Sunday, March 20, 2011

Putting Words in Palin's Mouth

Now I am no big fan of Sarah Palin. But it is very interesting to see how the media frames her actions. Today, Palin is in Israel on a completely private trip. (She will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu however). She released a statement that said: "“I’m thankful to be able to travel to Israel on my way back to the US,” Palin said. “As the world confronts sweeping changes and new realities, I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the key issues facing his country, our ally Israel.”"


Its a fairly generic statement for a Republican politician, and seemingly that should have been the end of it. But every single story I read about it barely focused on her visit, but rather on her potential presidential campaign. The tack they all take is about her lack of foreign policy expertise and how her current trips abroad are meant to boost her image and standing to make a presidential run. As the JPost staff had to mention: 


"Palin will be coming at a time when her poll numbers in the US are on a steep decline. A Bloomberg National Poll conducted from March 4-7 found that 60 percent of the US public has either a “mostly unfavorable” or “very unfavorable” opinion of her.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday found that her numbers among Republican and Republicanleaning voters have dropped considerably."

This phenomenon of media framing, where they not only show the news but tell readers how to think about the news, is a very important theme in media and politics. One should always look at the stories one reads and see what frame the story is being presented in to see if there is a inherent bias in the story. 

2 comments:

  1. I am always one for paying attention to media framing, especially after the concept was newly introduced to me in class. However, I think there is a difference between deliberate framing and putting a situation into a specific context to make it more relevant to the readers. While this trip may have been private, a statement was publicly released by her. She is almost inviting people to expand on what these words may mean in the larger political arena. If she is running for president, her statements, her actions, and her trips mean something to the general audience. And sometimes, its helpful when the media reminds us of that connection.

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  2. Truthfully, I don't think it's such a big deal that Palin went to Israel - as a right-wing Christian Republican, it's a pretty standard trip. But in order to make it newsworthy, they have to frame it in the context of her Presidential potential - otherwise why are they reporting on her personal vacation? Of course, they could always just post pictures of Sarah Palin at a Dead Sea spa and call it a day.

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