226. Name: Jeffrey Longhurst Title: “Can we Clean Their Guns for Em’?” Frame Analysis of Media Coverage Surrounding the Killing of African Americans by Police: A Comparison of four U.S. and International News Sources
(Fox News, CNN, Al Jazeera and BBC) Institution: Minnesota State University Country: United States Date: 2017 Language: English Abstract:
Instances of unarmed African Americans being killed when encountering police officers came to the forefront of the discussion about race and race relations in the U.S. This study investigates media framing to determine if there are elements of racism in media frames surrounding these events. This study seeks to determine the extent to which the tenets of Critical Race Theory apply in news when comparing Fox News and CNN articles with articles by Al Jazeera and BBC. The two cases chosen were the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Using critical frame analysis, the study identified four themes: Gray’s illegal switchblade, Gray’s self-inflicted injury, age of #purge rioters, Gray family’s voice for non-violence. Two themes were found in Brown’s case, detailing his encounter with Officer Wilson and Brown family’s voice for non-violence. The emerging media frames revealed tenets of CRT such as unmarked, subtle, business-as-usual racialized framing in Fox News and CNN coverage. These frames were hidden and obscured by Fox News and CNN, and only revealed when comparing the articles with those from Al Jazeera and BBC.
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