The Power of News Media: "Diplomatic Meltdown" or "Growing Anger"?

You have likely heard all about the Edward Snowden/National Security Agency (NSA) leak scandal that has been prominent across many media outlets since Snowden’s first “leak” in June of 2013.

Get an overview on Edward Snowden, former U.S. NSA employee, here.

The global coverage continues today with media outlets (TV, radio, newspaper) confronting the leaked information about secret CIA and NSA operations in different ways. 

Most recent scandal: The NSA likely surveilled German Chancellor Angela Merkel's private communications. (Information revealed by Snowden, of course. And yes, this means tapping the Chancellor's personal cell phone.)

This article will compare United States' and Germany's newspaper coverage of this issue.

See the Abendzeitung Munich: "Diplomatic Meltdown."

See the New York Times: "Anger Growing Among Allies on U.S. Spying."

Trends to notice:

• Political Controversy: Like I said in my last post, controversy, especially on this global scale, means interesting content. Interest equals profit for media companies.
• Newspapers worldwide covered this material.
• Demassification: Both newspapers emphasized specific information that was relevant to their audience. 
• For example, each paper published it in their country's respective language.

• Media Purposes:
• Community building
• Other articles in the German press suggest tips to make sure you, a potential NSA target, aren't being surveilled. These articles create a community through country-wide shock and outrage.

Abendzeitung Munich headlines concerning the NSA scandal.

• Inform & entertain
• Because it's political controversy, these stories are newsworthy (selected because they are deemed important by gatekeepers) as well as interesting.
• Both articles are serious and informative, but as seen above, Abendzeitung Munich posted more creative articles like, "How to make life difficult for the NSA."
• Effects:
• Framing
• What the NY Times calls a "diplomatic challenge," Abendzeitung Munich calls "completely unacceptable."
• Each paper explains the same event in a different way, giving their audiences a different frame of understanding from which to draw conclusions.
• Agenda-setting
• Media decide what their audience is aware of. By covering and dramatizing this event, these papers force the controversy to the front of knowledge.

It is critical to note media's huge function in our lives, especially when considering powerful news sources. Without proper consideration, media can decide what we, their audience, thinks about. You must be aware of media motives and trends to be an informed citizen. Simply relying on articles in your favorite newspaper is no longer enough.


Check out the full sources for more info.

• Sources used in this article:
• "Anger Growing Among Allies on U.S. Spying" by New York Times
• "Diplomatic Meltdown" by Abendzeitung Munich
• "Generating Newsworthiness: Interpretive Construction of Public Events" by Marylin Lester
• "The Case for Demassification" by John Sheridan
• "The Media of Mass Communication" by John Vivian
• Extra news sources
• "Edward Snowden is NSA Info Leaker" by CNN
• "How to make life difficult for the NSA" by Abendzeitung Munich
• "NSA Files Decoded" by The Guardian
• "Why Angela Merkel is Outraged" by Miami Herald

A Larger Than Life Experience: Sports in America and Europe

Over the past couple of decades, sports have increased dramatically in popularity and have become an astoundingly strong revenue source for media conglomerates. Specifically, in the United States, ESPN (owned by Disney) has capitalized on the popularity of football. By gaining the rights to most college football games, they are earning themselves millions of dollars per contest. Comparatively, media stations in Great Britain have done the same with the sport of soccer. Much of this success comes from heavy and strategic advertising, often depicting the games as more than just sporting events.


Yet, as popular as both sports are in their respective nations, demassification has occurred. Instead of focusing on sports enthusiasts as a whole, the media has chosen to target a somewhat niche audience that can understand and gravitate to the importance of the sporting event. In Hegemonic Masculinity and Globalization:‘Transnational Business Masculinities’ and Beyond, Juanita Elias and Christine Beasley examine the impact of globalization from transnational businesses on men and women around the world. They note that businesses, including the media, have demassified, focusing on hegemonic masculine audiences.This seems to be congruent with the tactics employed by ESPN when advertising their college football games.

In this case, ESPN has demassified, utilizing “College GameDay” to target a niche football audience. The commercial glorifies the event in a gladiator type manner. It conveys the sense that only the strong, who are mentally and physically prepared to begin the season along with the two football teams, should watch the event.

The demassification is also vivid in this commercial for the Barclays Premier League. 

The league encompasses teams throughout Great Britain, and the advertisement targets the niche audience of those who follow one of those select teams. Specifically, the advertisement is thanking it’s already acquired fans, and although the commercial seems to focus on those who attend the game, it is assumed that they are communicating to all of their customers (television viewers, merchandise consumers, etc.).

Although both advertisements are for entertainment purposes, they also convey persuasion. Both are persuading the viewer to take part in something bigger than them by making a life decision to “become part of the team and the experience.”


For More, Go To The Following Sources
Demassification
Hegemony and Masculinity
NY Times ESPN College Football Revenue