When it comes to telling stories we are all guilty of it. Changing the story just enough to make your argument seem much better. Maxwell and McCombs and Donald Shaw wrote about the different levels of agenda-setting. The first level is when they tell you what issues you should be thinking about. The second level is where framing happens, they basically tell you which aspects of the issues are most important. Lastly, the media shows you how to connect each of the different stories. I claim that level two can influence the public the most because they share what information you should be concerned about and just touch on the other sides. The picture above is a great example of framing because it shows how manipulative it can be. On one side, it looks like the soldier is about to be executed. On the other side, the soldier was just saved and getting some much-needed water. In today’s day and age, framing is more prevalent than it ever has been before. In the election of 2020, we can see how the media focuses on one aspect of the candidate to emphasize their own personal viewpoints.
By emphasizing a specific view the media is able to influence the public without the public even knowing. The media frames their content on a daily basis to best fit their agendas. in the second level of agenda-setting, “transfer of salience of a dominant set of attributes that the media associates with an attitude object to the specific features” and putting an image in our minds (370). Media framing as defined by James Tankard, one of the leading writers in mass communication theory, claims that “the central organizing idea for news content that supplies a context and suggests what the issue is through the use of selection, emphasis, and elaboration.”(370) This is important to understand because the media “set an agenda for which issues, events, and candidates are most important” as well as the things that pop into our minds. (370) They have the power to make certain events big news and mean a lot while they downplay other events.
The media and news have such an important job, their job is to educate the public on what is happening around the world. I believe it is important to keep all information unbiased, expressing all of the facts so then the people can make the decisions and can develop their own unique ideas and beliefs. When the media ever so slightly changes the story or emphasizes one specific portion of the story, our minds get swayed to believe one side of the story. On the extreme side, it can look like a form of brainwashing because they are telling the people what to think and how to act. James Tanark said it best when he was explaining selection, emphasis, and elaboration. Selection is important to understand because the news and media outlets want to pick stories that are relevant and will get more eyes on their network. Once they select a story they need to emphasize one critical aspect of the story. They will emphasize what is important to them and their audience. In the case of the media and elections, certain media stations decided it would be best to choose a picture of Joe Biden smiling and looking good, while President Trump’s picture was a mean scowl. When one looked deeper into how the media influences our choices throughout the presidential election it is obvious that the media picks sides. Depending on which channel you choose to watch, the way their news and tell you why it is important. When looking at right-wing politics they focus on how Vice President Joe Biden is old and unfit to take on the role of president. On the other side of the spectrum, they focus on President Trump’s racist and sexiest remarks. Both sides are guilty of framing. This becomes a major issue when we become blind to the way the media influences us. This is important to understand so you do your own research and develop your own thought rather than listening to one specific media outlet and let them control your beliefs.