Framing

My philosophy on life is that sometimes it’s not what you say that determines the outcome of a situation, but it’s how you say what you say. In addition, it’s not always what you do, but it’s how you do what you do that determines the outcome of the situation. In my opinion, this is the true definition of framing. Framing can be found in every facet of life to relay a message or to get someone to understand a concept from you particular view. People and institutions use framing in classrooms, radio commercials, television, speeches, news, books and many other avenues. The powerful benefit behind framing is that it supports and confirms the views of the actual framer. We unconsciously frame messages every day as well as internalize them.
One of the powerful ways that society frames messages is through the media. Particularly in America, people are some of the largest consumers of the media in the world. Message framing determines how we view the world, the products we purchase, music we listen to, the food we eat and more importantly, how we view ourselves. In America alone, there are hundreds of news affiliates that inform us of what is happening both in the country and abroad. How we understand this news all depends on who the messenger is and how they decide to relay the information. Some news stations report hard news that may not be tasteful at times, while others have more tasteful news that may be extremely positive. In short, sometimes there are news stations that are liberal and some that are conservative. Fortunately, we have the choice to view the news and the media of choice. If we are smart enough, we’re able to decipher what is accurate news and what is not. For example, FAMU recently held a forum to discuss the presidency of Barack Obama. Newspapers were in attendance and of course other listening ears. It is important to note that most of the audience included black men and women in college and the panel included university instructors. Most of the questions asked of the panel were geared toward how Barack Obama has directly helped the black community. For the audience, they were more concerned about how the president allocated more money to college students. The presidency of the United States of America includes more than the black community and college students. However, these are the type of themes that resonated with this particular demographic the most. As a result, the way the questions were framed and the way the messages were received had everything to do with how the participants related to the message. (The FAMUAN, Friday Article. Feb. 26)
There have been recent earthquakes both in Haiti and Chile. Both earthquakes have left people hurting, bruised and distraught. Although it has been universally accepted that this event was deemed a earthquake, the cause of the disaster is debatable according to varying frames. Some consider these earthquakes while others believe that they are natural disasters (New York Times, Monday Article. March 1.) This topic has been researched extensively, but there are still varying opinions.