Framing Differences Between Local and National Media in the Trayvon Martin Case

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the difference in media representations in local and national news by examining the 2012 Trayvon Martin case between the parameters of February 26, 2012- April 12, 2012. In this case, an African American adolescent was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida, by a neighborhood watch coordinator by the name of George Zimmerman. Through a mix method approach, the research used content and discourse analysis as tools to analyze and gather data from the New York Times and Orlando Sentinel in the coverage of the case. Content analysis was used to give an overview of the data set, while discourse analysis helped describe the interpreted meanings that were constructed within the articles’ text to shed light on media framing. To further examine the research question, the study also analyzed if there was a difference in the Orlando Sentinel’s coverage before and after Trayvon Martin case became national news. The findings discovered that the New York Times emphasizes race more than the Orlando Sentinel. Further analysis showed that once the New York Times picked up the coverage on the Trayvon Martin case on March 16, 2012, there was a difference in the Orlando Sentinel’s headlines and language used within their article. Additionally, the findings revealed that the news used its ‘power’ to subtly reinforce and maintain longstanding racialized stereotypes of Blacks with the use of media framing. The Trayvon Martin case gave me the opportunity to examine the complexity and dynamics of the creation of racialized stereotypes and how the ‘powerful’ role news plays in reinforcing, perpetuating, and creating discourses.