Prop 73-Political Communication

The present will examine how the media frames a political issue of Proposition 73 (Prop . 73 ) to the state Constitution concerning abortion policy held by the state in regard to minors . The draft was worked out by Catherine Short , a lawyer with the Life Legal Defense Foundation . The measure ballot was held on November 8 , 2005 and resulted in proposition defeat

The goal of the is construction , evolution and content of a recent abortion talk in the media rather than abortion policy in California or in the U .S . by itself . The

approach of framing in the presentation of news deals with two major aspects . One of them is the cultural background structuring abortion discussion . It is important to ask here who the major sponsors and participants of discussion are how they are represented in the media and how their framing strategies interact with a state and national strategies . In other words , a researcher needs to analyze who talks about what to achieve what goals . The analysis of framing strategies helps to understand why some actors achieve more success in reaching their outcomes desired than the others

Another aspect is the quality of public abortion discussion in the media . Once Susan Gal (1994 ) suggested that the nature of abortion talk tells a great deal , not only about reproductive rights and women but also about the nature and concerns of democracy as a whole (paraphrased in Ferree et al . 6 . It means that behind the rhetoric of media discourse a researcher should be prepared to find specific mechanisms and ideologies permeating the public sphere and the institute of democracy

Both aspects of research rely on the content analysis of a random sample of articles displayed at the two web sites : No on 73 : the Campaign for Teen Safety and YES on 73 / Life on the Ballot site . The media sources are selected so as to maximize potential different approaches to the issue .The units of analysis are the utterance , the article , the speaker and the idea element . The seeks to prove that the frames present in the media sources reveal specific political implications held by the actors of discussion and organize the facts in a specifically restrictive manner

The abortion policy has always been a of public controversy (Ferree et al . 6 . Public discourse on the issue contains various opportunities to display the interests of various communities . First of all , there are women who are the most deeply affected by abortion Historically , women stayed on the outskirts of public life . The degree of women 's participation in the discussion may provide a researcher with clearer understanding of women 's role in the given community

Second , abortion reform has always been the point of argument between different political parties . In the United States discussion of the issue has entered public sphere since the mid1960s . Third , abortion implies very important and significant issues of life and death , the role of women , the role of the state as a moral...