How Do News Media Sources Differ?
All news is not created equal. That is to say, some news sources are more reliable or credible than others. Never fail to ask yourself the who, what, when, where, why, how gauntlet of questions when interacting with media. Even though a news source is considered credible, there are still powerful implicit and explicit meanings and impacts depending on what information is included or excluded, on whose perspective it's being told from, and what type of language is being used to frame the issue(s).
This type of critical media and information assessment must become second nature when navigating all sources. Even reliable sources can make mistakes or have a deficient take on a critical issue. Here is a chart that provides one way of analyzing media bias and gives a bit of an oversight on how different news media can be seen to fall within the matrix of the news media landscape.
Critical media Review: Deconstructing media content, how does media FRAME an issue?
Political Science seeks to understand the many nuances and aspects of power. Ipsa scientia potestas est" ('knowledge itself is power'). Building knowledge about how information is constructed, transmitted and consumed and how these processes wield power, is critical for helping one navigate and understand the complex multifaceted political, social, economic world we live in, and how different issues intersect and influence each other.
What we think of as “reality” depends on the different frames we use to approach, analyze, and understand the world around us. How media chooses to frame certain topics and events influence the ways in which we see the world. This is to say, how information is framed can directly affect how we perceive to “know what we know” about the world. Take the image above. Who is the "attacker" who is the "victim" in the above scenario? What you see or come to understand about the situation depends on how it is being framed for consumption. Without further analysis or assessment of that framing, we may not fully understand the deeper nuances, meaning, or facts of the situation. Taking time to understand the full scope of information, evidence, and how issues are framed and the ways this can impact society, may help to deescalate some of the far-right populist polarization we are witnessing today.
Bernard Cohen famously stated that media “may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling people what to think about.” (1963). Given the radical evolution of media access through smartphones and internet platforms today than in the 60s, this old adage may no longer ring as true. We are now in an era where media is indeed trying to tell people what to think. For example, Russian influence in the US elections using social media disinformation campaigns and a growing understanding of the true aims and goals of Cambridge Analytica in weaponizing media content. There is value and insight to be gained by taking a more in-depth look at the ways in which media is used to shape public attitudes and responses towards political issues in Canada and around the world.
Much like Bernard Pras' work that uses junk to build up an image of a face when framed just right, it is important we learn how to step away from a frame to see a bigger picture and the different components being used to construct it.
Here is an in-depth resource from the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication. A research center at the Penn State College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, which is dedicated to the study and advancement of ethics and responsibility in corporate communication and other forms of public communication.
Please click on the link below for further reading on media framing.