Examining the framing taking place on the Bill Ritter news coverage

Bill Ritter not running for re-election story:
Denver Post Article:
- Part of the obvious framing is the emotional element, pathos, stresses in making the reason for Ritter backing out of re-election being his reason to spend more time with his family
o Ritter is faded out in the photo his wife and daughter are in focus, both smiling at each other
- Opening line: “A confident and visibly relaxed Gov. Bill Ritter seemed lighter than he has in months as he announced Wednesday that he will not run for reelection this fall, citing the toll public life has taken on his family.”
- In terms of sources, the observational adjectives used make this article appear like a firsthand account of what the reporter saw happening as Ritter made the announcement.
o “Packed with supporters and beaming family members, the Capitol foyer erupted into raucous applause as Ritter entered shortly after 11 a.m.”
9NEWS Story Coverage:
- Very bare, basic, and factual, emphasizing logos, as opposed to the emotional appeal to strengthen their article
o Opening line: “Governor Bill Ritter (D-Colorado) formally announced Wednesday he will not seek re-election this November, confirming earlier reports.”
- Sources appear to be gathered news, there was a press conference and 9News claims to have confirmed facts with Ritter’s staff
- Virtually no commentary in terms of adjectives or emotional feeling
Rob Prince’s Blog:
- Takes in a majority of articles and in a more critical tone calls out the public to see what is really going on
o But what was missing from virtually all the commentaries, left, right or center …was the absence of any serious discussion of the political motives for what amounts to Ritter’s resignation. It’s as if the state’s media is all in league to fall in line behind a kind of non credible `party line’ accepting the governor’s stated rationale of wanting to spend more time with his family. I don’t doubt he wants to spend more time with his family, but please….
- Sources are varied as Prince cites that he has read most new stories on the subject, and cited the Westword for example.
- Prince clearly has the ability to make comments and observations that a typical news story would not, for example:
o “Bill Ritter is not a `bad guy’. He was a lousy governor.”
- This type of commentary is from both a personal perspective and includes vulgarity
o “I am already sick watching the way in which the discussions of who might replace Ritter as Democratic Party candidate for governor. It’s all the same backroom horseshit which has typified Colorado politics seemingly since the beginning of time (at least Colorado time).”
Overall here, the news coverage of Bill Ritter’s decision is framed in varying degrees of ways. The 9News story is very factual, lacking emotion and delivering the bare facts. It seems to represent the news in a bare way to lend ethos and credibility to the objective story, despite the quotes and sources being all supportive and lending sympathy and dignity to Ritter’s decision. In the Denver Post, the framing takes place in a highly emotional way including a visual picture of the Governor’s family in focus while Ritter is not, and a story heavy with ethos and adjectives to lend understanding and excitement to the story. In Prince’s blog, there is good dissection of the issues and some personal commentary that comes from Prince’s reading of several sources and extensive background knowledge of Colorado politics.