Framing – Week 1

The knowledge gap hypothesis, spiral of silence, and propaganda model all talk about how news media excludes certain members of society. People with more wealth and education use the media more and mainstream media tends to talk about the most popular options, leaving out alternative views.

A lot of people believe that through the internet and rapidly growing technology that we are making it easier to access more media and learn about more views.  But for who? This is true for the people teaching and taking classes at Elon, but what about the lower socio-economical bracket that does not necessarily have instant access to the way that news is being distributed now, or will be in the future.

Is getting rid of print media actually making the gaps in society more pronounced? Yes, there are public libraries and some public schools that allow everyone free internet access but how hard should people have to try to get access to knowledge that other people have on the tips of their fingers? I believe that people have to want to gain knowledge and work for it but, are we making it harder for a certain bracket in society by getting rid of 25cent newspapers that are at very corner shop and instead making people make their way to the library that may be a good distance from their homes?

How do we adapt to the new technology while at the same time make media readily available to the masses?

Tags: framing