AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

This essay aims to analyse the framing of Christchurch by both One News and 3 News, using their 6.00pm broadcasts on the 7^th of September 2012.  It will introduce these frames by discussing the placement of Christchurch reports, centring on the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s investigation into the collapse of the CTV building during the February 2011 earthquakes.  By critiquing the technical construction and semiotic factors of both stories, I suggest these overlapping influences as the main contributors shaping the Christchurch frames.  The critique will deconstruct footage according to three conditions given by Johannes Ehrat[1]: (1) The manipulation of camera construction. (2) The placement of footage into an order that may not accurately represent real time.  (3) The separation of sounds and images, reconstructed in a way that provides an illusion of real time.  Using my observations I intend to compare and contrast both reports in terms of Ethos and Pathos, two mode of persuasion argued by Aristotle[2]; this will be the base to the semiotic analysis.  I will not be using Aristotle’s third mode, Logos, as I think the shaping of Christchurch was done through only emotional and personal appeals.  Although these methods of analysing are normally used to conclude the plausibility and conviction of news reports, I also see them fit to examine the perceptions alluded to in news stories.  From all of this, my objective is to attempt an understanding of why Christchurch is being framed from different angles, for possible target audiences.

One News began its Christchurch narrative with the CTV inquiry, as opposed to 3 News who led with a report concerning the repair job of Christchurch’s quake damaged infrastructure.  Arguably, 3 News had already introduced the rebuild’s concept through its previous story.  That story included dialogue discussing the possibility of Solid Energy miners from the West Coast being employed to work in Christchurch on the rebuild.  One News chose to report these stories following their coverage of the inquiry; firstly on the infrastructural repairs and then of the Solid Energy miners.

Television news endeavours to present discourse in a way that ties ambiguous events together into “subject categories”, creating a narrative[3].  This can be applied to the way the Christchurch stories have been placed; One News uses the CTV coverage to form the context of its next two stories, while 3 News contextualises Christchurch through the repair job.  These are platforms which set the tone for their adjoining reports. 

By focusing on the tone of these repair stories, it becomes evident that their placement is crucial in framing Christchurch.  One News chose to open their report by stating: ‘Residents are being warned to expect another five years of disruption…’ this makes the audience sympathetic of the city’s situation.  Remembering that this story was placed after the CTV inquiry, One News uses the residents of Christchurch and their ‘five year disruption’ to frame the city as “fallen”, with major hardships ahead.  Gurevitch’s and Blumler’s essay Political Communication Systems and Democratic Values discusses an argument linked to this; that journalists tell stories in the mindset that most people respond to news through an array of emotions, woven into news stories, as well as giving the audience a ‘direct personal experience’[4].   This use of emotional appeal, or pathos, by One News, will be further discussed later in the essay.

3 News contrasts this with its intention to frame Christchurch’s as a hurt and damaged but enduring city, with a hopeful future ahead, like a “journey”.  ‘More details about New Zealand’s biggest ever repair job’ was the introduction given, the report ending with ‘the repair work is expected to take five years’.  Rather than highlighting the citizens of Christchurch for an appeal to the audience’s emotions, 3 News uses ‘New Zealand’s biggest ever repair job’, connoting the costs and expenses required for the ‘New Zealand’ project. This reminds viewers that the rebuild will have an impact on the whole country, and therefore themselves.  Placing the story in front of the CTV inquiry is a part of the narrative that uses the ending of the inquiry as metaphor for the conclusion of Christchurch’s struggles.

While both stories televise emotional pleas, their frames target the audience in different ways.  I argue that One News attempts to recognise its viewers by imploring for their sympathy, unlike 3 News who considers the problems of Christchurch as the whole nation’s worry, but still applies emotions to aid the framing.

As the presenters speak, a backdrop image is shown to illustrate the CTV inquiry according to the angles taken.  One News provides an image of a pile of rubble with the CTV building’s sign situated on it, there is nothing to specifically represent the Royal Commission.  Although this is not enough evidence to claim the collapse is being used as a source of pathos, this is a clear indicator towards a “fallen” city framing.  On the other hand, 3 News acknowledges the Royal Commission with a manila folder that reads: “Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission”.  Behind this is the arm of a digger, the CTV sign to its left, and the damaged CTV building behind these.  Rather than only depicting the building’s collapse, we are shown a story that places the catastrophe in the background, the foreground illustrating the rebuild (represented by the machinery), and the main event up front (represented by the folder).  This imagery neatly outlines the exact way Christchurch’s “journey” is to be framed.

At this point there is still a message of condolence being expressed by One News, and a reminder of Christchurch’s problems by 3 News.

One News concentrates on the devastation the collapse has caused, taking a mainstream angle of the city’s emotional torment by illustrating grieving daughter, Marwa Alkaisi pleading for answers in addition to descriptions of victims last moments described by families lawyer Marcus Elliot.  Addressing Ehrat’s three conditions, the context of this story is enhanced from a close up shot of the speaker that fades into a montage of different images and footage which are used to ‘strengthen and emphasise the speaker’s message’[5] as stated by Stefania Spina in Language and New Media, Chapter 9.  The close up shot is centred on Elliot’s pleading eyes, giving a visual taste of the pain the inquiry has dealt with, manipulating the audience to feel ‘eleos’[6], or pity, for people connected to Christchurch. Next is a montage of images and footage relating to the building’s collapse, it is played as Elliot speaks about wanting to know why the building gave way, causing so much death and injury.  The montage demonstrates how pieces of video recording can be strung together to produce a sequence of events. It shows a body being carried on a stretcher, while the sound of a siren and then a helicopter are played in the background, as Elliot continues talking; highlighting the use of arbitrary sounds with images to create context.  This is repeated near the end of the story where the fading of clips is blatant.

3 News also does this but to a smaller extent than One News; it is used to provide an introduction for the two narratives which run parallel throughout the news story.  The first regarding Alkaisi’s submission, the second recalling lawyer Michael Kirkland‘s defence of CTV designer David Harding.  Alkaisi’s emotions were balanced by the seemingly less expressive argument presented by Harding’s lawyer.  However, viewers may have become distressed over Harding’s defence, as he is the man allegedly responsible (by the consensus of other news reports since the earthquake) for the collapse of the CTV building, resulting in ‘orgē’[7] or anger, as declared by Aristotle.  This would in turn make the audience side with Alkaisi and Elliot from ‘nemesan’ or being indignant, which Aristotle would describe as ‘feeling opposed to underserved misfortune’[8].

These points help prove One News’ framing of Christchurch as a torn city, and 3 News’ interpretation of as beaten but optimistic Canterbury.                  

Under the lenses of Aristotle’s modes of persuasion Ethos and Pathos, (translated by George A. Kennedy in On Rhetoric), there is an overwhelming use of pathos in both news reports, reflecting well on Gurevitch’s and Blumler’s argument.  However, only weak forms of ēthos[9] and are employed.  The only obvious example of ēthos from One News is when a victim’s final words via SMS were read out, Elliot addressing the victim by her name and ethnicity.  It is strange that this was the only name voiced since Alkaisi is the story’s centre piece.  I assume it was only used to provide another poignant account of a victim, to further impact on the audience’s feelings. 

Due to a lack of character creation in the script, a medley of eight close up shots highlighting facial expressions are relied on to give personas.  Anchorage, a term coined by Roland Barthes, is used to frame these images using a caption that loads the picture with ‘moral’[10].  For example: ‘Marwa Alkaisi, Dr Mayson Abbas’s daughter’ is the caption used with her close up.  This offers the audience a character built purely from text and countenance.  In Marwa’s case, the close ups portray her fighting back tears, indicating mental strength. 

3 News illustrates Marwa in the same fashion, but an overall of five close ups are used throughout the story instead of eight.  Unlike One News, the reporter introduces each person by their full name, respecting them as individuals and encouraging us to do the same.  Also, the report ends with footage of the reporter speaking into the camera to close the story; her serious expression and gesticulations attempt to persuade the audience of her credibility. 

The ēthos explained in the last section aids the focal point of these stories – Marwa’s dialogue.

From analysing the script, Alkaisi’s words are literally emotional pleas that could stand alone and still hold meaning without knowing the background of the CTV building collapse.  However, they concentrate on two different emphases: (1) the loss of life and (2) the building’s collapse (One News and 3 News respectively).

Alkaisi lists what she describes as ‘lifeless things’; ‘columns, beams, floor slabs, steel and concrete’ falling, taking away and injuring the lives of many (1).  She goes on to state that ‘the building took away her mother and best friend’.  There is clear theme of tragedy throughout this submission excerpt, the idea that the building is responsible for ‘taking away loved ones’ is emphasised through repetition, appealing to ‘eleos’ just as it was earlier.

The collapse of the CTV building (2) is pinpointed by two sentences spoken by Alkaisi.  She explains that the ‘only thing she and her family’ would like is to know what happened to the building on the day of the earthquake, asking why it was the ‘only building in Christchurch to completely pancake’, taking away her mother.  Again, there is the suggestion of fatality from these sentences, but it centralises on wanting a response for why the building crumbled.  The pleading of this bereaved daughter is another appeal to pity.  It also strengthens any anger due to a lack of answers, therefore making us indignant, reiterating the ideas I explained earlier on.

From this analysis I can now conclude that the framing of Christchurch has been presented in a way which asks for the viewer’s empathy.  After looking at the complete framing of Christchurch I do not see a specific target audience for either story, though I do think that the underlying messages of the narratives differ, as expressed throughout the essay. 

Bibliography

Works referred to in this essay, in addition to materials read with this essay in mind.

Aristotle, and George Alexander Kennedy. On Rhetoric : A Theory of Civic Discourse.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Atkinson, Joe. Structures of Television News.

Barthes, Roland, and Stephen Heath. Image, Music, Text.  New York: Hill and Wang, 1977.

Bignell, Jonathan. Media Semiotics : An Introduction. 2nd ed.  Manchester ; New York: Manchester University Press : Distributed exclusively in the U.S.A. by Palgrave, 2002.

Ehrat, Johannes. Power of Scandal : Semiotic and Pragmatic in Mass Media. Toronto Studies in Semiotics and Communication.  Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011.

Gee, James Paul, and Elisabeth Hayes. Language and Learning in the Digital Age. 1st ed.  Abingdon, Oxon ; New York: Routledge, 2011.

Hayward, Janine, and Chris Rudd. Political Communications in New Zealand.  Auckland, N.Z.: Pearson Education, 2004.

Lichtenberg, Judith. Democracy and the Mass Media : A Collection of Essays. Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy.  Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Rowe, Charley, and Eva Lia Wyss. Language and New Media : Linguistic, Cultural, and Technological Evolutions. New Media.  Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2009.

Street, John. Mass Media, Politics, and Democracy. 2nd ed.  Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

[1] Johannes Ehrat, Power of scandal : semiotic and pragmatic in mass media, Toronto studies in semiotics and communication (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011). 27.

[2] Aristotle and George Alexander Kennedy, On rhetoric : a theory of civic discourse  (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). 119 - 214.

[3] Jonathan Bignell, Media semiotics : an introduction, 2nd ed. (Manchester ; New York: Manchester University Press : Distributed exclusively in the U.S.A. by Palgrave, 2002). 116.

[4] Judith Lichtenberg, Democracy and the mass media : a collection of essays, Cambridge studies in philosophy and public policy (Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990). 280.

[5] Charley Rowe and Eva Lia Wyss, Language and new media : linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions, New media (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2009). 219.

[6] Aristotle and Kennedy, On rhetoric : a theory of civic discourse: 151 - 55.

[7] Ibid., 124 - 30.

[8] Ibid., 155 - 58.

[9] Ibid., 163 - 72.

[10] Roland Barthes and Stephen Heath, Image, music, text  (New York: Hill and Wang, 1977). 26.