that emphasizes drama, wrongdoing and conflict . . . (Johnson and Covello, 1987) Media reports tend to concentrate on rare but dramatic hazards, and often fail to report more common but serious risks, such as motor vehicle accidents . . . (Soumerai et al, 1992)
Headlines
HSE Report
Privatised Anyone can now contribute to the news media Personal focus
Networks & the strength of weak ties Six degrees of separation concept Diffusion word of mouth amplification
Media Influence
Key Concepts
As we go about making sense of our world, mass media serves an important function as the mediator of meaning
telling us what to think about (agenda-setting) how to think about it (media effects) by organizing the information in such a way (framing) that it comes to us fully conflated with directives (cues) about who is responsible for the social problem in the first place and who gets to fix it (responsibility).
The Frameworks Institute
Reception Theory
1980s-1990s Focus on how individuals receive and interpret messages How their background influences this interpretation Halls encoding/decoding model (producer/consumer)
Can be differences in the two readings Use of recognised codes and conventions creates a level of agreement preferred reading
Levels of agenda
First-level agenda setting what issues the public should think about (amount of coverage Second-level agenda setting how the public should think about those issues Inter-media agenda setting some media are more powerful and influence other media
"The evidence that voters tend to share the media's composite definition of what is important strongly suggests an agenda-setting function of the mass media. (McCombs
and Shaw, 1972)
Advocacy
Three Step Approach
Sopow, 1994
Technical Support
Public Linkage
Research Evidence
Key Phrases
First
Only Last
Studies
Tests
Share of Voice
Share of Voice
Conceptual framework conceived in late the 1980s in the USA Media are important transmitters of information Media is a potential amplification station
Increases the volume of information Increases salience of certain aspects of the message
There is a ripple effect as the information spreads through layers of interest groups
Weaknesses of SARF
Presented as a linear process Risk is reified and separated from underlying and pre-existing interpretations of issues Focus on the individual rather than complex social and group processes Simplifies the interplay between grounded experience and knowledge Focus on amplification of risk and on this as a negative process Failure to account for power of organisations
Criticisms of SARF
Media literature does not wholly support the amplification theory (more salience) Suggests the media is homogeneous and decontextualised Suggests the public is passive Not relevant to the British media (?)
National reach Differences of opinion Role of tabloids Role of the BBC
An Alternative View
Risk is a field of contest Government agencies, corporations and civil groups compete to advance their definition of the situation and to secure public support The media role is
To act as a channel of communication To provide a mechanism of public feedback To articulate public opinion To provide a site of debate and discussion To act as a watchdog To actively campaign in their own right
HSE Research Report, 2000
Framing Theory
Santos (2004) argues that to frame is to select certain issues to make them more salient in order to present a particular angle that influences meaning making "Framing is the process by which a communication source, such as a news organization, defines and constructs a political issue or public controversy" (Nelson, Oxley, & Clawson, 1997) "Every frame defines the issue, explains who is responsible, and suggests potential solutions. All of these are conveyed by images, stereotypes, or anecdotes." (Ryan, 1991)
What is a Frame?
Elements typically found Frames are often actively in news segments that selected with a specific may signal meaning: audience in mind metaphors Frames can be created by the messengers media and by those visuals organisations they are messages reporting on stories It is helpful if your preferred numbers frame is supported by the context media
the media tend to accept the frames provided by the dominant institutions currently active in the debate (Singer and Endreny, 1987)
Do either of these support or contest your frame of the issue? How does their framing affect their choices & actions? Is it possible to reframe your issue in the public or media arenas?
GM Foods
Train accidents
Air Pollution
Distrusted sources
E.g. government, corporations with vested interests Perceived to distort information, to have been proven wrong in the past, and to provide biased information
Who Do We Trust?
Who Do We Trust?
Who does the public trust?
Recent example:
Hospital Superbugs October 2007