Sunday, February 20, 2011

Media Portrayal of Politics in Wisconsin

For those who have not been following the news, check out this NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/us/politics/20wisconsin.html?_r=1&ref=us. What I find interesting is not the politics behind the labor unions and the governor, but how the media portrays it. In the textbook, a motif discussed was how the media often "frames" the issue. Since most news often covers very broad topics, when the media presents a story, it decides into what context it will place the story. Furthermore, an idea discussed for a large portion of the textbook was that not only does the media place its' stories in different contexts, it also tells the viewers how to think about an issue. When an issue is presented, the media will, on purpose or not, tell you how to think about a certain issue.
               Keeping that in mind, when I read this article, I could see the framing the NY times has done. It has clearly placed this story in the frame of the partisan debate between Republicans and Democrats, as well as a frame of this affair being a staging point for a Democrat comeback. I just found that interesting.

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