Instrument Research

The saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words, so what happens if the pictures say differently? Newton (2009) states that “a journalist tells stories, a photographer takes pictures of nouns, and a photojournalist takes the best of both and locks it into the most powerful medium available” (p. 236). Using photos to report the news is a common method for distributing visual information over different forms of media (Newton, 2009). News photographs are the first component to capture a reader’s attention on the page (Fahmy, 2005). Because photos are typically the first to catch the eye of the audience, this makes them an important part in the process of attracting the public to the content of the work. In addition to being the first thing people pay attention to, much of the power of photography has to do with its special connection to world. That special connection is a photograph’s ability to bring something to life (Savedoff, 1997).

Visual reporters bring moments of time to life by documenting and presenting what they find in the world to numerous audiences. The media use these photos to supplement news stories and show their audiences what they believe is happening (Grayson, 2013). An example of the importance of visual storytelling can be found in a series of Civil Rights Movement photographs taken by Bill Hudson and Charles Moore. These iconic photographs of police dogs lunging at peaceful demonstrators during Civil Rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama made a huge difference in the movement by bringing the problems to the attention of President John F. Kennedy, who later made a speech supporting the protestors’ cause (Spratt, 2008). Photographs in the news have the potential to influence people one way or the other. This study examines the effects visual framing in the media have on audience perceptions about current events.

Literature Review

Framing Theory

Every photo tells a story, but every story has more than one side. News does not always tell all sides of the story. Framing is regarded as selecting only certain facets of a perceived reality and making those facets more evident in communication (Entman, 1993). A frame can be defined as “a central theme or organizing idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events” (Detenber, Gotlieb, McLeod, & Malinkina, 2007, p. 441). Detenber et al. (2007) explains that certain beliefs about groups and issues are made more readily accessible when audiences are exposed to news stories and the frames embedded within them. Basically framing is a way the media are able to provide their chosen meaning of an event to the audience. Some techniques the media use to build frames include adding in or leaving out individual key words, stock phrases, stereotyped images, sources of information, and sentences that offer idea supporting groups of facts or judgments (Detenber et al., 2007). Frames studied in the past can be sorted into two groups: textual frames and visual frames (Entman, 1993). Both types of frames have the ability to influence the audience’s perception on news stories (Detenber et al., 2007), but this study focuses on the effects of visual framing on audience perception.

Visual Framing

Frames can be further sorted by classifying visual frames into separate categories. Rodriguez and Dimitrova (2011) divide visual framing into four levels of classification: 1) visuals as denotative systems, which do not address the meaning of either the audience or communicator; 2) visuals as stylistic-semiotic systems, which focus on the stylistic construct of a photo and what social meaning that construction signifies; 3) visuals as connotative systems, which are content driven and analyzed by the presence of symbols in each photo; and 4) visuals as ideological representations, which establish the principle attitude of a group being represented. Only the first two levels of visual classification will be examined in this study because they can be applied the best to the frames being studied due to the denotative nature of the photos and the focus on the style of the photos.

No matter how they are classified, visual frames have one thing in common: they have the power of influence. Rodriguez and Dimitrova (2011) found that visuals are powerful framing devices because they have the ability to obscure the issues and overwhelm the fact and because they are less intrusive and therefore require less of a cognitive load for the audience. Abraham and Appiah (2006) found that textual information along with images offer the audience additional learning cues. Visual images can expand the message presented in the text into something more. In the same study, Abraham and Appiah (2006) presented evidence that a balanced news report paired with a biased photo can direct readers to develop misleading perceptions of the issue in the direction of the bias. Therefore, Gibson and Zillmann (2000) argue that “reporters, photographers, and layout artists should be aware of the power of visual storytelling, specifically the possible unintended effects of incidental information contained in news photographs” (p. 365). The choice of a photograph or other image used truly can have an effect on audience interpretation of current events.

Framing Protests

Protesting is a type of current event in which visual framing can affect with regard to public perception. The ‘Protest Paradigm’ is another term used to describe the way protests are framed in news coverage so that the protestors are viewed in a negative light and their effectiveness is downplayed (McLeod and Detenber, 1999). This selection of certain facets in protest news coverage makes frames very important for their role in influencing audience perceptions. Arpan et al. (2006) states “visual framing that adheres to the protest paradigm can be detrimental to the image of protests groups and could ultimately make it more difficult to effect change regarding the protest issue” (p. 14). Being repeatedly exposed to messages with a violent or confrontational news frame of a protest could make the audience susceptible to certain negative perceptions about the subjects of the photograph (McLeod and Detenber, 1999).

The Violence Frame is one of the most popular frames used in the protest paradigm. Boykoff (2006) examined visual framing of the protest paradigm by looking at specific frames the media used for the Global Justice Movement Protests. These frames included the Violence Frame, the Disruption Frame, the Freak Frame, the Ignorance Frame, and the Almagam of Grievances Frame. For this study, only the Violence Frame will be examined thoroughly because it is the most popular in the media and it is the most relevant to the photos used in my experiment. Potter and Smith (2000) define violence as a portrayal of a threat or physical force or the actual use of force with the intention of physically harming another being. Analysis by Boykoff (2006) determined the Violence Frame as predominantly used by the media with it being used in about 59% of all mass-media accounts, or in three out of every five stories. Arpan et al. (2006) explained that the small portion of violence during a protest often become the frame even if most of the time the protest is peaceful. Because the media uses the Violence Frame so often, violence is often associated with a protest or demonstration no matter the case.

Further studies on the Protest Paradigm show another frame predominantly used along with the Violence Frame. Detenber et al. (2007) found the depiction of confrontation among the police and protestors to be the most prevalent news frame. Although Detenber et al.’s study was centered on textual framing, this particular finding about confrontation can still be applied to this study on how visual framing affects audience perceptions. Arpan et al. (2006) summarized the effect of this conflict or confrontation frame as contributing to the negative perception of a movement and its members. This being said, it can be assumed that combining the Violence Frame and the Confrontational Frame can lead to the most influence on the audience.

Hypotheses and Research Question

H1: If subjects are exposed to violence framing and confrontational framing of the protestors in the media, then they will be more likely to support the police and less likely to support the protestors.

H2: If subjects are exposed to violence framing and confrontational framing of the police in the media, then they will be more likely to support the protestors and less likely to support the police.

RQ: Do photographic images depicting violence and confrontation influence people’s perceptions about the cause of protestors in Ferguson, Missouri?

Methods

This experiment took place online through the Qualtrics website. Subjects were recruited from George Mason University’s student population via the researcher’s personal contacts, either by email or various social media connections. The results of this experiment were taken from a sample of eighty-five George Mason University Undergraduate students. Sixty-two and four tenths percent of the sample fell between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Of those eighty-five students, 52.9 percent identified as female and 45.9 percent identified as male. Sixty-eight and two tenths percent of the sample identified themselves as White and the other 31.8 percent identified as non-White. Participation in this experiment was voluntary with the condition that the subjects must have been eighteen years or older.

After agreeing to the terms listed in the consent form, subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions: visual framing of police committing violence and visual framing of the protestors committing violence. Subjects first answered a few questions regarding demographics. These questions included subject age range, race, and gender. The demographic questions were followed by some questions on the subject’s prior knowledge of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri in relation to the death of Michael Brown. Next subjects were given a news article to read about protest events happening in Ferguson, Missouri.

The article itself was from the British Broadcasting Corporation. This piece was chosen from a source in another country in order to maintain neutrality and to prevent bias on the situation that happened in the United States. The article presented facts in an informative and objective manner so that readers would grasp the basic idea of what was going on without all of the bias or finger pointing.

With each separate article came a pair of photos to frame either the police or the protestors in a negative way by showing violence or confrontation (See the photos in Appendix). After reading the article, subjects answer questions regarding their perceptions of the protests including their level of sympathy with the police and protestors and whether or not they he or she agrees with police tactics in maintaining order. This was measured using a Likert Scale with the choices of ‘Not at All,’ ‘A Little,’ ‘Neutral,’ ‘A Lot,’ ‘Fully,’ and ‘Unsure.’

The key variables in this experiment include the Independent Variable condition and the public’s perceptions about the protests, protestors, and policemen involved as the dependent variable.

Results

Participants in this experiment displayed prior knowledge of the protest and its cause. Ninety-four and one tenth percent of the respondents knew who Michael Brown was, 89.4 percent correctly identified the officer involved, and 96.5 percent knew the location of the altercation and the following protests. Of the eighty-five participants, 48.2 percent completed the experiment where the protestors were framed and 51.8 percent completed the experiment where the police were framed. Of the subjects who were randomly assigned the experimental condition framing the protestors, 63.4 percent identified as White and 36.6 identified as non-White. Of the subjects who were randomly assigned the experimental condition framing the police, 72.7 percent identified as White and 27.3 identified as non-White.

The first hypothesis predicts that subjects would be more likely to support the police and not the protestors after exposure to violent and confrontational framing of protestors in the media. An independent sample t-test was conducted comparing two conditions on subjects’ sympathy for the police (Mprotestor=2.93, Mpolice=2.80, t=0.44, N=41, p=0.66) and sympathy for the protestors (Mprotestor=2.93, Mpolice=3.34, t=-1.32, N=41, p=0.19). This shows that there is no significant difference between the two conditions on subjects’ sympathy on either party, therefore hypothesis one is not supported.

The second hypothesis predicts that subjects would be more likely to support the protestors and not the police after exposure to violent and confrontational framing of police in the media. An independent sample t-test was conducted comparing two conditions on subjects’ sympathy for the protestors (Mprotestors=2.93, Mpolice=3.34, t=-1.32, N=44, p=0.19) and sympathy for the police (Mprotestors=2.93, Mpolice=2.80, t=0.44, N=44, p=0.66). This shows that there is no significant difference between the two conditions on subjects’ sympathy on either party, therefore hypothesis two is not supported.

Due to the nature of the incident, an ANOVA test was conducted to assess the potential interaction effects of subjects’ race and conditions on their perceptions of the protestors and police. Subjects were grouped into white and nonwhite. A main effect on race was found on subjects’ perception of whether or not protestors are seeking solutions (Mwhite=2.28, Mnonwhite = 3.23, F=11.98, df=1, p=.001). Non-white subjects were significantly more likely to perceive protests as seeking solutions than white subjects. There is also a significant main effect of conditions on subjects’ perceptions of whether or not protestors are seeking solutions (Mprotester=2.33, Mpolice = 2.83, F=6.75, df=1, p=.011). When framing police as exerting violence, subjects were significantly more likely to perceive protestors as looking for solutions. Taking these results into consideration, the hypothesis is partially supported.

Discussion

My research indicates that the visual framing of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri by the media has no statistically significant relation to audience perceptions of the people involved. It is important to note that the two experimental conditions do not have any significant effects on audience level of support for the protestors or the police, but race does in the case of sympathy for police. These significant differences in the answers bring up the question on how people perceive current events differently depending on race. It is also interesting to note that the only question with significantly different answers depending on the condition is the extent to which protestors are looking for solutions. What this means in terms of the effects of visual framing in the media is that the visuals themselves may not have an effect on audience perceptions, but instead preconceptions about current events.

These findings show that the participants in the experiment are generally well informed on the subject of the protests in Ferguson Missouri and their origin. It looks as if many of the subjects who took part already had opinions about the topic before the study took place. It seems as though the participants who chose to take part in this experiment are able to think for themselves, not letting the photos used affect their viewpoints. This study helps to provide more information on audience perceptions of recent events in the media, and it shows that even with the influence of visual framing audiences typically will not follow the media blindly.

Shortcomings of this study include the face that there was a very small number of participants involved. In the future, there need to be more participants, and also a wider variety of demographics in participants. Most of the subjects in this study were white females, and it would be nice to get the perspective of more men and more people of color. It would also be interesting to see if an associated political party has any connection to participant answers. The findings from this study may have also been affected by history, since the announcement that Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted happened in the middle of data collection. Another problem with this study was the fact that it was based off of such a well-known event that got attention of the media and public alike all over the world. In future studies, it may be a good idea to choose a similar but less talked about event. That way, participants may not have formulated a strict opinion from the start and the study might be able to better show if people are actually affected by the images or not.

References

Abraham, L., & Appiah, O. (2006). Framing news stories: The role of visual imagery in priming racial stereotypes. Howard Journal of Communications, 17(3), 183-203.

Arpan, L. M., Baker, K., Youngwon, L., Taejin, J., Lorusso, L., & Smith, J. (2006). News coverage of social protests and the effects of photographs and prior attitudes. Mass Communication and Society, 9(1), 1-20. doi:10.1207/s15327825mcs0901_1

Boykoff, J. (2006). Framing dissent: Mass-Media coverage of the Global Justice Movement. New Political Science, 28(2), 201-228. doi:10.1080/07393140600679967

Detenber, B. H., Gotlieb, M. R., McLeod, D. M., & Malinkina, O. (2007). Frame intensity effects of television news stories about a high-visibility protest issue. Mass Communication and Society, 10(4), 439-460.

Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Towards clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51-58.

Fahmy, S. (2005). Photojournalists' and photo editors' attitudes and perceptions: The visual coverage of 9/11 and the Afghan War. Visual Communication Quarterly, 12(3/4), 146-163. doi:10.1080/15551393.2005.9687454

Gibson, R., & Zillmann, D. (2000). Reading between the photographs: The influence of incidental pictorial information on issue perception. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 77(2), 355-366.

Grayson, L. (2013). Editorial photographs and patterns of practice. Journalism Practice, 7(3), 314-328. doi:10.1080/17512786.2012.726836

McLeod, D. M., & Detenber, B. H. (1999). Framing effects of television news coverage of social protest. Journal of Communication, 49(3), 3-23.

Newton, J. H. (2009). Photojournalism. Journalism Practice, 3(2), 233-243. doi:10.1080/17512780802681363

Potter, W. J., & Smith, S. (2000). The context of graphic portrayals of television violence. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 44(2), 301.

Rodriguez, L., & Dimitrova, D. V. (2011). The levels of visual framing. Journal of Visual Literacy, 30(1), 48-65.

Spratt, M. (2008). When police dogs attacked: Iconic news photographs and construction of history, mythology, and political discourse. American Journalism, 25(2), 85-105.

Appendix 1

Experiment on Effects of Visual Framing in the Media on Audience Perceptions

The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not visual framing in the media affects people's perceptions on current events.

Consent Form:

EFFECTS OF VISUAL FRAMING ON AUDIENCE PERCEPTIONS

INFORMED CONSENT FORM

RESEARCH PROCEDURES

This research is being conducted to study the effects of visual framing on audience perceptions in the media. If you agree to participate, you will be asked to answer several questions about your knowledge and perceptions of the events happening in Ferguson, Missouri. The experiment will take ten to fifteen minutes to complete.

RISKS

There are no foreseeable risks for participating in this research.

BENEFITS

There are no benefits to you as a participant other than to further research in how visual framing in the media affects perceptions.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The data in this study will be confidential. The experiment that will be distributed will require you to insert your e-mail address if you are completing this survey to receive course credit, however, your e-mail address will not be connected to your survey responses.

PARTICIPATION

Your participation is voluntary, and you may withdraw from the study at any time and for any reason. If you decide not to participate or if you withdraw from the study, there is no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If you are enrolled in a course where the professor offers credit for research participation, then you may be able to receive extra credit for completing this survey. There are no costs to any other party. You must be 18 or older to complete this survey.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION

If you are enrolled in a course that offers extra credit for participating in this study but you decide not to participate then extra credit may be awarded to you through other means. Extra credit for those who do not participate will be provided by the courses professor in a non-research related way. If you decide not to participate in this study then you may attend a short presentation on how the media frames visual images.

CONTACT