The element of framing in storytelling involves setting the scene, the writer or speaker telling the audience how the story will go – controlling the angle of the audience’s thoughts and how they see the story based on the information the teller presents… or chooses to omit. The major news media outlets are professional bullshitters, according to my regular-guy uncle Fred. As he points out, you can watch CNN show a story, presenting their information on the scene and then turn to Fox News and see the same story being presented in a completely different manner. News companies like this have billions of reasons to frame their story in a different manner than the other – billions of dollars of reasons.
Gruman et al. (2016) describes the agenda tiers – which I picture as a set of nested dolls – as the policy agenda being set by the public agenda which is set my the media’s agenda. The author is detailing that the media controls what we, as the public, consider important, which we then clamor for and the politicians cater to our demands of attention to specific issues. Issues which weren’t even our own ideas! Ideas placed with us by the media. I remember when conspiracy theories were just a fun thing that group of silly nerds used to talk to Mulder about when he left an “X” in tape on his window, but it turns out this is no conspiracy at all. It’s social psychology! The availability heuristic posits that people make judgements on how easy it is to recall something – how available thoughts about that something are for us to remember (Gruman et al., 2016). That is, we are likely to remember issues we have heard of recently when asked how we feel about the state of the nation or how woke Disneyland is becoming. When the news media is playing their curated stories with frequency and repetitive tropes, it makes sense that media policy would be the one to rule them all in the policy hierarchy.
For older people (think boomer generation and above), this can take on a hint of sociological gaslighting – placing minority ethnicities or genders in positions in their storytelling to erode these viewer’s realities (Sweet, 2019). Weaponizing well known insecurities and irrational views of “the others” who could be creating perceived turmoil in their lives – even when there is no turmoil to be had, really – earns money for the news media companies. Our textbook says that there are the options of issue framing, in which the reporting agency can cover issues by presenting the pertinent, important issues along with the associated pros and cons for said issues. Or the reporting agency can use strategy framing, focusing on the motivations behind why someone is doing something (Gruman et al., 2016). For the media giants, it’s all strategy frames, all the time! Being able to tell a story framed in the light that the motivations for a politician are to the benefit of a certain group or at the behest of a lobbyist rather than for “the good of the people” gets clicks, views, and shares. I am focusing on self proclaimed news outlets in this post, because I feel the radio broadcasts and late night tv shows referenced in our textbook don’t try to be a “news source” so much as explicit entertainment.
The news media format focused on strategy frame has created a large, angry rift amongst the United States. I do feel it is more the focus on the so called “right wing” news media. Media outlets who cater to the right-wing side of politics tend to frame their stories in a manner which erodes their sense of reality, imploring them to accept the fictional reality that the outlet has created (Sweet, 2019). The fake reality full of broken borders teaming with immigrants tearing across, guns and drugs both blazing, based on their reporting alone. The company has the ability to tell the viewers exactly what the issues are with the US, and how outraged they should feel about each one of those issues (Gruman et al., 2016). The feeling? Cynicism.
Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z are increasingly getting news from sources such as TikTok or Twitter – platforms that have much less structure as to what stories are offered to the viewer. Multiple sources providing coverage and commentary on issues as they happen can provide a more – fair and balanced – set of information for the citizens, which will result in a better informed society in time so long as the information continues to be in such a freeform format, untainted by Big Media money. In order to assist our older friends and family, introducing them to other sources of news would be beneficial, if they’ll have it.
To conclude, media policy controls the issues that the public feels are important by deciding which issues to share, how often, and in which frame. When the people believe an issue or set of issues is important, it then becomes the focus of policy agenda by politicians. News media companies are a billion dollar threat to free thought and social equalities. They set the agenda for American thought – but only if we let them, and only for now.
References:
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2016). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Sage Publications, Incorporated.
Sweet, P. L. (2019). The Sociology of Gaslighting. American Sociological Review, 84(5), 851–875. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122419874843