Essay Plan
Q. Is there evidence of external factors influencing the framing and sourcing of the Intelligent Design debate?
Purpose
The purpose of this essay is to determine if the framing and sourcing of the Intelligent Design debate has been influenced or limited by external factors such as journalist agendas, reliance on elite sources, audience expectations, political and religious affiliations of the news organisation, etc.
Scope
Drawing on the voting patterns from the 2004 US Election, I will be analysing the newspaper coverage of the Intelligent Design debate from Republican and Democratic states. There will be a focus on the editorial section of these newspapers as it tends to reflect the position of the media organisation.
Main Ideas
• Framing – how has the intelligent design debate been framed by the media? What opinions are more salient than others, and are there other arguments that have not been included in the coverage? As Entman (1993, p.54) states “most frames are defined by what they omit as well as include and the omissions of potential problem definitions, explanations, evaluations and recommendations may be as critical as the inclusions in guiding the audience”.
• Sources – has there been a reliance on elite sources and quotable quotes that have supported the framing of the debate? Have some sources featured more prominently in some newspapers as compared to others? As Schlesinger states “the media are structurally biased towards very powerful and privileged sources who become ‘over-accessed’”
• Media Agenda – is the media trying to appeal to its target audience by framing the debate in a certain way? Is there a leaning towards one side over another based on the ideologies of the journalist or media organisation?
“Journalists rely on narrative structures that mask more than they reveal and short-circuit the kinds of contextualization, sourcing and analysis that can provide new insights on hot-button issues and move public discussion forward” (Winston 2005, p.67)
Key Readings
Entman, R.M. 1993, ‘Framing: toward clarification of a fractured paradigm’, Journal of Communication, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 51-58.
This article seeks to define the terms ‘frame’ and ‘framing’ and explains how they are used in the media and how they work. At the time the article was written Entman was calling for a consistent concept of ‘framing’ and argues that a definition will benefit audience autonomy, journalistic objectivity, content analysis and public opinion and normative democratic theory.
Ericson, R.V., Baranek, P.M. & Chan, J.B.L. 1989, Negotiating Control: A Study of News Sources, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
This book focuses on the ways various source organisations organise to communicate through the media, and how they go about producing ‘news’ or limiting what is released. It examines the degrees of control source organisations have over the news media and vice-versa and the tensions faced as each party deals with secrecy, confidence, censorship and publicity.
Manning, P. 2001, News and News Sources: A Critical Introduction, SAGE Publications, London.
This book explores the nature of news source-news organisation interaction, as well as examines the ways in which they work together to produce news within the constraints posed by markets, ownership structures and political institutions. It also mentions smaller interest groups and their struggle in getting their agenda noticed in the media.
McCullagh, C. 2002, Media Power: A Sociological Introduction, Palgrave, Basingstoke.
This book explores the role of the media in society and its effects on the way audiences receive and interpret the news. It examines how the world is represented to the audience in media content, how the news is produced and how the context of its production shapes its nature and content.
Schudson, M. 2002, ‘The news media as political institutions’, Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 249-269.
This article examines the role of the media in politics by identifying three main approaches. The first is patterns of media ownership and organisational behaviour in liberal vs. repressive states, the second is the social organisation of news and the interaction between journalists and their sources and the third is news as a form of culture that incorporates pre-disposed general belief systems, assumptions and values into news writing.
Gross, P.R. 2005, ‘Courtroom testimony offers an excellent road map for reporters’, Nieman Reports, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 69-71 and
Winston, D. 2005, ‘When the conflict narrative doesn’t fit’, Nieman Reports, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 67-68.
These two articles examine the news coverage of the intelligent design debate and identify some shortcomings in the way it has been handled.
