A Brief Note On Tennessee Coal Ash Spill

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Tennessee coal ash spill occurred in December 22, 2008. A dike failed at Tennessee Valley Authority spilling billion gallons of coal ash. The ash had been stored and contained arsenic, selenium, lead and radioactive materials. These materials are very toxic. This spill is an example of environmental crime because it was caused by the Tennessee Valley Authority. An environmental crime is considered to be a white collar crime also known as corporation crime (Beder, 2002, pg 213). News media highly covered this crime in different ways. Media can change the framework in order to help us understand the situation better. Framing is principles of selection, emphasis and presentation (Schudson, 2003, pg 35). These two article shows how Tennessee Spill can be framed in different ways and with framing analysis it can tell you which frames is being used by the news media.
The article “5 Years after Coal-Ash Spill, Little Has Changed” by Duane W. Gang, informs that there has been little change since the spill. In the beginning of the article, a Tennessee resident Tommy Charles talk about how his life had changed after the coal spill. This was the day when the dike failed at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant, spilling 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash into the Emory and Clinch rivers. The spill was covering about 300 acres of land. After five years, coal ash still remains mostly unregulated. EPA and Congress still have not figured out how to see the material and the corporation still continue to argue about classifying coal ash as hazardous. Stephen Smith, who is chief executive of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy mentions that the final solution is not available yet. Later in the article it is discussed on how much TVA is spending to clean up...

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...through because of regulations can show frame as a drive for profit. TVA wants show they are doing everything they are being asked but are also building new plants.
In conclusion, these two articles framed the Tennessee Coal Ash Spill in two distinct ways, one pro-environmentalism and other is drive for profit for corporation. Framing is a way for the news to speak in more than one voice (Schudson, 2003, pg 37). These articles show how you can see one event in contrasting perspective. These articles are voiced by different people Pictures also help in framing in news media. “Images representing a particular meaning” (Hansen, 2010, pg 3). The pictures helped understand what the article was trying to address. The picture itself can tell you where the articles stands. Framing is what the news media wants to shows us and this can be shown in any way the media wants to.

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