Constructing reality

Constructing Reality

Framing and Selectivity

• Framing: Newspapers don’t merely report news; they interpret and frame events for their readership. The way an issue is framed can significantly influence how readers perceive it.
• Selectivity: Not all events make it to the news. Editorial teams decide which stories to include or exclude, based on various factors such as newsworthiness, audience interest, and political or societal implications.

Agenda Setting

• Agenda Setting Theory: News organisations don’t tell you what to think but what to think about. They can influence public discourse by deciding which issues are important and deserve public attention.
• News Values: Properties that determine the newsworthiness of a story, guiding decisions about what news to report. Examples include magnitude, conflict, novelty, proximity, and relevance.

Representation

• Stereotypes and Generalizations: Newspapers can reinforce or challenge existing stereotypes about people, communities, or issues. Representations may be oversimplified or loaded with certain assumptions.
• Ethnocentrism: Media often adopts the perspective of its primary audience. For example, national newspapers might portray events or issues from a particular national point of view, often neglecting other perspectives.

Language and Tone

• Emotive Language: News articles may use emotive words to sway readers’ reactions or create empathy. Language can be powerful and manipulative if deployed strategically.
• Loaded Words and Phrases: Newspapers may use charged language or phrases to portray a person, group, or event positively or negatively.

Visual Selection and Salience

• Visual Imagery: Images used alongside articles can influence how the reader understands the story. An image of a crying child or a protesting crowd can evoke strong emotions in readers.
• Use of Colour and Size: Certain aspects of a page, such as vivid colours, large headlines or photographs, are designed to be more attention-grabbing than others.

Media Bias

• Objectivity and Fairness: Despite claims of neutrality, all newspapers have a certain degree of bias evident in the stories they choose to cover, the sources they use, and the language and images they choose.
• Propaganda Model: This theory argues that media operates within constraining economic and ideological factors, resulting in systemic biases in favour of established power structures.