Evaluating the Civil Power of the News and our Invariant Civil Concerns - Essay Example

Evaluating the Civil Power of the News and our Invariant Civil Concerns Table of Contents Introduction 3 Definition of the ICC through Key Elements 3Risk 4 Description 7 Analysis 8 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction It is an axiom that mass media, which comprise both print as well as broadcast media, imposes strong influence on the way public understand the society and live within the societal context. It is in this context that media, particularly the news sources, have been broadly argued to assist audiences to understand the world. In reality, most of the information regarding politics and social circumstances in the nation as well in abroad countries arrive either straightforwardly or indirectly from news. However, it is worth mentioning that news media cannot inform regarding every particular event occurring in the world. Furthermore, as reporters and editors choose news components, focus on certain type of civil concerns while neglecting the others is nothing unusual, wherein these selection activities determine the collective sense of reality and perception of public regarding the happenings of the world (Myers & Caniglia, 2004). Definition of the ICC through Key Elements The influence of news is not bounded by typical audience members; rather, findings in this regard have revealed its influence even on the broader civil power. News encompasses and interprets citizenship, while addressing the Invariant Civil Concerns (ICCs) of the citizens, simultaneously. Civil society is a sphere where community is customarily described and sustained by public viewpoint. ICCs, in this context, can be defined as expressions of public sentiment regarding various aspects. These ICCs are related with the interests, passions and actions of public. Accordingly, it can be stated that the news can provide the audiences with choices to the type of society they desire. Through the representation of these choices on ICCs, news media reveals its soft power and influence on public thinking and their opinion, apparently but subtly too. There are various ICCs, such as identity, legitimacy and risks (Leeds, 2014). However, in this assessment, ICC of risk has been described along with the key elements of the same under the influence of media. Risk Risk is related with danger, unpredictable and threatening sense of affairs. Risks are how people worry regarding certain aspects that threaten the world. Risks, in this context, may refer to the explanation, which a civil society develops with regards to the aspects of security. It may also refer to the aspects of fear persisting in the society. It is noteworthy in this context that there are extensively ranging concerns of risks within the said paradigm, which expands from psychological, social and cultural to economic and political. Where risk grows, but remains unpredictable and unidentifiable, it becomes more difficult to persuade the public that those in power are capable of controlling the situation. Under such a situation, news media plays a vital role in interpreting failed attempts by the authority to regulate events or interrogate safety measures. These aspects can further be examined as quite likely to increase the civic awareness of being at risk (Chapman & Kinsey, 2008). Notably, when individuals assess risks, their opinions and insights are entrenched in concession of individual identities. It is worth mentioning in this context that news, which mass media distributes impose an undistinguishable sense of risk. It is concerned with traditional institutions, independences and truths. News also has a propensity to define risks with extensive terms. Notably, defining risks can form the basis of civil action and determine the boundaries. For instance, in news, the ICCs are expressed in real life scenario. Reporting of risk herewith determines the extent to which, people extend civil friendliness and civil morality (Chapman & Kinsey, 2008). Reporting Risks There are certain common interests, which come together around diverse risk categories and uncertainties. The reporting of these risks has the power of initiating civil action and can determine the boundaries. The concern of civil risks can be reported in several manners, which further determines the level to the extent where people can observe the changes as tolerant or threat. There are three frames, through which, news can report risks, namely civil frame, non-civil frame and anti-civil frame (Alexander, 2006). Civil Frame: News that follow civil frame concentrates on safety and durability of the world. They seek to solidarise the civil society against certain risks by concentrating on civil movements. Civil reports accordingly, emphasis on values, such as morality, courtesy, bravery, generosity and pride among others. In civil reporting, the characteristics of risks are completely clarified and the sense of fear is reduced. However, in such reporting, a type of civil insolence is induced (Alexander, 2006). Non-civil Frame: News that follow non-civil frame, concentrate on the requirements for better public responses in relation to the threat of risks. It emphasises the social problems conducting scientific and technical researches. Non-civil reports also focus on values such as knowledge, politics and individualism among others (Alexander, 2006). Anti-civil Frame: News that follow anti-civil frame focuses on the possibility of threat. In this type of news, the risks are demonstrated as unknown and unpredictable. Furthermore, this type of news tends to amplify fear or terror among the public, wherein anti-civil reports usually assess unacceptable activities and attempt to protect civil rights as well as values (Alexander, 2006). Risk news can also be reported in three styles; viz. discursive, descriptive and tendentious. Discursive: This type of news covers intellectual and technical issues. In addition, the reporting style followed ensures rudimental efficiency in the investigation and encourages news position in independent manner. This type of reporting is quite complex and allows commentary of different individuals (Franklin, 2008). Descriptive: In descriptive style, the reports are expressed with deliberate reductionism and simplicity. It simply defines the events, as they are, by using precise quotes. Descriptive news is short in nature, but occasionally it can also be long. In descriptive style, the news is communicated in a narrative way (Franklin, 2008). Tendentious: Tendentious reporting is based on direct encouragement of a particular issue. This type of report usually demonstrates the issue of personal interest and also discloses the true motives or causes for the occurrence of the particular issue (Franklin, 2008). Description In order to describe the selected ICC, i.e. risk, a story of racism has been selected wherein a similar story has been analysed in two different newspapers, namely The Guardian and The Telegraph within a gap of one week. The description of the framework and style of reporting is as follows: The Telegraph – “9/11 Terror Attacks Fuelled Decade-Long Rise in Racism in the UK” Focuses on the problem of racism in British population Provides reassurance of the issue Descriptive style of reporting Use of civil frame The Guardian – “Racism in the UK: Can We Really Measure Racial Prejudice?” Emphasis on the survey regarding racism in British population Expresses the statistics of racism in the UK Discursive style of news reporting Use of anti-civil frame Analysis The Guardian – “Racism in the UK: Can We Really Measure Racial Prejudice”: In the reporting of racism, The Guardian has utilised the anti-civil frame, concentrated on the very idea of racism in British society. The news article demonstrates that a degree of racism exists among the people in the UK; however, the level of racism, which was reported in 1983, has reduced in 2013. Various statistics have been provided in the report in order to evaluate the risk of racism. For example, the highest level of racism according to The Guardian newspaper was observed in 2010 wherein, about 37% of surveyed respondents defined themselves as prejudiced on the grounds of racial differences. The report correspondingly reveals the problem in society and demonstrates risks and conflicts therein. Such type of reporting, which has been demonstrated by The Guardian newspaper can generate a sense of disempowerment among the people who are being prejudiced. It is fundamentally, as the newspaper reported, there is low level of control on the risk of racism for individuals. To be noted in addition, a discursive style of reporting has been used with well-researched information and commentary (Park, 2014). The Telegraph – “9/11 Terror Attacks Fuelled Decade-Long Rise in Racism in the UK”: In contrast to The Guardian, The Telegraph has followed different styles of reporting and writing in order to report news on racism. To be precise, it has followed the civil frame in order to report the incident of racism. In the news presented by The Telegraph, a kind of civil insolence has been evoked. The similar fact, i.e. racism has increased during 2010 to 2011 at 38% from 25% in 2001, has been elaborated in the article with focus on danger and risk. However, the nature of the risk has not been explained completely. Apart from that, a descriptive style of reporting has been used in The Telegraph. The opinion of political leaders on the issue of racism has also been discussed in the news, providing a sense of assurance for the prejudiced individuals (Graham, 2014). In order to undertake a more rigorous evaluation of one ICC (i.e. risk), three other newspapers have been selected and studied with respect to the theme used and reporting frame followed. Daily Mail – “Revealed: How Racial Prejudice Has Risen over the Past Decade as Migration and Fear of Islamist Terrorism Has Shaken Britons”: In order to report racism, Daily Mail has followed a non-civil frame. The report concentrates on the requirements of greater individual and public reaction regarding the threat of racism. Daily Mail has reported that in Britain, racism has increased and defines biased treatment with respect to employment, education, age and political party. In order to support the statement, various statistics have been used. Daily Mail has focused the problem of racism based on scientific research. It has also applied uncertainty regarding the issue of racism and its consequences in the UK in the near future. In the news generated by Daily Mail, the characteristics of the risks have amplified without providing proper explanation. For instance, in the news, it has been stated that prejudice is quite higher among middle age generation who were born between the years 1960 and 1979. Furthermore, the news also stated that the most prejudiced regions in the UK were the West and East Midlands. Yet, neither a complete explanation of such events stated in the news, nor the precise characteristics of the extent of such risks have been described in the report. The news article ignored giving significance to the nature of racism in extensive context; rather, it has only confirmed about the statistics of racism in the UK and informed the public regarding the risk. It is worth mentioning that the key focus of the news is placed on the threats to regularity. Furthermore, a discursive style of reporting has been used in the report. The news has been demonstrated in a well-researched manner and provided certain analysis and commentary on racism (Doughty, 2014). The Guardian – “Racism on the Rise in Britain”: Civil frame has been used by The Guardian in order to report the news of racism. In the news, The Guardian seeks to solitarise the society against the risk. Apart from several statistics on racism, the report also illustrates several real life stories regarding prejudice experience of people in the UK. The key emphasis of the report is to extend the civil hospitality. Unlike Daily Mail, which only concentrates on providing statistics, in The Guardian, the characteristics of the risk have been explained in an elaborated manner. The news has provided a fascinating overview regarding prejudice on the basis of region, occupational class, generation, gender and sexual relationship. To be noted, a descriptive style of reporting has been used in The Guardian. The event of racism has also been explained with reductionism and simplicity. Furthermore, the reporting has been done without comment or opinion of readers. The information given in the news is quite long in nature and has been demonstrated in an informative way. Similar to Daily Mail, the news has been demonstrated by various graphics and numerical statistics (Taylor & Muir, 2014). The Telegraph – “Are We All Racist Now”: In the similar topic, i.e. racism, The Telegraph has followed anti-civil reporting. In the news article, The Telegraph concentrated on threatening characteristics of racism. In addition, providing quotations, The Telegraph has demonstrated the quality of racism faced by people in the UK. Backward attitudes and activities are provided as evidence in order to focus on the danger of racism. Unlike The Guardian and Daily Mail, which provided various statistics on racism, The Telegraph provided much focus on characteristics of risk and how it generates threat to the civil society. The news has generated sense of disempowerment because throughout the news, it has been observed, a low level of personal control persists on preventing racism. By demonstrating various examples, the news has amplified anxiety as well. In order to define racism, the Telegraph has focused on victimhood, where experiences of several victims have been described. Furthermore, the uncontrollable nature of racism has also been described in the news. Observably, a descriptive pattern of writing has been used in the news. Unlike, The Guardian and Daily Mail, the news of The Telegraph was quite narrative in nature. Accordingly, an insignificant amount of statistics has been provided in the news, wherein the key focus is delivered on demonstrating various practical facts on racism, in an evaluative and judgemental nature (Pearson, 2014). Conclusion Every newspaper demonstrates the risk news in different ways. While some news uses civil reporting, others use no-civil or anti-civil reporting frame. The use of different frame particularly signifies the kind of civil society portrayed by the particular news. Fundamentally, news reports focus on the requirement to act, where different spheres have been used. It demonstrates the risks, faced by the public and thus, influences the civil power. At times, news also encourages debate by highlighting various opinions of individuals. However, at the core, news focuses on the requirement to protect the civil society from any risk. Thus, it can be concluded that news influences civil power in both positive as well as negative ways, encouraging actions against the situation. References Alexander, J. C., 2006. The Civil Sphere. Oxford University Press. Chapman, J. & Kinsey, M., 2008. Broadcast Journalism: A Critical Introduction. Routledge. Doughty, S., 2014. Revealed: How Racial Prejudice has risen Over the Past Decade as Migration and Fear of Islamist Terrorism Has shaken Britons. Daily Mail. [Online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2641457/Revealed-How-9-11-terror-attacks-immigration-fears-fuelled-rise-racism-21st-century-Britain.html [Accessed June 02, 2014]. Franklin, B., 2008. Pulling Newspapers Apart: Analysing Print Journalism. Routledge. Graham, G., 2014. 9/11 Terror Attacks Fuelled Decade-Long Rise in Racism in the UK. Telegraph Media Group Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10859770/911-terror-attacks-fuelled-decade-long-rise-in-racism-in-the-UK.html [Accessed June 02, 2014]. Leeds, 2014. The Civil Power of the News. Institute of Communications Studies. [Online] Available at: http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/events/the-civil-power-of-the-news/ [Accessed June 02, 2014]. Myers, D. J. & Caniglia, B., 2004. All the Rioting Thats Fit to Print: Selection Effects in National Newspaper Coverage of Civil Disorders, 1968-1969. American Sociological Review, Vol. 69, No. 4, pp. 519-543. Park, A., 2014. Racism in the UK: Can We Really Measure Racial Prejudice? Guardian News and Media Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/27/racism-in-uk-can-we-measure-racial-prejudice [Accessed June 02, 2014]. Pearson, A., 2014. Are We All Racist Now? Telegraph Media Group Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10860492/Are-we-all-racist-now.html [Accessed June 02, 2014]. Taylor, M. & Muir, H., 2014. Racism on the Rise in Britain. Guardian News and Media Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/27/-sp-racism-on-rise-in-britain?view=desktop [Accessed June 02, 2014]. Read More