Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Framing: rounding up the information

As the race to the White House comes closer and closer to the finish line, the media has made it a point to push as much information as possible to the public. Such a task could prove to be chaotic, so it's up to media outlets to 'frame' the information by organizing it and producing digestible chunks. The following shows just how each of the outlets frame out information.

Horse Race: The horse race applies to ballots already tallied. What this does is it allows counters to know who's ahead and who's behind, thus giving rise to the metaphor of the horse race. By placing the information on a bar graph, we get a graphical feel for who's in the lead and with how many delegates, who's in second, or third, etc.



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Conflict: Conflict sells. This is why the news reports always lead off with what could be argued as the story that's sure to get the emotions burning in viewers. With the current campaign trail, conflict has been thrown between all candidates, so that any viewers attached to one or more candidates can feel more engaged emotionally. Even within their own party, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump have been going constantly at it like two children, according to New York Magazine: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/trump-threatens-cruzs-wife-sparks-twitter-beef.html

Issues: Perhaps the most important aspect of candidate media to any independent voter are issues. Here, the candidates look at problems our country faces, analyzes for a bigger picture, and then diagnoses a solution in order to attract voters to their cause. Some of these issues they're more vocal about, but by not addressing them all, they could potentially lose more voters. John Kasich's stand against Planned Parenthood has already drawn criticism from people who see Kasich as a moderate. Ontheissues.org make this part of the process simple for both the public and the media:  http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Ted_Cruz.htm

Candidate attributes: Bernie Sanders has committed himself to following a more righteous path, one where he insists upon operating without the backup of large corporations in order to prove that he is not beholden to their demands. This has led him to being seen in public and flying coach, which puts him on more even footing than perhaps necessary with constituents. Donald Trump is also an anti-establishment character, not taking money from big coporations, either, but the boisterous talk and the vitriol are off putting.. These two are showing their attributes, which is arguable the most attractive or detracting part of any candidate. By following their actions, people feel emotionally attached. http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/us-presidential-candidates-react-to-brussels-attacks/3251384.html

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