Equivalency Frames: A Case Study

Framing is a part of displaying a story, and helps audience engage and relate to what they are being exposed to. The shooting at pulse nightclub has caught wind of the gun control debate that has been going on. The debate of gun control has been brought up numerous times. This topic is not new to a majority of citizens in America. On June12, 2016, a horrific event took place in Orlando, Florida. There was a mass shooting at a gay bar called Pulse Nightclub that has left many dead and few wounded and traumatized by the event. This event has started up the never-ending debate of gun control in America. America prides themselves of their second amendment, “Right to bear arms”. This particular amendment people want to see change since it is no longer keeping the safety but is causing the fear that anytime someone can lose

Culture is defined by a construction of one's world-view, and it is transmitted by individuals and collectives through socialization and enculturation (Pederson & Ivey, 13). It contains values, beliefs, language, and perception. In studying cultural differences among members of distinct national, ethnic groups researcher have examined the concept of collectivism and individualism. People form individualistic cultures tend to view themselves as unique entities and independent form one another (Coon & Kemmelmeier, 348)

The framing effect explains how a problem's phrasing can effect an individual's decision making. When the problem asks if you would be willing to make a gamble where you have a 90% chance to lose 5 dollars and a 10% chance to win 95 dollars, most people say they would not take the gamble (which means they are risk adverse) because the problem states that you have a chance to lose 5 dollars, and this creates a psychological response in the participant because they naturally want to avoid losses.

Framing and public opinion are related to one another because they rely so heavily on one another for both ends of the spectrum. Entman puts it best when he states “public opinion does rest at the bottom of the cascade, the citizenry's perceived and anticipated pated reactions can significantly impinge on what leaders say and do.” Elites will frame an issue in a particular way to get the public on board, but if public opinion has a negative outlook on a frame or the frames attributes then elites will shy away and perhaps move on. Another view from Entman that I think is beneficial in terms of the reliance framing and public opinion have on each other is figure 1.2 from chapter one of his book. This figure shows how ideas trickle downward from the administration's first public expressions about an event. Frames go through stages, from the White House to other elites all the way through to the public. The question being asked within these stages have to do with language, social media and attitudes amongst other

Context refers to the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement or idea. Particularly in speeches, context can influence the way it’s written, presented and received, it helps to put things into perspective and understand why and how a certain thing was constructed. When Obama won the 2008 presidential elections he delivered a victory speech which was heavily influenced by the context it was produced in. Obama’s speech was written and presented at around the same time, when the Iraq War and the Global Financial Crisis were going on, additionally, he was also the first black president of the United States and had personal context that was reflected in his speech. Likewise, context affected Ronald Reagan when he delivered his speech after the space shuttle disaster, a tragedy in American history. To summarise the event, they had started a teacher’s in space program in which teachers had the opportunity to go on a mission with some astronauts, a woman won the competition and got this opportunity. Unfortunately, 73 seconds in the air, the shuttle exploded, killing the teacher and the other six astronauts. Very soon after this happened, Reagan, who was president at the time, had to address the situation. He made a speech, which was greatly impacted not only by the catastrophic event and the Teachers in Space Program but also by Reagan’s past experiences in WW2 and the Cold War.

Framing, described by Robert M. Entman, is the process by which reporters make “information more noticeable, meaningful, or memorable to audiences.” (Entman, 1993) Frames provide salience through “placement, repetition, and association with culturally familiar symbols.” (Entman, 1993) These frames, however, are manipulated to direct audiences to consider certain features or key points and to ignore or minimize others. (Kendall, 2011) That is not to say that what is excluded from the frame is insignificant. The “power of a frame can be as great as that of language itself.” (Entman, 1993) Conversely, information that is excluded from a frame speaks volumes as well. In the case of poverty, societal influences are most often ignored due to isolated, episodic frames.

Hoggan’s chapter 10, Finding the Right Thing to Do: A User’s Guide to Public Relations Success, state that the context in which a conversation is presented is important for effective communication. In a fast-paced world since “people use “frames,” mental shortcuts to form opinions” (p. 113). So, it is important to understand the how, who, and how the message aligns with a person’s bias, is equally as important to what is said (Hoggan, 2009). Moreover, to maintain control of an undesirable situation it’s important to be proactive and define your story now, so your prepared to respond by connecting your interests to the audiences (Hoggan, 2009).

Framing falls under the umbrella of Agenda Setting; a theory that argues that mass media does not instruct us what to think, but rather gives us something to think about (Baran, 330). Episodic framing is a type of framing, which selectively zooms in on a certain aspect of an issue, rather than its entirety. The media influences how we see certain issues, as well as how important they are in our lives. This often leads to misjudgments because of the lack of information given, as it does not portray things from a broader

Framing is something that has been for hundreds of years. This is the way in which certain topics and issues are talked about to try to influence the way we think about an issue. This type of framing is seen on news media every day. Different types of news media may report on issues in different way depending on what the issue is. The framing can be really subtle with the use of different words that can portray two completely different meanings. The issue I will be talking about is immigration and how immigrants are reported in contrasting type of media. Immigration over the last years has become an increasing talking point in politics today. The left and right have contrasting ideas on what should be done about illegal immigration. News media

If the media wish to increase the salience of an issue, so as to persuade their audience towards adopting their position on the matter (the media agenda), then they also have to draw attention to and emphasize certain issues and specific flows of arguments—a process known as framing (Balnaves 67).

It is amazing how the addition or omission of a few words can make a huge impact on ones decision. Framing effect, an example of cognitive bias, occurs when people choose an option due to the manner they were asked a question. In other words, framed questions are created with the intention of its participants to perceive the question in a certain way. You are imposing the question through a different filter hoping for a different result. The existence of framing effects has been documented in medical and clinical decisions (decisions made by both the provider and the recipient of health care), perceptual judgments, consumer choices, responses to social dilemmas, bargaining behaviors, auditing evaluations, and many other decisions (Levin I.P et al, 1998).

Dennis Chong and James N. Druckman define framing as the process by which people develop a particular conceptualization of an issue or reorient their thinking about an issue. Chong and Druckman found that people who are better informed about the issues are more likely to have established a frame of reference for their opinions and are less likely to be swayed by how other people frame the issues for them. This could be seen as the opposite of a favored frame, because it is intentional by the government or media, at times, that particular information is left out or have more emphasis compared to other frames in order to win over the public. On the other hand, Walter Lippmann is talked about in Mccombs and Ghanem’s piece. He believed that ‘much of the behavior underlying public opinion is a response to mental images of events, an imagined pseudoenvironment that is treated as if it were the real environment.

Identifying the reference point should be the first item when approaching a particular problem. Therefore, once the individual reference point is identified, other alternative reference points should be considered. These reference points demonstrate the power of framing. Manipulating the reference points allow us a method to consider how our initial point of view can be diversified when problems are framed differently. Yet, we need

The different types of bias that exist in different forms of media (i.e. radio, TV, newspapers, the internet) are selection bias, agenda setting, priming, and framing. These forms of bias allow the media to influence public opinion. Selection bias occurs when the media only reports on one aspect of an event or issue without providing coverage on other aspects. The media could report only particular issues and problems they believe should have more public attention through agenda setting. Agenda setting is similar to the other forms of bias, priming and framing. Priming involves calling attention to some issues while ignoring others, and framing allows the media to influence the public’s interpretation of them. Different forms of media have

Reese (2007) defines a frame as an interpretative package that gives meaning to an issue. It seeks to make sense of relevant events and outlines important issues. Further, it emphasizes and excludes some elements of a topic, thereby giving the audience a way to understand the issue. As such, frames activate knowledge by stimulating stocks of moral and cultural values to create contexts. Frames confer salience to certain aspects of an issue (Tewskbury & Scheufele, 2009; D'Angelo, 2002). In so doing, frames define issues, diagnose causes, make moral judgments, and suggest remedies.