Using the enclosed form, choose a news story (from electronic or print media) and examine how the news message is framed.
Basic Information:
Station/publication___________________
Date__________________ Time____________________
News ___________________________________________
Reporter's Name__________________________________________
Content:
Main Message Conveyed
How it Was Conveyed:
Reporter's Lead
Visuals
Key Phrases
Interviews
Reporter Commentary
Other
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
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COMA402 News Framing Exercise is based on a presentation given by Tony Palmeri, Department of Communication, UW Oshkosh, on a forum panel dealing with ‘the love-hate relationship’ existing between the US and the rest of the world, especially the Middle East.
11 comments:
Basic Information:
Online Publication: Los Angeles Times
Date: November 22, 2008
Time: 4:00 AM
News: Vast Mars Glaciers are Spotted
Reporter's Name: John Johnson Jr.
Content:
Main Message Conveyed
Scientists have discovered vast, debris-covered glaciers on Mars recently. They were estimated as big as Los Angeles and half a mile thick. Climate change is the main aspect that made ice get there. Mars planet can’t keep it axis stable because it doesn’t have moon like the Earth. Because of that, it can tilt noticeably and the Sun’s heat can affect the poles’ planet.
How it was conveyed:
Reporter's Lead
The answer to a Martian riddle -- where did all the water go? -- may lie in debris-covered ice found by ground-penetrating radar on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
Visuals
The news is about space and planet Mars, and that’s not in everyday news coverage and not everyone can witness it. So, the pictures in the article are a strong proof and evidence for their news coverage. The images also helped the news to be more attractive and effective toward the readers.
Key Phrases
NASA – Glaciers – Water – Ice – Poles – Mars – Earth – Planet – Space – Radar
Interviews
- The Journal Science, Friday Report
- NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft radar
- Ali Safaeinili, a member of the radar team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge
- John W. Holt, a researcher for the Institute of Geophysics at the University of Texas
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Italian-built radar
- Jeffrey Plaut, a geologist at JPL
Reporter Commentary
Knowing that astronauts could obtain water in the temperate regions would probably make the mission more feasible. It is still unclear, however, whether the water is accessible from the surface.
Other – (Website link)
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-mars22-2008nov22,0,2969994.story
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
I found this article interesting and exciting for space-lovers, because it showed that NASA discovered something positive and could possibly make living on Mars easier. The article also had many interviews that made it research based and fact supported. The images were also affective and it had a clear vision toward the topic.
Publication: Gulf news
Date: 24th November 2008
Time: 00:04
News: Chinese gang held for abduction
Reporter's Name: Alia Al Theeb
Content:
Dubai: Police arrested a Chinese gang of nine, including a woman, for kidnapping a Chinese businessman for ransom.
Police freed the kidnapped victim just 48 hours after receiving a complaint.
Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said the gang had blindfolded the victim and tied him to a bed and was tortured with electric devices. He said Al Rashidiya Police Station received a complaint of missing person from L.H., a Chinese woman who worked at a shop at Dragon Mart in Al Aweer on November 16.
The Chief of Dubai Police had also received the missing report from a Chinese official and was following up the case closely.
Under watch
L.H. told police that her boyfriend, 24, who owns the shop, had left the shop around 9.30pm for their residence at International City. After an hour, she received a call from an unknown man who spoke Chinese and told her that they had kidnapped her boyfriend and asked her to inform his family to arrange a ransom of Dh20 million for his release.
Colonel Al Mansouri said the CID formed a team to follow up the case and monitor all the places where the suspects could keep the victim.
On November 18, CID officials came to know that the gang was moving the victim daily between two locations - an apartment in Ajman and a traditional house in Fujairah - in a rented car.
"We kept a vigil on the building which housed a large number of bachelors as we saw some suspicious activities. We also came to know that the victim was being held in the Ajman apartment and the gang members were keeping a strict guard inside and outside the building," he said.
A CID team followed the suspects to Fujairah and kept the house under watch. After getting permission from the Public Prosecution, CID teams raided the two locations at the same time to ensure the victim's safety.
"CID teams from Dubai Police decided to raid the locations at 4am in cooperation with Ajman and Fujairah police. Eight of the gang members, including a woman were arrested in the Ajman apartment, while their boss was arrested in the Fujairah house," Colonel Al Mansouri said.
He said the victim was found in a bad condition, blindfolded and his hands and legs tied to a bed. His body bore torture marks caused by electric devices. He was shifted to a hospital for treatment.
The victim told police that he did not know the suspects. He, however, said that while he was at one of the banks to deposit a large amount of money, he saw a compatriot watching him, but he did not pay much attention. He said the suspects attacked him while he was entering his building, immobilized him by delivering an electric shock and dragged him to their car after blindfolding him.
The suspects had originally demanded a ransom of Dh100 million, but after several rounds of discussions they agreed on Dh20 million.
"The boss of the gang had criminal records in his country, while some of the suspects were staying here illegally, others were on a visit," Colonel Al Mansouri said. He said the suspects used weapons and violently resisted police during the raid.
Police team
Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said 15 officers from Dubai Police participated in the operation of releasing the kidnapped man in addition to 13 junior officers and 70 policemen.
The operation was named "the zero hour" which refers to the time set for raiding the suspects' locations and freeing the hostage, said the official.
He said the police personnel involved in solving the case had excellent Chinese language skills which enabled them to solve the case quickly and efficiently.
Main Message Conveyed: That a kidnap case of a Chinese business man has happened and the police and all official authorities managed to find the Chinese gang and the business man.
How it was Conveyed: The information was conveyed by interviews by officials from the police, and the kidnapped.
Reporter's Lead: The main source the reporter used was Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department.
Visuals: There were two visuals along with the article. An image of the device they used to torture the kidnapped, and a picture of Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department.
Key Phrases: Kidnap | Kidnapped | Blindfolded | Apartment | Gang members | CID
Interviews: One interview, with Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department.
Reporter Commentary: None
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
The news article above doesn’t seem to be very strong, because it is based on one interview with Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department. There is no other information said other from him, I believe the article is trying to persuade the readers that the police are very professional and everything went well without any mistakes, which I doubt. There isn’t an interview even with the kidnapped girlfriend; he just stated facts on what happened. As well as there is no interview with neighbors of the apartment in Ajman or the house in Fujairah. Any other interview would kind of drive the reader to have another point of view.
Shahd Khaled
H00021121
Basic Information: A new study revealed about Breast Cancer, Maggie Rodriguez talks with Dr. Holly about the possibilities of breast cancer disappearing without medications. Copyright CBS News
Station: CBS NEWS
Date none Time none
News The Early Show
Reporter's Name: Maggie Rodriquez
Content: Introduction to a new study that reveals that some forms of breast cancer can disappear on their own, i.e. without medical intervention.
Main Message Conveyed: Likelihood of certain women to avoid aggressive therapies for breast cancer and hope that the study get conclusive at some point.
How it Was Conveyed: Message was conveyed lightly and supported by facts and the presence of the doctor.
Reporter's Lead: Interesting, direct and catches the viewers attention
Visuals: Shots of women going through a mammogram test and doctors discussing results.
Key Phrases: Study results, mammograms, high risks, women, conclusive, take home message, early detection
Interviews: Only one with Dr Holly
Reporter Commentary: none
Other: none
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
The coverage was mixed. The issue of Breast cancer in USA isn’t taken lightly and so, sometimes I felt both the interviewer and interviewee sympathized towards the subject. However I find this piece to be a good example for framing news. It serves to the point where we have a common public case that has been highly talked about, in addition to strong visuals that support the story.
Shamma Abunawas
H00019057
Basic Information: A new law in Al Bahrain to stop using open trucks for labourers transportation.
Station Gulf News
Date 27/11/2008 Time 23:28
News The Gurlf
Reporter's Name Habib Toumi
Content: A Decision to new law, which will be implemented in the 1st of January 2009. The reason behind this law to avoid the unfortunate accidents by transporting labourers by open trucks that causes accidents and deaths.
Main Message Conveyed: Drivers who will transport labourers in open trucks will face six months in jails plus a 100 bahrini Dinar fine.
How it was Conveyed: it was conveyed by putting the results of using open trucks and the facts of some accident in last years, which causes death and injuries.
Reporter's Lead: Strong and direct by mentioning what will happen for those who will break the law.
Visuals: No visuals
Key Phrases: labourers, transport, open trucks, law, drivers, accidents, fine.
Interviews: One interview with khalid Al Dossary, the head of licensing at the traffic directorate.
Reporter Commentary: none
Other: none
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
The coverage was focused and direct. Its easy for the reader to understand it and get the point out of this article. What made this article little weak, that there were no visuals showing the causes of the accidents that were mentioned in the article. On the other hand, what was exciting for me that it was mentioned how they will do campaigns to increase the awareness in the near future.
Link: http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/10263076.html
Publication : Alemarat Alyoum newspaper.
Date : 27/ November/2008
News : Hindering contraband of 128 pieces of antiques.
Reporter’s Name : Suzan Alammeri.
Content : 2 columns of text and one big visual.
Main Massage Conveyed : Done by 6 Iranian sailors.. Dubai customhouse
describes the tray as the biggest.
How it was conveyed : It covered the first page with one big photo.
Reporter’s lead : Dubai customhouse.
Visuals : One big visual of a golden crown and three antiques.
Key Phrases : Iranian sailors. Contraband’s tray.
Interview : Ahmed Butti (General manager of Dubai customhouse).
Reporter’s commentary : the antiques are from Iraq.
Iranian sailors:
It was obvious that the reporter from Alemarat Alyoum, made a good effort to emphasize the nationality of the contrabands. The Iranian nationality was mentioned three times in the report. Once, in a bold headline at the top of the page. The second time was at the first sentence of the report. And the third time was in between brackets, at the med of the report.
Perceiving info mechanisms:
A. Core opinion frame
Since Suzan Alammeri is a local reporter, I assume that this related to her loyalty to UAE and this is her way to mobilize the readers against Iran “the country that occupied UAE Islands”. To add more, I think that she complemented Dubai customhouse over and over in her report for the same reason.
B. Peripheral opinion frame
The quote from Ahmed Butti in the report was “ this tray had the biggest amount of contrabandist antiques”.
The direct accuse “Done by 6 Iranian sailors” was joined with a selected part form Butti’s words “ Dubai customhouse described the tray as the biggest” to make the headline in a bold font. Moreover, the reporter repeated the term “ contraband tray” 4 times.
That sentence somehow drives the reader to the idea that the word “biggest” is not a comparative word between the Iranian’s tray and the other individual’s tray, but it compares the tray of the Iranians in this time and the previous times. So this is their biggest tray. Especially when no other individuals are mentioned in the report, and the headline finished by the word “biggest”. That might be the reason why the reporter didn’t mention anything about the country of the antiques till the end of the report.
Did framing work?
From my personal perspective, the headline worked. I had to read the report over and over to analyze the techniques of framing, such as emphasis, selection and elaboration. Maybe I felt of the indirect attack because I’m a local reader how already have a background about the stress between UAE nationals and the Iranians.
However, I could have not understood the techniques that have been used if I didn’t study the theory and compare the style of two different newspapers.
The same news in Albayan
Yet, in Albayan newspaper, it was small news at the med of the newspaper. “Dubai customhouse caught 128 antiques in a small boat, with 6 Asian sailors on top of it... ”. The antiques where caught not the sailors! Furthermore, the term “small boat” was used to make the reader underestimate the event. Moreover, the nationalities of the sailors where hidden and they where described as “Asians”.
Sumaya Aljesmi
ID : 200222849
Station/publication: Gulf News
Date: 30/11/2008
News: Long Term Expats No Threat To UAE Identity
Reporter's Name: Binsal Abdul Kader
Content:
Does expatiates conceder as a threat to UAE national identification?
Main Message Conveyed
Is expatiates taking over the UAE identity? By moving to UAE and learn about our culture.
How it was Conveyed:
By asking questions and making interviews about it.
Reporter's Lead
The interviewee “Suliman Al Jasim”
Visuals
“ No impressive pictures” but they used bold font for the title and capitalized font for the second title.
Key Phrases
He used a lot the word “Expatriates” and really focused on “national identity”.
Interviews
Suliman Al Jasim
Reporter Commentary
The reporter feels that expertises are taking over the UAE national identity.
Other
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
I found it interesting because he was talking about our nationality and identification and he made an interview with a local important man, however he did not make any interview with an expatriate to give this issue two sides. Also he was emphasizing on the word national identification were I felt he wanted to grap our attention as a local readers to read something have to our identity.
Nourah Abdulla
H00020384
Basic Information:
Station/publication: The Simon Magazine
Date: 4- Nov. 2008
News: Voting Barack Obama
Reporter's Name: Kevin Field
Content:
Main Message Conveyed:The reporter is strongly encouraging his readers and every American to vote for Barack Obama
How it Was Conveyed:He mentioned that Barack Obama is “practically a hero. He’s part rock star, part preacher and part teacher. He’s what I was taught to believe at a young age we looked for in leaders.”
Reporter's Lead:“Dear Reader,
You may have read some of my past humor pieces for The Simon. (Missed them? SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION ALERT: all my articles are archived! Don’t worry – it’ll only take half an hour. Click on my name and follow the link... I can wait.)
((Good, you’re back now. Didn’t think they were all that amusing? In that case, they were editorials.))”
His lead has humor which encourages readers to read his story.
Visuals: There were no visuals
Key Phrases: His hatred for the Republic Party (esp. George Bush & John McCain) was mentioned a lot in the article, such as: “The Republican Party of the last eight years will be known throughout history as one of intolerance, of fear, of ignorance, of hatred, of war, of wasteful spending, of just plain waste... How could you possibly throw away your vote on more of the same?”
Interviews: There weren't any interviews
Reporter Commentary: “But the first step is to get out and vote. And while this rambling, idealistic, seemingly drunken rant may not have convinced you that Obama’s your man... vote anyway. Make that step. Don’t fear the high turnout and long waits – celebrate it. Love it. Enough excuses. If you’re happier supporting a third-party candidate, cast your ballot accordingly. But in the end, the only way we can get our country back on track, both politically and as a society, is if you’re taking part in this democracy.
Unless you plan on voting for McCain.”
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
The reporter was strongly and passionately encouraging his readers to vote for Barack Obama. Here is an example that shows how much he wants his readers to vote for Obama: “PLEASE. Make it happen, people. The man is our only sane, rational choice for President of these United States.”
He also expresses his hatred to John McCain, “the serial liar and slanderer, willing to do whatever it takes in his old age to finally achieve the presidency after so many, many years coveting it. A man who has changed literally every position he used to hold for so long... all for the sake of political expediency. Because it was the only way to secure the nomination of a party that, truth be told, never really liked him that much.”
Basic Information: UAE family survive the disaster, Mumbai
Station/publication: Al-Emarat Alyoum
Date: Sunday, November 30, 2008
Reporter's Name: Ahmed Ashour
Content: UAE family survived from deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai
Main Message Conveyed: The main message is to convince the readers that the UAE cares about local people who are inside and outside the UAE. The UAE consulate and embassy always helps people who need help outside the country.
How it was conveyed: Pushing people to live the moment, by letting the victims tell their stories.
Reporter's Lead: The main source was the story of the victims, the other sources were from the UAE consulate and embassy.
Visuals: They used a picture of the emirati victim with his family, which touched attracted the readers and let them read the article.
Key Phrases: The sounds of gunfire and explosions
Interviews: Mahmoud Habeeb and his son Mohammed
Reporter Commentary: The UAE consulate and embassy always helps people who need help inside and outside the country.
Other:
Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
The coverage is sympathetic, the emirati family who were in a hotel in Mumbai, Mohammad Hassan Mekki, Mahmoud Habib and his wife in one room which had been without food or sleep for two days, because of the explosions and the deadly terrorist attacks.
Makki said: We have lived conditions Of the worst marks possible rights in his life .. We expect the access of terrorists to Grvatna from one moment to another.
After 40 hours between life and death, the UAE consulate helped the emirati family and brought them back to their country, the UAE.
Hafsa Ibrahim
H00011524
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/12/01/india.attacks2/index.html
Basic Information: Rice: Pakistan must help in Mumbai probe
Station CNN
Date –Time -
News CNN NEWS – Online news
Reporter's Name CNN's Reza Sayah and Harmeet Shah Singh
Content: A news report on the recent attacks that occurred in Mumbai. It also featured comments from Rice, PM Yousuf Raza among many others.
Main Message Conveyed To draw a clear picture on the situation after the attacks and to try and find out who was responsible behind them. This news report doesn’t point a finger on a certain group but listed many of whom might actually would/ have done it.
How it Was Conveyed News reporting style with a strong lead and interesting comments from seniors on the case
Reporter's Lead Visuals Police officers investigating
Key Phrases complete cooperation, allegations, massacre, suspect, Google Earth maps, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Mumbai, Pakistan, official death toll, government, Interpol
Interviews comments received from Rice, PM Yousef, Indian Police, CNN – IBN, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Reporter Commentary no
Other Summary: Did you find the coverage sympathetic to a point of view, mixed, carefully neutral, negative, confusing, erroneous, boring, other?
I find it carefully neutral because is a classic news story. Written carefully with a interesting and strong lead which eventually folds. The CNN coverage of news story is very strong, they used more than one resource to get information from.
Afra Atiq
Basic Information:
Station/publication: Toronto Star
Date: March 22, 1998
News: Feature story
Reporter's Name: Michelle Landsberg
Content: This article is about the corporate side and commercialization of baby nutrition- especially breast-feeding Vs formula feeding
Main Message Conveyed: The main message of this article is that breast-feeding children is being exploited by large corporations such as Nestle. The writer claims that aggressive marketing combined with strategically formed corporate alliances trick women into feeding their babies formula and not breast milk
How it Was Conveyed: This message was conveyed through the use of words with negative connotations such as “aggressive marketing”, “indignant” and “corporate masters of the universe”.
Reporter's Lead: The lead of the article is “WHEN IS enough enough for the corporate masters of the universe?” This lead is a one-liner in the form of a question; it arouses the attention of the reader without giving away too much information of the coming article.
Visuals: There were no visuals used in the article.
Key Phrases: while no single key phrase was used throughout the article, the writer kept using phrases that put large corporations into a negative light
Interviews: There were no interviews in the article, but there were statistics and information and quotes taken from other sources.
Reporter Commentary: At the end of the article, the author states her opinion “From the transnational’s point of view, therefore, now that the U.N. shows every sign of being brought to heel, the only remaining fly in the formula is the maddening, indomitable persistence of the grassroots groups - the churches and health activists - who insist on calling the formula companies to account.”
Summary: I found this article to be very biased towards anti-commercialization. There were no interviews on either side of the argument but there were statistics and quotes that emphasized and supported the writer’s dislike for large baby formula producing corporations. At times the writer was quite sarcastic and it seemed like she was laughing hysterically at not only the corporations, but also the people that buy from them. For example her use of quotations and rosy vocabulary to emphasize her sarcasm:
1- corporate “family values”
2- Nestle was a “generous sponsor”
3- Nestlé has also cleverly purchased a shining, apple-cheeked image as a public benefactor.
Inversely, there was also the use of not-so-glittering vocabulary. Examples of this are:
1- “Mothers get hooked on aggressively marketed ultimately unaffordable formula”
2- “industry giants push their products with the blithe insistence”
After researching the Toronto Star and the values of the company, this article is not so surprising. The newspaper has five main corporate values(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Star#Atkinson_Principles):
1- A strong, united and independent Canada
2- Social justice
3- Individual and civil liberties
4- Community and civic engagement
5- The rights of working people
Over all, I found the article extremely biased, and although the article is typical of the values of the Toronto Star, I believe the writer should not have lost sight of the main goal of a successful journalist- objectivity.
A comment by Eman
Station/ Publication: Khaleej Times
Date: 30/11/2008
Time: 19:09
News: Zimbabwe minister warns cholera still spreading
Reporter’s Name: AFP
Main message conveyed: cholera disease in Zimbabwe.
How it was conveyed: visualizing and creating images by excessive expressions. The reporter is against the political system. Interviewing people who have an opposite opinion against the political party. Many statistics and facts about the situation in the country.
Reporter’s lead: From the lead you can tell that have a very strong viewpoint about what he is going to talk about.
Visuals: No visuals were added. That’s why he used many expressions to make people picturize not only one or two cases. He tries to visualize the whole issue in the country, and deliver a huge hidden message about the governing system and corruption in Zimbabwe.
Key Phrases: Mostly negative. He puts the facts, historical events, numbers which will lead the readers to the conclusion (the governing system is very bad!!) without actually saying it directly.
Interviews: Parirenyatwa [1], Morgan Tsvangirai [2].
Summery:
The reporter seems to be very concerned about the health issue in Zimbabwe. He is trying to catch the readers’ attention by using ostentatious phrases and sentences. In the story lead he used many words that are very strong like (crumbling medical system [3]) and (combat a cholera epidemic [4]). To show how bad is the medical system, he used the word crumbling to indicate the seriousness of the situation over there. Combat means a war, he visualized the illness as an enemy that should be defeated and start action as soon as possible.
(Zimbabwe's dilapidated infrastructure has made clean water a luxury [5]) An expression that shows where does the reporter stands, which is totally opposing the governing system in Zimbabwe.
The reporter has the exact numbers and the calculations, but in a sentence he used (half a million) instead of using 500 000. Reading the number five hundred thousand wont leave an effect after reading the article as much as the word half a million. The word MILLION sounds like a very big number though the value doesn’t really change. After all half a million = five hundred thousand!
The reporter lists many medical facts, and previous history cases, and many interviews with people who are against the political party in Zimbabwe. The reporter seems to have many strong views. All of the people who had interviewed have views or started movements because they are not happy about the political situation.
As a conclusion, he mentioned some statistics about the human situation in Zimbabwe to make people sympathy with what’s happening over there.
It’s not about knowing what’s right and what’s wrong, and giving readers some hints. It’s about delivering a message and being objective.
1- the largest medical centre in Zimbabwe Located in Harare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parirenyatwa_Hospital
2- A Zimbabwean politician. He is the President of the Movement for th democratis change - Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Tsvangirai
3- Al Khaleej Times
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2008/November/international_November2213.xml§ion=international&col=
4- Al Khaleej Times
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2008/November/international_November2213.xml§ion=international&col=
5- Al Khaleej Times
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2008/November/international_November2213.xml§ion=international&col=
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