A Visual Framing Analysis of COVID-19 Pandemic outbreak in India on Washington Post, India Today, and BBC :Global Journalism in news photographs

Mansour, Ralla

doi:10.21608/jkom.2021.222477

A Visual Framing Analysis of COVID-19 Pandemic outbreak in India on Washington Post, India Today, and BBC :Global Journalism in news photographs

نوع المستند : بحوث علمیة متخصصة فی مجال الاعلام والاتصال.

المؤلف

Ralla Mansour

Lecturer at the department of Mass Communication , Ain Shams University

10.21608/jkom.2021.222477

المستخلص

Covid-19 pandemic has been a focusing point for media outlets especially after the negative economic and social consequences on the world and India especially, after reporting personal stories and disastrous photos about the pandemic as India has been struck hard by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic daily cases and deaths peaked at more than 400000 cases and 4000 deaths respectively, almost four to five times higher than the peak number of cases and deaths in the first wave. A review of literature shows that western media’s coverage has highlighted negative themes when covering the issues about the pandemic in India. Visual framing research is lacking in existing research in comparison to textual analysis. This study contributes to a general lack of visual framing research in scholarly literature. In the context of a pandemic, the media’s role becomes even more significant, it can be an important source to identify early outbreaks and it can inform the public about non pharmaceutical interventions to limit the spread of the disease and its impact as the pandemic swept through India at a pace that has staggered scientists and the authorities raced to contain the deadly virus outbreak.
This study explores the way in which American and Indian media visually represented the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in India. Also, it employs visual framing analysis to interpret and understand the visual frames and messages transmitted through Washington Post and India Today websites. Data were collected from both American and Indian outlets which was further explored through a content analysis. The two media outlets were chosen because of their availability of multimedia. The findings of this study will contribute to existing literature and theories regarding the visual portrayals of the pandemic outbreak in India in the global media.

الكلمات الرئيسية

المراجع

1 . Amores, J. J.; Calder n, C.A. & Stanek, M. (2019). Visual frames of migrants and refugees in the main Western European media. Economics and Sociology, 12(3), 147-161. doi:10.14254/2071- 789X.2019/12-3/10
2 . Ayesha Anwar; Meryem Malik; Vaneeza Raees & Anjum Anwar, (2020). Role of Mass Media and Public Health Communications in the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://www.cureus.com/articles/38293- role-of-mass-media-and-public-health-communications in-the-covid- 19-pandemic,vol. (12), no. (9).
3 . Entman, R. M. (1991). Framing US coverage of international news: Contrasts in narratives of the KAL and Iran air incidents. Journal of Communication, 41 (4), 6-27.
4 . Gamson, W. A. & Stuart, D. (1992). Media discourse as a symbolic contrast: The bomb in political cartoons. Sociological Forum, 7 (1), 55-86.
5 . Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
6 . https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc
7 . https://www.indiatoday.in/indiadatasummit/about-india-today.php
8 . https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/postcosites/postfram.htm
9 . J. Scott Brennen; Felix M. Simon & Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, (2020). Beyond (Mis)Representation: Visuals in COVID-19 Misinformation. The International Journal of Press/Politics.
10 . Jennah M. Sontag, (2017). THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VISUAL AND TEXT FRAMES IN HEALTH COMMUNICATION. Faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mass Communication in the School of Media and
Journalism. Chapel Hill.
11 . Lilie Chouliaraki, (2006). The Spectatorship of Suffering. SAGE Publications Ltd. London.
12 . Lulu Rodriguez, Daniela V Dimitrova, (2011). The levels of visual framing. Journal of Visual Literacy, Volume 30, Number 1. 1 . Amores, J. J.; Calder n, C.A. & Stanek, M. (2019). Visual frames of migrants and refugees in the main Western European media. Economics and Sociology, 12(3), 147-161. doi:10.14254/2071-789X.2019/12-3/10
13 . Makhortykh, M. & Sydorova, (2017). Social media and visual framing of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. M. Media, War & Conflict, vol. 10 (3) 359–381
14 . Mayring, Philipp, (2014). Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution, Klagenfurt, Austria, www.beltz.de
15 . Rodriguez, L. & Dimitrova, D. V. (2011). The levels of visual framing. Journal of Visual Literacy, 30(1), 48-65.
16 . Rosellen Downey; Erika Johnson & Bailey Brewer, (2012). Through the Lens: Visual Framing of the Japan Tsunami in U.S., British, and Chinese Online Media. University of Missouri.
17 . Scheufele DA, (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication 49: 103–122.
18 . Theresa Vellek (2016). Media Framing of the Ebola Crisis. Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
19 . Xinghua Chang; Maoxing Liu; Zhen Jin & Jianrong Wang, (2020). Studying on the impact of media coverage on the spread of COVID-19 in Hubei Province, China, http://http//www.aimspress.com/journal/MBE.
20 . Yi Kuang; Ming-Xing Xu; Shu-Wen Yang; Yang Ding; Rui Zheng; John Taplin & Shu Li, (2021). Which Information Frame is Best for Reporting News on the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Online Questionnaire Study in China. Psychology Research and Behavior
Management, vol. (14).
21 . Zhaohui Su; Dean McDonnell; Jun Wen; Metin Kozak; Jaffar Abbas; Sabina Šegalo; Xiaoshan Li; Junaid Ahmad; Ali Cheshmehzangi; Yuyang Cai; Ling Yang & Yu-Tao Xiang, (2020). Mental health consequences of COVID-19 media coverage: the need for effective crisis communication practices. https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/, vol. (17), no. (4).