Framing

Framing is something which can drastically change a piece of media. The way a piece of media is framed tells the consumer of the media how to think about it. Framing can slant or skew a story by selecting only certain facts to present, phrasing things a certain way or by what the piece is juxtaposed with. The people behind the media will frame a story in a manner that aligns with their thinking, in hopes that the people who consume the media will begin to think the same way. Sometimes frames are less intentional, the people behind the media simply present a story without thinking, but their personal views show through.

An example of framing can be seen with the recent media coverage of the proposed Muslim community center to be built near Ground Zero.  Many conservative media outlets are calling the center the "Ground Zero Mosque" which skews the view of the center as a mosque (which it isn't, it is a community center) and as being on Ground Zero (which it isn't, it is a couple blocks away). This is meant to stir up feelings of patriotism and lead people to think this is an insult to the America. Other media outlets reporting on the controversy cover the community center as it is, a community center and 2 blocks from Ground Zero. They site the constitutional freedom of religion as a reason that the center should be permitted to be built. Both sides are framing the stories in different ways which can greatly change the way a viewer thinks about the issue. (Personally, I think that the center should be allowed to be built, they have the constitutional right.)

Bill O'Reilly, a notable conservative pundit, covered the center by having a Muslim who opposed the mosque on his show. He agrees with her, and by putting her on the show, he frames the story to his views.


Keith Olbermann, a notable liberal pundit, uses a quote from a Holocaust survivor to cast the opposition of the center as being as hateful as Nazis. He's quick to say that he is not drawing a comparison between the Holocaust and the controversy surrounding the Islamic center, but by even mentioning it he juxtaposes the two situations which could lead people to compare them and agree with him.


Both of these videos are examples of framing. The pundits frame the reports in the ways that they do to make people believe the side that they represent.