Analysis of Media Framing of an Article

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I will be addressing the framing of the February 2014 article entitled “A softer side to policing: LAPD squad working to build trust.” In this article, the journalist lays out the signified and the framing to which he will place them in to reshape public opinion. In this framing, the Los Angeles Police and the population of the Jordan Downs Housing Complex are the signified.
Scheufele and Tewksbury (2007) shows that “media framing is constructed on the concept of how an issue is portrayed in newspapers can have an influence about the way audience receives the message of the story.” Thus “macro construct, the term ‘framing’ refers to modes of presentation that journalists and other communicators use to present information in a way that resonates with existing underlying schemas among their audience” (Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007, p. 12) The reason for this is because it is a relevant article for the local population. In addition, the population will form its own impression about the signified. The newspaper did just that. The journalist framing focus is to show there is a direct disconnect between the lower enlisted police officer and the upper echelon. In addition, there is a shedding of the former “racist, tyrannical” Police officer perception and the oppressed public.
Journalists are essential tools in the development of attitudes in the community. When the scope of an article is framed with polarized biases, the whole story excludes important facts that can lead to a new attitude towards a group. Wile reading this article, it is important to understand the history of the two signified. Entman (1993) said, “to frame a story is to select some aspect of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in suc...

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...d were vague in the historical aspect, but heavily focused on the transformation of the Los Angeles Police Department. In addition, the journalist segregates the “beat cop” from the “higher ups.” He makes this clear distinction when differentiating the two types of powers during the recent crime.

Works Cited

Entman, R.M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of
Communication, 43(4). 51-58.
Knox, A. (2013). Amanda Knox: A Content Analysis of Media Framing in Newspapers
Around the World. Digita Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 1, 47.
Scheufele, D.A., & Tewksbury, David. (2007). Framing, agenda setting, and priming: The evolution of three media effects models. Journal of Communication, 57, 9-20.
Streeter, K. (2014, February 17). A softer style of policing; LAPD squad working to build trust. Los Angeles times, pp. A1, A12.

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