Media
How to frame a news story
News accounts said Donald E. Johnson, 17, stole a Greyhound bus and led police on an out-of-control joyride. Newspaper articles described the event as “a bus theft rampage,” “a wild destructive chase,” and “a wild ride on a stolen bus.” (1)
Essentially, news accounts said Johnson deserved to die.
Johnson, news accounts said, was just another crime statistic.
Later, other facts surfaced. Johnson was a youth leader.
Greyhound loaned Johnson buses to take High School students on field trips. In fact, on Tuesday, January 31, 1989, Johnson had taken a group of students from the Columbia Point housing project on a field trip.
That night, police saw an African-American teenager driving an empty Greyhound bus. They flashed their lights. They pursued him. They called for back-up. They cornered him on a dead-end street.
One witness said, “There were cops running all over the place with their guns drawn, banging on the windows of the bus and yelling.”
Police gave Johnson 45 seconds to surrender.
During that time, an unidentified officer said, “Kill him.” (2)
In the end, Johnson was not only killed but framed. Framed as a bus thief, framed as an African-American teenager on a collision course with society, but not framed as a youth leader.
Johnson’s case illustrates the power of framing.
The media shape issues and events.
The media creates meaning.
Johnson’s case also illustrates the power of framing as a tool for studying mass communication.
Johnson’s case raises questions about different aspects of the entire communication process. What cultural, political, economic or …