Media Analysis

Introduction3

Discussion3

Analysis of a News Story3

Synopsis of the Story4

Episodic and Thematic Framing5

Framing of the Egypt News Story5

Underlying Meaning of the Story6

Larger Implications of Media Coverage8

Conclusion11

References12

Appendix15

Media Analysis

Introduction

The role of a journalist involves making continuous decisions about the kind of facts and figures to use, what kind of sources to quote and what points to emphasize on. It is the mélange of these factors that give way to a story that the audience will find interesting. For decades, researches especially sociologists, have been particularly interested in studying the content that goes on mass media. Max Weber, a German political economist and sociologist, saw media content as the monitoring factor for 'cultural temperature' in a society (Macnamara, 2005). It is noted that, rather than expressing direct opinions about a topic, the media draws attention to topics that people should form opinions about. To gain the attention of the audience, tools such as sensationalism and framing are utilized. Agenda setting is used by the media to select the stories that will be published (www.ou.edu).

From a reader or viewer's point of view, it is essential to decode the story and figure out the perspective (or bias) of the journalist before blindly following the news. Finding the subliminal or influencing messages is also crucial. All this deciphering falls under the media analysis umbrella. Media analysis is usually done to examine the framing of messages, to identify messages or to comprehend the coverage given to an issue. Important aspects of media analysis include studying the timing, placement and handling of the news story at hand (Gould, 2004).

Discussion

Analysis of a News Story

The news story selected for media analysis for this paper deals with the statement of Egypt's Army Chief over the prevailing conditions in the country. It falls under the World News category in the Middle East section and was made public on the 29th of January this year by BBC. The story is taken from BBC's online news coverage (Knell, 2013). From the headline “Egypt army chief warns of 'state collapse' amid crisis”, it becomes clear that the news is intense, and the situation in Egypt is critical. The news story unfolds by initially giving information about the General's statement and moving on to the comments of the BBC reporter in Cairo, Yolande Knell. The story also focuses on the reporter's take on calling the Chief's statement a 'veiled threat' under the sub-heading by the same name. The story also features a small section of facts and figures under the heading “Egypt's army”.

Synopsis of the Story

As the news story points out, the Egyptian Army General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi commented on the situation of the country while addressing a group of army cadets. His comments were then posted on the official Facebook page of the military. After a state of emergency was declared, the military was deployed in three more cities along the Suez Canal, which is the main source of foreign revenue for the state. The statements made by the Army General remind the public about the strong ...