Word Choice In Framing

Welcome to Pinched, a blog about today's journalism through the eyes of an aspiring editor. To be succinct, I'm examining bias found in hard news and looking at how different publications frame a similar story. Regardless of what we think about bias, as long as we have the First Amendment, it will never disappear.

For awhile I brainstormed different ways of best explaining the essentials of media bias, which was a struggle. And then I uncovered Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?, an article published in Time recently. Journalist David Von Drehle did a fabulous job capturing one distortion that describes media bias. Here's the lede:

On Sept. 12, a large crowd gathered in Washington to protest ... what? The goals of Congress and the Obama Administration, mainly — the cost, the scale, the perceived leftist intent. The crowd's agenda was wide-ranging, so it's hard to be more specific. "End the Fed," a sign read. A schoolboy's placard denounced "Obama's Nazi Youth Militia." Another poster declared, "We the People for Capitalism Not Socialism." If you get your information from liberal sources, the crowd numbered about 70,000, many of them greedy racists. If you get your information from conservative sources, the crowd was hundreds of thousands strong, perhaps as many as a million, and the tenor was peaceful and patriotic. Either way, you may not be inclined to believe what we say about numbers, according to a recent poll that found record-low levels of public trust of the mainstream media.

As UI journalism professor Frank Durham, media bias is not a bad thing. Instead, he reasoned that bias is analogous to voice. Durham said he would rather hear different voices than dozens of automated response robots.

A controversy that's been popping up in the news about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) ACORN is a non-profit organization geared toward assisting lower-income families in health care, public safety, housing and voter registration.

The story broke when ACORN employees at five satellite offices were recorded on a hidden camera offering advice to two conservative activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute looking to open a prostitution business. They told ACORN employees their venture would include underage girls. The pair, Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe, said their undercover reporting was aimed at exposing ACORN, which garnered a good amount of attention in the media. A CNN broadcast warned against the 20 and 25-year-old activists' take on investigative journalism, calling it as "gotcha" journalism (but that's a different blog for a different day).

The US Government moved to cease their funding to the organization. According to a recent statement, ACORN has taken action to prevent situations like the ones that occurred at their satellite offices in Baltimore, New York City, San Diego and San Bernandino, Calif., and D.C.

What I found intriguing was the way in which several media outlets described the illegal actions that Giles and O'Keefe proposed to ACORN employees. Let's take a look at a few.

1. CNN cited Giles and O'Keefe's proposal as a "prostitution ring" in the lede, later mentioning that it would include underage girls from El Salvador.

2. An AP article mentioned the plan saying, "The pair also claimed they planned to employ teenage girls from central America as prostitutes, and an ACORN employee suggested that up to three of the girls could be claimed as dependents." The article didn't list the ages of Giles and O'Keefe, instead they were described as "a man and a woman."

3. The LA Times wrote that "An undercover video shot at the group's office in National City purports to show workers willing to help someone interested in setting up a prostitution ring, possibly with girls from Tijuana."

4. In a Washington Post story, Giles and O'Keefe's business plan was called a "brothel filled with underage Central American prostitutes to finance a bid for political office," and referred to Giles, O'Keefe as "youngsters."

5. Here's a recent clip from "The Daily Show With John Stewart" on the recent events:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Audacity of Hos
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

As you can see, in situations as delicate as the ACORN scandal, editors must decide the best way to report on underage prostitutes (as ridiculous as this situation is) in a way that inserts simple information without offending readers. I think the AP article did it best because it was short (about six inches) which was just the right amount of space that a story like this deserved. It was also to-the-point. A Maryland ACORN official was cited as calling Giles and O'Keefe's act an attempt to "smear" the organization.

I would call that just about accurate.

EXTRA:

Here are a few helpful websites that will help you determine journalistic slants anywhere. From reading headlines to considering sources and beyond, it's wise to develop an editorial eye when digesting the news.