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Through the LensVisual Framing of the Japan Tsunami in U.S., British,
and Chinese Online MediaRosellen Downey, Erika Johnson, and Bailey Brewer
University of Missouri
LiteratureFraming—lack of visual framing research
Textual elements studied more often (Matthes, 2009)
Visual framing and natural disasters Most on visual framing in war and terrorism Few on natural disasters (Fahmy et al., 2007)
Human interest and political power Human interest frames are an emerging area of
research (Peng, 2004; Schwalbe, 2008; Wojdynski, 2009) Often, political figures studied more than common man
(Grabe & Bucy, 2008)
Hypotheses and RQs RQ1: Does geographic location of the news outlet relate to the
portrayal of natural disasters?
RQ2: Does geographic location of the disaster relate to the portrayal of the disaster? RQa: Do roles of human beings in photos differ between NPR, BBC, and
Xinhua online coverage and between Japan and other countries? RQb: Does the nationality of human beings shown in photos differ
between NPR, BBC, and Xinhua online coverage and between Japan and other countries?
RQc: Does absence or presence of human beings in photos of flooding differ between NPR, BBC, and Xinhua online coverage and between Japan and other countries?
RQd: Does the number of people shown in photos differ between NPR, BBC, and Xinhua online coverage and between Japan and other countries?
H1: Geographic proximity will be related to disaster portrayal.
VariablesIVs:
IV1: Nation providing coverage IV2: Nation being covered
DVs:DV1: Role of people/person in the photo DV2: Nationality of people/person in photoDV3: Presence or absence of people in photosDV4: Number of people in the photo.
SampleN = 242 photos
From NPR (n = 58), BBC (n = 52), and Xinhua (n = 132) websites
March 11-13, 2011 census sample
Search term: “Japan tsunami”
Images only coded once, no repeats
Videos, infographics, and maps not coded
ResultsSample – Most frequent in China
China 54.5%U.S. 24%, Britain 21.5%
Japan most frequently covered
Most subjects were Japanese
People present in 66% of photos
Significant ResultsNation of coverage and role
Nation covered and role
Nation of coverage and nationality
Nation covered and nationality
Nation covered and presence of people
Nation covered and number of people
Role44.4% of civil servants were from other
countries56.6% from Japan
BritainFew government authorities appearing alone
ChinaPredominantly civilian coverage
NationalityDominance of landscape photos
Japanese nationality occurred most in Chinese coverage
Human SubjectsHuman subjects outnumbered landscapes
Number of PeopleFew photos featuring single individual
Mostly appeared in small and large groups
DiscussionChina had most visual coverage
Geographic proximity
Thus, China dominated coverage of civilians, photos of Japanese subjects, landscape photos
Xinhua’s practice of capturing frames from video news
Focus on coverage of humans, not landscapeBut, 1/3 of photos were of landscapes overall
References Fahmy, S., Kelly, J. D., & Yung Soo, K. (2007). What Katrina revealed: A visual
analysis of the hurricane coverage by news wires and U.S. newspapers. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(3), 546-561.
Grabe, M., & Bucy, E. (2008). The struggle for control: Visual framing, news coverage, and image handling of presidential candidates, 1992-2004. International Communication Association, 1-42.
Matthes, J. (2009). What’s in a frame? a content analysis of media framing studies in the world’s leading communication journals, 1990-2005. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 86(2), 349-367.
Peng, Z. (2004). Picturing china: A content analysis of photo coverage in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. International Communication Association, 1+.
Schwalbe, C. B., Silcock, B., & Keith, S. (2008). Visual framing of the early weeks of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq: Applying the master war narrative to electronic and print images. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52(3), 448-465.
Wojdynski, B. (2009). The interactive newspaper: Online multimedia and the framing of the Iraq War. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-37.