Framing the Media.

I am obsessed with framing. Looking for bias, looking for silences. Commercial networks, and even the ABC, are so consistent in the way they frame stories that it feels as though I am unrepresented and left without a voice on so many national issues. This lack of engagement is frustrating, though for me it arises out of a sense of feeling completely out of touch with mainstream Australia. I imagine it would be a lot worse if I was part of a minority group that, as a result of media portrayal, felt stigmatised, completely misrepresented and completely misunderstood.

It is here the media have to weigh up their responsibilities. Are they to the public, owed fair and balanced reports, with experts providing facts? Or is the media responsible to its owners, to its advertisers and its shareholders, whereby the public are presented with populist reports that re-affirm existing opinions, a dash of celebrity news and a healthy side of sport. It is a comfortable formula, and it is a cheap (non expensive) formula. International stories can be syndicated (from other media organisations owned by the same media group), the political narrative is overly simplified and crime is committed by monsters who need to be kept off the street.

It is the nature of the media machine though. A half hour spot in prime-time is so valuable in terms of viewers (potential consumers) that a low risk approach has to be taken to maximise the opportunity for the companies that are spending money, buying expensive advertising during the commercial breaks of the program. Not only that, but half an hour doesn't allow for context or in depth analysis of more than a couple of stories anyway, particularly when the subject is 'youth crime' or 'religious extremists.' Instead, broad generalisations - that are so far from the truth as to not really mean anything -  abound, and viewers are given an appraisal of events that can do more harm than good.

Given this, it is little wonder that minority groups are the targets of vicious attacks, both on line and physical. It is a nasty underbelly that exists not only in Australia, but across North America, Europe and Scandinavia, and it will take a courageous politician or media figurehead to stand up to it and discuss why it's so damaging.