Framing: Media Influences Public Perception

This week, we read two articles that dealt with framing. Framing is a term that deals with how the media talks about a subject. This idea is what causes the public perception. Both of the articles dealt with gender and sexuality issues. The first article was about the killing of Matthew Shepard. The media portrayed him as a gay man. Every article about the killing said 2 men kill a gay man. He was defined as a gay man. He was not just defined as a man. He was defined as an innocent who was no threating. This framing caused people to be sympathetic towards him. Even those who were homophobic felt sympathetic towards the man who laid in a coma because of the way that the media had described him. If the article had of described him as a man who asked for it and lured the others on, then there would not be as much sympathy for him. People would not feel sorry for him. The other article was about the runner from Africa. Caster Semenya who is a female was accused of being a male due to how much she had beat the competition and her appearance was that of a male. The media reported that she may be a male. She had male characteristics, so she had to have been a male. No one is able to accept female masculinity. I found the concept of framing to be interesting. The concept shows how much the media has an influence on the public’s perception of events. If the media portrays something a certain way, then the public believes it. The terms they use are what define the issue.