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.