How do the media in uence their audience? 247Editor assigns reporter
to cover a particular
story or event.
Reporter gathers
information and
prepares a story.
Editor revises story,
decides on length,
content, and placement.
Filtering
Editor decides which stories are
important and will attract an audience.Framing
Reporter’s story includes the overall
argument and other information that
shapes what the audience learns.Filtering, Framing, and Priming
Decision about where, when, and how
to carry the story gives an additional
opportunity for filtering. In addition,
the editor can make changes to a
story that involve framing, and
priming.Priming
By describing events using some
words or phrases and omitting others,
the reporter has additional influence
over what the audience learns.It’s a story... Or is it?
Democrats are
challenging!Republicans
(mostly) won!More trouble? No, in the clear!
Not really.
But Democrats
looked good.Some news stories argued that the
elections in 2017 allowed observers
to see how voters were reacting to
events in the Trump administration.Others pointed out that off-cycle
elections are typically low-turnout
events, and so provide limited insight
into the behavior of the much larger
general-election electorate.Some outlets interpreted the fact that
Democratic challengers ran strong
campaigns in Republican districts, raised
lots of campaign cash, and attracted
media attention as a reflection of public
dissatisfaction with President Trump.Other sources framed the outsized
contributions and coverage as a result
of the fact that the special elections
were the only elections happening at
that time.Republican candidates held
most of the Republican seats
contested in 2017 off-cycle elections.Democrats won a handful of races,
and news coverage pointed out that,
although some candidates lost, the
percentage of the vote they received
was substantially higher than in
previous elections.Subsequent press coverage focused on the high number of
Republican retirements from Congress leading up to the 2018
election; the large number of politically experienced, well-funded
Democratic challengers; and low public approval of President Trump in
suburban congressional districts to predict (correctly) that Democrats
would regain majority control of the House in 2018.Filtering
Framing
Priming
Filtering, Framing, and Priming
How it works: in theory
How News Makes It to the Public
How it works: in practice
The Media’s
Coverage of
Off-cycle
Elections
The people
have a point!Chaos in
the streets!- Of the three media effects
(filtering, framing, and priming),
which is the easiest one for
citizens to detect? Which one is
the hardest? - Do a Web search for “special
elections.” In the first two articles
you see, find all the instances of
filtering, framing, and priming.
Do you think these articles
provide a balanced picture of the
events? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
The media devoted much
attention to a small number of state-
level and special congressional
elections in 2017, such as the race
for governor of Virginia and the
special election to fill the Senate
seat in Alabama previously held by
now Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Media narratives tended to view
these elections as bellwethers for
Republicans’ chances of holding on
to House and Senate majorities and
majorities in state legislatures in- Their coverage shows filtering,
framing, and priming in action.
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