Understanding Framing in Media
Definition of Framing
Framing = is the way news stories are constructed to evoke a particular interpretation or reaction from the audience.
This means no story is framed neutral , journalists have their audience in mind when they write (what take to produce emotional reaction, what details they decide to share) The choices that are made by framing a story will impact the way the message is received by the readers, which means they choose some stylistic choices.
Techniques of Framing
=> choice of personal pronouns( I/We/Me/Us) : you can hear the personal opinion of the journalist and it becomes + brings the author closer to the reader + brings a sign of subjectivity) Third personal pronouns are impersonal and distance the author from the reader and are used to create report => use of modal verbs (could/should/ought to/needs/might) : it expresses a personal opinion , what they think they are supposed to or not to do ,
=> choice of words and connotations (cheap vs inexpensive , assertive vs arrogant , simple-minded vs stupid) : depending on how people are described can create different impressions (pejorative or good). These are choices that affects what we think about the subjects.
=> choice of metaphorical semantic fields (choosing the lexical field of « war » and « battle » to talk about political confrontations for example when, they are not really engaged to fight in a real war)
=> hiding or revealing agency (a same event can be told in different ways) ex : armed bandits broke into the house and shot the owner (active verbal form) vs a house was broken and its owner was injured by a gunshot (passive voice) => Both are factual but different
Communication Process in Media
Basic Communication Diagram
A sender that tries to communicate a message to a receiver , by trying to encoding it via a channel for the reader to successfully decode the message. But the sender as it tries to communicate has to take in consideration some information from the receiver’s field of experience and make sure noises can’t interfere. The sender has to combine the objective of encoding the message with the objective to make the people understand it.
Key Vocabulary in Communication
Communication- To make common , action to put in common
Media - Plural of medium ( tool/go-between/means/channel)
Sender/source – the person who initiates the communication situation by encoding and sending a message
Receiver/audience – the person or group of people who get the message after decoding
Encoding – process by which an idea is put into a language or code that can be transmitted via a given channel and that can be understood by the receiver (a message can be put into written words, spoken words, musical notes, images etc…)
Message – the information that is sent by the sender to the receiver Channel - the medium through which the message is sent
Decoding – the process by which the receiver decyphers the message and makes sense of its meaning.
Field of experience – things that influence an individual’s perceptions of the world and that therefore affect how a message is interpreted (ie. Age, nationality, personal experience, tastes, prejudices, ideology, social background, values, education….)
Noise – any disruption that might occur along the communication process
Feedback loop – the process by which the receiver responds to the message by switching places with the sender and encoding his/her own message.
