The Portrayal of Brazil in the U.S. News Media - Thesis Example

?The Portrayal of Brazil in the U.S. News Media Table of Contents Theoretical Background 3 Public Opinion 7 Agenda Setting 8 Framing 10 References 13Bibliography 16 Theoretical Background This study analyses ‘the portrayal of Brazil in the U.S. news media’. This section of the research study will focus upon the leading print news media in the United States the New York Times and Washington Post on how they framed Brazil’s political and economic scenario. This valuable topic as it attracts the foreign affairs, policies and global issues between the United States and Brazil in the international platform. This is the major reason for choosing this subject matter as a research topic. Related to the image of Brazil portrayed by the US news media, several literatures have been published having strong influences on the public opinion. For instance, as stated by Paulo Sotero in one of his literatures, “historically, the United States has been disproportionately more relevant for Brazil than Brazil has been for the United States” (Sotero, 2007, pp. 3). This statement evidently depicts the relationship between the two economies with due consideration to the influence of the news media. In another news publication by BBC, it was quoted that Brazil is the biggest democratic country and economic giant and is South America’s most significant country (BBC, 2010). A literature published by Dr. Lucas (2002) reveals that The United Sates of America and Brazil are known to be the two most prosperous and stable nations in the region of America. These two nations share common national interests relating to prosperity and security. The two countries often emerge to be moving in parallel direction or are odds with one other despite sharing superior bilateral relations (Lucas, 2002). As depicted by Robert M Levine and John J Crocitti in the Brazil Reader: History, Culture, and Politics, according to the information collected by Mr. Turner Catledge of the New York Times states that the country (Brazil) was not a fascist country. There was a false presentation of Brazil as a fascist country in the US. The US news media presented certain information about Brazil that generated a view about Brazil in a different way. There was news that in Brazil there was no liberty of speech and freedom of press. The newspapers presented strong and denunciatory articles based upon politics of Brazil (Levine & Crocitti, 1999). The US and Brazil shared better relationship before the World War II and there were lots of news about the Brazilian political and economical issues in the US media that portrayed different views of Brazil in the US economy. For instance, there were controversies relating to the Brazilian Government’s formation of relationship with the other nations in order to gain benefits especially with the Asian nations. During the Cold War period, the bilateral relations between the US and Brazil was under the immense pressure due to the articles that were published in the US media, which apparently notes the influence of news media in portraying the image of an economy (Arnson & Sotero, 2010). The new President of Brazil, Mr. Fernando Henrique Cardoso in the year 1995 had been in the media for the policies of this government in order to develop the Brazilian economy. The President not only established relationships with various nations but also engaged economical and political links with the neighboring countries within South America (Arnson & Sotero, 2010). The news about the new President of Brazil had high influence in the other nations of South America. The publication about the political leaders of South America was a controversial subject in the US media. There were several reports and publications that were published by the different renowned US media agencies. The validity of certain reports was not known and was subject to critics (Arnson & Sotero, 2010). Inclusively, Mr. Rubens Antonio Barbosa, Brazil’s Ambassador to the US, during the year of 2000 in acknowledgment to Congress, stated about the desires and commitments of the two economies which were based on common perceptions. He further stated about sharing the vision of familiar potential future with less discrimination and more communal justice for all the inhabitants of the nation of the North and the South America. The Brazil Ambassador’s comments and beliefs were the hot issues of the US media agencies and there were regular publications about the Brazilian intentions, politics and economic related affairs (Lucas, 2002). According to Chong (2007), the media agencies of the US and Brazil have played a strong role for the functioning and the effectiveness of the existing Brazilian society. The media in this regard, has played strategic role in the progression of institutionalizing and disseminating the current behavior and attitude pattern of Brazil in a coherent way (Chong & Et. Al., 2007). A documentary by Oliver Stones known as ‘South of the Border’ has shown the US media publications’ reflections related to the Brazil politics. In Latin America (including Brazil), there were controversies related to the election of the left as well as center-left governments that began with the election of Hugo Chavez in the beginning of the year 1998. The US media agencies have frequently provided indistinct and biased reporting of the regions of Brazil. This report of the US media agencies has commonly portrayed the Brazil’s behavior and attitude of progressive government as undemocratic force and destabilizing force for the regions of Brazil and as a threat to the American national security (Alborada, 2010). The government of Brazil was closely associated with the major foreign policy matters that included the nuclear energy program too. There were lot of conflicts and news in the US. In the year 2007, the president commented upon certain significant matters related to the financing of the nation and IMF issues that was majorly highlighted in the US media. The coverage of the US media had constantly claimed that the progression of Brazil government were deceptive with regard to their country’s economics. This always portrayed the situation of economic collapse in the US (Alborada, 2010). The major media agencies have not been successful in reporting on the growing segregation of the United States in the regions of South America. Gradually more of the US policies have been at odds with different issues of the majority of Brazilians and Latin Americans. The different representation of the media about the political instability and economic crises that were directly related to the US security provided a negative view about the Brazilian environment (Alborada, 2010). With reference to the above discussion, it can be stated that one of the major problems of the US media coverage in misleading had been the language interpretation. The Brazilian leaders spoke in their native language and made comments. This was misinterpreted and the consequence was that there were distorted messages in the US, influencing the public opinion at large. The reporters and commentators often jumped to the conclusion regardless of the speech. Thus, several interpretations turned out to be misleading and created unfavorable situations among both the nations. Public Opinion The power of the news media agencies to focus public attention on a few significant issues, to position a nation’s agenda, is an immense and appropriate-documented influence. People not only acquire realistic information related to the public affairs from the news media, but they also know how much importance should be provided to a topic on the basis of emphasis placed on it, in the news (McCombs, 2004). The principal outlines of the news media influence that were illustrated by Walter Lippmann in the year 1922 about the public opinion commenced with a chapter titled ‘The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads’ (McCombs, 2004). According to Walter Lippmann, the analyst of public opinion begins “by recognizing the triangular relationship between the scene of action, the human picture of that scene and the human response to that picture working itself out upon the scene of action” (Lippmann, 2007, pp. 21). The public opinion deals with unseen, indirect and puzzling facts. The psychology of this theory assumes that the environment is knowledgeable and if not then at least manageable to certain extent and to any unclouded intelligence. This assumption of Lippmann was the main contention of the public opinion (Lippmann, 2007). The newspapers are regarded by democrats as a universal remedy for their own imperfections. While analysis of the nature of economic journalism and news illustrate that the newspapers unavoidably and essentially reflect the imperfections of public opinions (Lippmann, 2007). Agenda Setting Setting the media agenda is quite important as it influences the public opinion to a greater extent. The setting up of the agenda decides what news has to be put before the public and what needs to be hidden. The information that needs to be provided and the views that might influence the general public are decided through the agenda setting. Columnist Leonard Pitts has commented that “ in a world where media set the public agenda and drive the dialogue, those things media ignore may as well not exist” (McCombs, 2004). At times, the national leaders do achieve success in setting the news agenda. Public information officers and other public relationship officers are important contributors of the standards. But all these influential factors are filtered through the rules and regulations set up by the norms of journalism. These norms are powerful and effective in filtering the information and maintaining the standards. The evolution of the daily as well as weekly news agenda are fashioned and standardized through the interaction among news organizations. In this procedure of agenda-setting, trusted news organizations such as the New York Times and Associated Press lay down the agendas of other news organizations. But at the city level, the local newspapers and the TV stations manipulate the news schedules and agendas of their competitors (McCombs, 2004). On certain occasion, intermedia agenda takes a quite different form that is entertainment media, which constitutes a set of agenda of the news media. Even though the majority of information about the agenda setting process focuses on the relationship between the public agenda and media agenda, the influence is still greater by the intermedia and bigger media houses (McCombs, 2004). The agenda setting illustrates the phenomenon, but the attributes of the agenda-setting shows that strong consideration to the definite content of mass media message offers more comprehensive understanding of the actual fact. According to McCombs “Attribute agenda- setting and framing bring us back to the influence of the mass media on attitudes and opinions, the theoretical site where mass communication theory started in 1940s and 1950s” (McCombs, 2004). The agenda-setting control of the news media is not restricted to the preliminary pace of focusing upon public consideration related to a specified subject matter. The media also controls the next phase in the communication progression (McCombs, 2004). Framing The idea of framing is connected to the agenda-setting practice but develops with the focus on the essence of certain issues within reach rather on particular subject matter. The foundation of framing theory is that the media concentrates on definite events and then places them within the significant field. Framing has been significant since it has been influencing greatly and has been expanding in different organizations too (University of Twente, 2010). The media draws the public attention to certain subject matter, decides the thoughts of the general people and journalists select the subject matter. This is through which the agenda-setting is made easy in framing application (University of Twente, 2010). The journalist can also make a choice of the way the news is brought and the frame in which the news is to be presented. The presentation of the facts and information greatly influence the perceptions of the general public (University of Twente, 2010). Thus, this theory of framing refers to the techniques in which the media organizes and illustrates the events and issues they cover. Through this the audience is able to interpret what are offered by the journalists, thus they need to be cautious while they frame the news. Through the application of framing form of agenda-setting not only tells of what to be thought about but also how to think about the events that need to be framed for the presentation (University of Twente, 2010). The study of mass media communication has provided a string of theories in the practical application but still it holds greater influential power to influence large audience. The influence is greater since the two nations’ (the USA and Brazil) political and economical relationships get affected. According to McQuail, the twentieth century is known to be the first age of mass media communication. In spite of massive changes in the technology and media institutes’ and the science of communication, the requisites of public debate related to the potential social consequences of the media appear to have a greater influence upon the changes (McQuail, 2010). The early twentieth century sustained a third set of ideas related to the mass communication. The media could be an effective powerful force for the public enlightenment. The potential of the new century mass media communication’s ability was highly recognized and different people or group of people especially the political and social reformers wanted to use them. The political and social reformers found out the probable positive application in the media through the distribution of information, ideas, revealing political corruptions and providing sensitive information. The framing of the news was considerably gaining importance to project to large mass of readers and listeners (McQuail, 2010). In the new era of the mass media communication, there were several countries moving towards professionalism in this field and practiced the code of ethics and good practice. The reason for this was the ethical issues related to the right to information and providing accurate data and facts. This development in the mass communication industry assists in the actual practice of the communication system through the media agencies. Framing was to be carried out under the ethical code (McQuail, 2010). Despite hopeful and fearful circumstances, the public opinion about the media practices and to blame the media and demand for solutions did not seem to have undergone vast changes during the last few decades. The improvement in the mass media communication and the ethical practice with less influential power has made this field more valuable in recent times (McQuail, 2010). There are new problems that have been found in the media application especially phenomena related to violence in political protest, xenophobia, even the decline of democracy and rise of political indifferences. Public can get access to it immediately through the news media or through internet. Hence, there are more controversies due to violation in the web publications and comments posted in the blogs which might increase the intensity in the political environment. For this reason framing has gained importance in recent time (McQuail, 2010). James Tankard theory holds that the television possesses properties that formulate it as a principal powerful influential ability such as its comparatively high penetration rate and saturation rate. Additionally, the theory also applies to the ‘TV World’ that differs scientifically from the real world, transmits regular and consonant moral messages related to the power and risk. This is the reason for the proposition of the theory of James that viewers think “that the world is scarier than it really is” (Tankard, 2004). References Arnson, C. & Sotero, P., (2010). Brazil as Regional Power. Wilson Center. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/Brazil_as_Regional_Power.pdf Alborada, (2010). Comment & Analysis: US Media Distortions of Latin America (South of the Border). Latin-America Uncovered. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.alborada.net/us-media-latin-america BBC, (2010). Brazil Country Profile. News. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1227110.stm Chong, A. & Et. Al., (2007). Soap Operas and Fertility. Evidence from Brazil. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.essex.ac.uk/economics/pdfs/papers/LaFerrara.Eliana.pdf Lucas, J., (2002). Us and Brazil: Prospective National Security Partners. National Defense University. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA441494 Levine, R. M. & Crocitti, J. J., (1999). The Brazil Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. McCombs, M., (2004). Setting the Agenda: The Mass Media and Public Opinion. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.infoamerica.org/documentos_pdf/mccombs01.pdf McCombs, M. E., (2004). Setting the Agenda: The Mass Media and Public Opinion. Polity. McQuail, D., (2010). McQuail's Mass Communication Theory. SAGE Publications Ltd. Sotero, P., (2007). Brazilian Perspectives on the United States. Woodrow Wilson International. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/Brazilian.Perspectives_E.pdf Suresh, K., 2003. Theories of Communication. Journalism and Mass Communication. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/mass/mass2.html Tankard, J. W. & Et. Al., (2004). How to Build Social Science Theories. SAGE. University of Twente, (2010). Framing. Theory Clusters. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Communication%20Processes/Framing/ Walter Lippmann, (2007). Public Opinion. Filiquarian Publishing, LLC. Bibliography Fagen, R. R. & Arnson, C., (1979). Capitalism and the State in U.S.-Latin American Relations. Stanford University Press. Ferraz, C. & Finan, F., (2008). Exposing Corrupt Politicians: The Effects of Brazil’s Publicly Released Audits on Electoral Outcomes. UC Berkeley Department of Economics. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~ffinan/Finan_Audit.pdf Medici, A., (2004). The Political Economy of Reform in Brazil’s Civil Servant Pension Scheme. Harvard University. Retrieved Online on February 08, 2011 from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/pgda/WorkingPapers/2004/Medici_WP5.2004.pdf Seelke, C. R., (2010). Brazil-U.S. Relations. Diane Publishing. Sriramesh, K., (2009). The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice. Taylor & Francis. Weintraub, S., (2004). Commentaries on International Political Economy: Constructive Irreverence. CSIS. Read More