Comparing Visual Framing in Newspapers: Hurricane Katrina Versus Tsunami

Summary

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Method The purpose of this inquiry was to identify a consistent set of frames to determine how two U.S. newspapers visually covered the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Hurricane Katrina disasters. [...] images of those who survived the incidents and relief work being done on their behalf were coded as exhibiting the lives-saved frame. * Pragmatic Frame The pragmatic frame included images that showed the reality of the disaster in physical terms. Portrayal of the Dead All images were analyzed based on these dimensions: * Use of camera shots that imbue pictures with social meanings18 * Bodies were covered or left for open viewing * Faces were visible to viewers * Pages where the images appeared * Size of the published image The use of camera shots was coded as aerial, full, long, mid and close up.

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Extract

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Comparing Visual Framing in Newspapers: Hurricane Katrina Versus Tsunami

Visuals used after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 have gathered heated discussions because the images horrified audiences across the world. This study uses visual framing to compare how two American newspapers visually portrayed the first week of these two natural disasters.

Literature Review

A consistently growing body of research in the social sciences focuses on the concept of framing. Goffman1 defined framing as the "principles of organization, which govern events-at least social ones-and our subjective involvement in them." Frames help individuals organize what they see in everyday life. He calls frames the "schemata of interpretation" a framework that helps in making an otherwise meaningless succession of events into som...

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