News Framing
News Framing used in the News Article
News framing used in media have several functions: they can define problems or issues, offer a causal interpretation of the problem and suggest a certain moral evaluation or treatment recommendation. Therefore frames are consequential and influence people’s understanding, opinions and attitudes toward issues and events. (Kostadinova & Dimitrova, 2012). Bianca Hall’s news article, which was published by The Sydney Morning Herald, on the 40% of Australian mothers who drink alcohol while pregnant, there are different types of framing that have been used.
One form of framing used in this article is direct framing. Direct framing is the immediate, uniform or non - relevant topics used in the news media. It conveys short term realism and emphases on change (McQuail, 2005). Hall’s article talks about the topic of women drinking alcohol while pregnant in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and …show more content…
Ireland, however she mainly talks about the comparison between Australia and the other three countries. Researchers from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland compared pregnant women's alcohol consumption in all four countries (Hall, 2015). She uses Direct framing to portray the importance of how alcohol consumption while pregnant is bad for the baby and therefore uses this type of news framing to approach the public, but the main focus of this article is towards pregnant women and for them to stop drinking alcohol. In correspondence with Direct Framing is News diffusion. News diffusion is the spread of awareness of particular events through a given population over time, with particular reference to the extent of penetration and the means by which information is received (McQuail, 2005).
This type of news frame is clearly shown in Hall’s article, since she is conveys to her intended audience the effect of alcohol consumption by pregnant women and how it affects the baby and by writing this article, Hall is spreading the awareness of this issue by giving facts and statistics to help us understand the study even more. Once women reached their second trimester of pregnancy, the majority in all four countries had begun to abstain from alcohol, with 83 per cent of Australian women giving up the drink. In New Zealand, 81 per cent stopped drinking; in Ireland 71 per cent abstained; and in the UK 66 per cent had stopped (Hall, 2015). Relating to News Diffusion is the Knowledge Gap effect. Framing effects, however, may differ among individuals depending on personal knowledge, characteristics and experience with the issue at hand. Often it is the interaction between media frames and previous experiences that shapes people’s attitudes (Kostadinova & Dimitrova, 2012). An example of this is Knowledge gap which is used to inform the citizens of this information that has been missed (Balnaves, 2009). The framing effect of knowledge gap is shown in Hall’s article where she writes, Almost half Australian women drink at least some alcohol during their pregnancies, a new study shows. But Australian women are far less likely to drink while pregnant than Irish women, more than 80 per cent of whom drink at least once during their pregnancies (Hall, 2015).
The Narrative Construction and Ideology in News Article
There are certain characteristics of narratives, such as suggested links between cause and effect that are present within a narrative (Steinhardt & Shapiro, 2015). A Narrative posits explanation about the connection between elements in text, in contrast to list or purely descriptive text, in which all the parts are referred to without an accompanying explanation or account of their belonging together. (Schirato, Buettner, Jutel & Stahl, 2010).
The type of narrative used in this article is the a normal type of narrative that has the beginning, Almost half Australian women drink at least some alcohol during their pregnancies, a new study shows (Hall, 2015), the middle, The study's authors did not find any link between women's "sociodemographic backgrounds”…Health agencies worldwide agree that the safest option for fetuses is for their mothers to abstain from alcohol entirely. (Hall, 2015) and an ending, "Additionally, since most women who consume alcohol do so at lower levels where the offspring growth and development effects are less well understood, the widespread consumption of even low levels of alcohol during pregnancy is a significant public health concern."(Hall, 2015). The difference between this narratives structure compared to many other narrative structures is that Hall doesn’t conclude her report instead she ends it abruptly with a quote from an academically credited source.
Linking to this narrative structure is ideologies.
Ideologies are narratives about the world that also effectively organise the world; that is, they dispose people to see things and to act in certain ways, and at the same time they authorise or privilege one group over another. (Schirato, Buettner, Jutel & Stahl, 2010). A type of ideology used in this article is how women shouldn’t be allowed to drink alcohol while they are pregnant however it is considered to socially acceptable. Researchers from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland compared pregnant women's alcohol consumption in all four countries for online medical journal BMJ Open, concluding that in each, alcohol use during pregnancy is "prevalent and socially acceptable". (Hall, 2015). Even though drinking while pregnant is considered to be “socially acceptable”, Hall’s article focusses on how alcohol is affecting the pregnancy and stating statistics in a negative light and influencing the pregnant mothers that are targeted to lessen the amount of alcohol consumed during a
pregnancy.
Values of accuracy, objectivity and balance
Despite the article leaning towards change, Hall has shown how accurate her results by collecting data from academically reliable sources and hasn’t incorporated any of her own personal opinions on the matter but rather focussed on the statistics to prove the main argument which makes this article a fairly balanced one as she doesn’t necessarily object to women drinking alcohol while pregnant but she doesn’t condone it either. Only until a certain extent is she allowing it.
Qualitative or Quantitative methods? Is there a difference? Peer Reviewed?
Quantitative method was the main method used in this article, as Hall had mainly used numerical evidence to validate her argument. Once women reached their second trimester of pregnancy, the majority in all four countries had begun to abstain from alcohol, with 83 per cent of Australian women giving up the drink. In New Zealand, 81 per cent stopped drinking; in Ireland 71 per cent abstained; and in the UK 66 per cent had stopped.(Hall, 2015). Throughout the article statistical evidence had been given, Two major UK studies by researchers from Oxford University and University College London, which tracked about 11,000 women and their babies until they were three and five years old, found that children of women who had engaged in light drinking were not at increased risk of behavioural difficulties or cognitive deficits compared with children of mothers who did not drink during pregnancy ( Hall, 2015), making this article credible even though it had not been peer reviewed.
News framing used in media have several functions: they can define problems or issues, offer a causal interpretation of the problem and suggest a certain moral evaluation or treatment recommendation. Therefore frames are consequential and influence people’s understanding, opinions and attitudes toward issues and events. (Kostadinova & Dimitrova, 2012). Bianca Hall’s news article, which was published by The Sydney Morning Herald, on the 40% of Australian mothers who drink alcohol while pregnant, there are different types of framing that have been used.
One form of framing used in this article is direct framing. Direct framing is the immediate, uniform or non - relevant topics used in the news media. It conveys short term realism and emphases on change (McQuail, 2005). Hall’s article talks about the topic of women drinking alcohol while pregnant in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and …show more content…
Ireland, however she mainly talks about the comparison between Australia and the other three countries. Researchers from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland compared pregnant women's alcohol consumption in all four countries (Hall, 2015). She uses Direct framing to portray the importance of how alcohol consumption while pregnant is bad for the baby and therefore uses this type of news framing to approach the public, but the main focus of this article is towards pregnant women and for them to stop drinking alcohol. In correspondence with Direct Framing is News diffusion. News diffusion is the spread of awareness of particular events through a given population over time, with particular reference to the extent of penetration and the means by which information is received (McQuail, 2005).
This type of news frame is clearly shown in Hall’s article, since she is conveys to her intended audience the effect of alcohol consumption by pregnant women and how it affects the baby and by writing this article, Hall is spreading the awareness of this issue by giving facts and statistics to help us understand the study even more. Once women reached their second trimester of pregnancy, the majority in all four countries had begun to abstain from alcohol, with 83 per cent of Australian women giving up the drink. In New Zealand, 81 per cent stopped drinking; in Ireland 71 per cent abstained; and in the UK 66 per cent had stopped (Hall, 2015). Relating to News Diffusion is the Knowledge Gap effect. Framing effects, however, may differ among individuals depending on personal knowledge, characteristics and experience with the issue at hand. Often it is the interaction between media frames and previous experiences that shapes people’s attitudes (Kostadinova & Dimitrova, 2012). An example of this is Knowledge gap which is used to inform the citizens of this information that has been missed (Balnaves, 2009). The framing effect of knowledge gap is shown in Hall’s article where she writes, Almost half Australian women drink at least some alcohol during their pregnancies, a new study shows. But Australian women are far less likely to drink while pregnant than Irish women, more than 80 per cent of whom drink at least once during their pregnancies (Hall, 2015).
The Narrative Construction and Ideology in News Article
There are certain characteristics of narratives, such as suggested links between cause and effect that are present within a narrative (Steinhardt & Shapiro, 2015). A Narrative posits explanation about the connection between elements in text, in contrast to list or purely descriptive text, in which all the parts are referred to without an accompanying explanation or account of their belonging together. (Schirato, Buettner, Jutel & Stahl, 2010).
The type of narrative used in this article is the a normal type of narrative that has the beginning, Almost half Australian women drink at least some alcohol during their pregnancies, a new study shows (Hall, 2015), the middle, The study's authors did not find any link between women's "sociodemographic backgrounds”…Health agencies worldwide agree that the safest option for fetuses is for their mothers to abstain from alcohol entirely. (Hall, 2015) and an ending, "Additionally, since most women who consume alcohol do so at lower levels where the offspring growth and development effects are less well understood, the widespread consumption of even low levels of alcohol during pregnancy is a significant public health concern."(Hall, 2015). The difference between this narratives structure compared to many other narrative structures is that Hall doesn’t conclude her report instead she ends it abruptly with a quote from an academically credited source.
Linking to this narrative structure is ideologies.
Ideologies are narratives about the world that also effectively organise the world; that is, they dispose people to see things and to act in certain ways, and at the same time they authorise or privilege one group over another. (Schirato, Buettner, Jutel & Stahl, 2010). A type of ideology used in this article is how women shouldn’t be allowed to drink alcohol while they are pregnant however it is considered to socially acceptable. Researchers from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland compared pregnant women's alcohol consumption in all four countries for online medical journal BMJ Open, concluding that in each, alcohol use during pregnancy is "prevalent and socially acceptable". (Hall, 2015). Even though drinking while pregnant is considered to be “socially acceptable”, Hall’s article focusses on how alcohol is affecting the pregnancy and stating statistics in a negative light and influencing the pregnant mothers that are targeted to lessen the amount of alcohol consumed during a
pregnancy.
Values of accuracy, objectivity and balance
Despite the article leaning towards change, Hall has shown how accurate her results by collecting data from academically reliable sources and hasn’t incorporated any of her own personal opinions on the matter but rather focussed on the statistics to prove the main argument which makes this article a fairly balanced one as she doesn’t necessarily object to women drinking alcohol while pregnant but she doesn’t condone it either. Only until a certain extent is she allowing it.
Qualitative or Quantitative methods? Is there a difference? Peer Reviewed?
Quantitative method was the main method used in this article, as Hall had mainly used numerical evidence to validate her argument. Once women reached their second trimester of pregnancy, the majority in all four countries had begun to abstain from alcohol, with 83 per cent of Australian women giving up the drink. In New Zealand, 81 per cent stopped drinking; in Ireland 71 per cent abstained; and in the UK 66 per cent had stopped.(Hall, 2015). Throughout the article statistical evidence had been given, Two major UK studies by researchers from Oxford University and University College London, which tracked about 11,000 women and their babies until they were three and five years old, found that children of women who had engaged in light drinking were not at increased risk of behavioural difficulties or cognitive deficits compared with children of mothers who did not drink during pregnancy ( Hall, 2015), making this article credible even though it had not been peer reviewed.