In recent weeks, one of the most prominent news stories has been the coverage of the “Government Shutdown.” For those who are not familiar with the story, a Government Shutdown is essentially a way for Congress to put everyone on hold for a fews days so they can do their job. Every year different parts of the Federal Government need funding in order to operate, and it is the job of Congress to disperse the proper funds. When Congress can’t agree which funds go where, it closes down. It's very similar to the NHL or NFL “Lockout” that occurred in recent years. The problem is both sides want a lot of money, and there isn’t enough to go around.
The United States is a democratic nation, and by default, people are allowed to have their own opinions, and express them if they choose to do so. In the case of the Government Shutdown, the nation is very divided on who is to blame for the problem. Democrats blame Speaker of the House John Boehner and the Republicans, where as the Republicans blame President Barack Obama and the Democrats.
However, the media has also gotten involved and has taken its own opinion on the issue as well. Different bias media sources portray the President, in particular, in very different manors.
The image to the left is taken from an ABC News story that headlines: “Government Shutdown 2013: Republicans mostly to blame...” It doesn’t taken much inquiry to see that ABC has taken a very democratic stance on the issue, and it shows in the way they portray President Obama.
Obama is out of focus, which not only shows that he is not the center of attention, but is also a message to highlight that President Obama is not to blame for the shutdown. Speaker of the House John Boehner is in focus with a befuddled look on his face, thus showing that he, and the Republicans, are responsible for the shutdown. Obama is also mid-sentence, looking very professional and intelligent, as opposed to Boehner who appears slouched over and distraught. This once again is trying to emphasize the strengths of President Obama, thus showing that he is not responsible for what has happened.
Yahoo News, on the other hand, has taken a much different view on the issue. This article, takes the complete opposite direction and blames President Obama and his poor policy making for the shutdown. It tries to emphasize the struggles and problems President Obama is facing in leu of the recent issues.
This image, focuses directly on the face of President Obama. Obama is the center of attention; the image is clear and zoomed in right up to his face, and the lights are all aimed at him. The goal is to show a weathered and tired president who appears to have just run out of answers. His expression shows that he is not only frustrated, but confused on how to go about the issue at hand. Yahoo attempts to emphasize the blame on President Barack Obama.
Essentially, the media is in many cases just as opinionated as the American people, and it only takes a picture to show what side they choose.
The analysis opens with a strong title, and follows with a description of the issues portrayed in the photos. The background information allows readers with different levels of knowledge on the government shut down to understand the story being portrayed in the two photos. The author focused on various techniques that ABC News and Yahoo News used to demonstrate their political stances on the shut down. For the ABC News photo analysis the author talked about the focus and clarity, subjects and the position of the photo. The author could have also discussed the setting of the photo, Obama in control standing rather than sitting and using a microphone at a podium in a government setting depicting that his in charge and if we follow Obama the government will be back in office functioning again. While in the Yahoo News the author described the focus and clarity, size, framing, and subject. In the photo Obama looks defeated and the background is blurred so the setting is unknown, portraying Obama as confused and lost. The unknown setting depicts that no ones knows or understands Obama’s future plans for our nation. Along with the other perspectives of the photos the setting is also important and could have been included in the analysis of the photos.
ReplyDeleteThe title for this analysis is definitely explanatory and gives the reader an understanding about what the rest of the post will be about. He explains well what the government shutdown is briefly but sufficiently giving the reader good background knowledge in case they weren't aware of the Government Shutdown. His comparisons to the NHL or NFL lockouts were also really well put together, giving the reader something more relatable to compare it to. The author then went through two different photos from two news sources and compared how these sources depicted the President. He did this well by showing two opposing side of the government shutdown as well as two photos that are interpreted in two different ways. He discussed how ABC took the more democratic approach, blaming Republicans, and used a photo of Obama in a positive light. He then contrasted it to Yahoo News' photo, showing Obama in a negative light, and therefore blaming Obama and the Democrats on the Government Shutdown. By successfully showing the two different sides, it shows readers how influential the media can be and how most articles have a little or a lot of bias towards them. The only thing I would add would maybe be an article from a source like Fox that blatantly blames Obama for the shutdown. I think this would prove the point made even further. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/08/obama-digs-in-over-fiscal-impasse-calls-boehner-to-say-wont-negotiate/
ReplyDeleteThe recent shut down has indeed created a negative impact to the country's economy. With a possibility of another government shutdown due to lack of unity, I guess it is wise if people will acquire an income insurance for extra protection.
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