Harvard President Larry Summers’ Controversial Speech Report

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The concept of media framing usually has a significant influence on how the audience processes the information. It impacts how different people process the information and how different people look at the same issue. The concept of media frames usually is mainly concerned with how journalists, policymakers and other key players in the information sector relay or present information. The way the information or message is framed influences the impact of information as it determines how different people will process that information; it dictates how the audience will interpret the message (Borg A, 2005).

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The newspaper coverage and news coverage on the issue of Larry Summers’s speech contributed negatively to the growing popularity of that speech portraying it as very offensive and provocative even though Larry Summers had been required to be provocative. Furthermore, in his defense Larry Summers that the facts of his speech were indeed based on research which most of the women scientists objected to giving counter facts that supported their arguments (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

The media coverage on the issue heightened the statements issued by Larry Summers to an extent where the public damage caused as a result of the statements became too high such that Larry Summers was forced on numerous occasions to seek apologies to the public since many had been offended. In most of the daily newspapers ranging from 14th January to late march the issue of Larry summers speech always caught the attention of the media appearing on as headlines, sparking a lot of debate.

The coverage of this issue by the media could be a perfect example of episodic framing which effectively analyzes the event that helps to fully bring out the issue at hand which is the provocative speech by Larry Summers which has been having been made successful by the frequent repetition of the issue in the media as well as giving the public something to think about (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

The political point of view at stake in media frames is an overall mislead of the public who serve as the electorate of a specific nation or state. This is achieved from the fact that the media is primarily responsible for establishing an agenda for which the public can hold discussions. This is achieved from the fact that the media is very influential not only from the fact that they are the sole transmitters of information but also their ability and power to dictate to people what they should think about (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

The media is very significant in shaping the political agenda as they have the innate ability to direct people towards paying attention to some issues at the expense of other issues which may be prevalent in the society or nation as a whole.

The use of certain media frames such as episodic or thematic could have a significant effect in controlling the public and their perspective towards prevalent political issues (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987). This directs the public opinion towards issues that the media wants the public to concentrate on, thus reducing the attention from other important issues and this is achieved by media concentrating on new problems (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

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The media also has the ability to structure the public’s perception of the prevailing political issues, therefore, introducing the possibility of prejudice or bias information by determining which issues should be given priority and which ones should be ignored with the major aim of winning public support. This eventually results in a compromise in the purpose of relaying information with the aim of addressing political issues and thus resulting in the overall compromise of the political point of view that should be addressed in order to achieve a good democracy (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

Media frames nowadays usually act and believe on the assumption that human relation to the world is largely facilitated and controlled by the media (Alic M, 1986). This is evidenced by the great influence that media has on the masses and the power it exerts from being able to reflect on the socio-cultural forms.

Media has been used to convey some general belief that gender has a significant effect on the overall success in certain fields of science (Alic M, 1986). This can be seen in the situation of Larry Summers where the media has been very influential and impacted many people to create the belief that some are better in others in certain fields such as science.

Epistemology is mainly concerned with mainly justifying whether certain beliefs are true and if true then it determines how true these beliefs are (Alic M 1986). In the case of Larry Summers his claims that women did not perform as well as men in science and math because they did not have the same innate ability as well as natural ability in certain fields as well as men, he also disclaimed that these were things that still needed to be studied although this assumption that he made were based on research.

Epistemology just like politics views issues as just statements or claims that need to be fully proven or ascertained in order to ensure that they are telling the truth. Media frames usually take advantage of these issues which have not been fully ascertained to make the headlines in order to pass a message which may end up representing bias or incorrect information (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

Such statements or issues usually act as an agenda by which the media uses to invite people to make discussions. It directs the public towards not thinking about the critical issues and concentrates on such issues which are not as important (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

Epistemology in the case of Larry Summers speech has been used to start a lot of politics and debate as to whether his public statements represent the truth. It has also resulted in conflict and controversy as some parties have been offended thereby acting on the issue in a very personal capacity. This was seen with the public protest made by senior women scientists such as Nina Hopkins, Catherine Didion, and Anne C Petersen among others (Borg A, 2005).

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To a very great extent, the media through programs and articles influence very much what we ought to think rather than what is. The media frames achieve this by fact that viewers and readers of articles are very sensitive hence making them easily influenced when they reason about significant political, social, and economical issues (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

Their understanding of issues such as war and poverty is dependent on how the media presents such issues not how those issues are impacting society (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

The way issues are framed on television and articles reflects and shapes the way the public comprehends and understands or interprets the cases and possible solutions to problems affecting the nation as a whole (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

Both broadcast and print media dramatize stories however the effects vary depending on the issue at hand.

The media tells us what to think about since they have the power to order and organize what surrounds us appear to be true making us believe (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

Gender has been commonly understood to be oppressive since it has artificially created roles of feminist and masculinity where male supremacy is greatly acknowledged and legitimately recognized as the superior gender. This has a collateral effect when it comes to positions of power where males are recognized more than women thereby enjoying preference and more confidence from the masses (Alic M, 1986).

The need to acknowledge and realize that women have a role to play in the socio-political arena and to enjoy equal opportunities as their male counterparts with no fear of discrimination based upon their gender will go a long way in ensuring that women are motivated to seek and pursue politics (Borg A, 2005).

There is also the need to eliminate the general feeling of doubt on a woman’s capability or ability to perform or handle any political responsibility and position of leadership that may be imposed on her by the electorate (Alic M, 1986).

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There is also the need to challenge sexism and feminism which involves a group effort, especially from their male counterparts in order to eliminate any compromise of women’s self-esteem. This will help women to feel more confident and sure helping to motivate women to become more exploratory and determined to pursue the position of power and authority thus encouraging women to engage more in politics.

The need to encourage women to engage in politics has been a further issue to craft a political position on gender with the aim of ensuring that a balance in the gender disparity especially in the field of politics is achieved, it also acts as an example of good governance when women are provided with equal opportunities and chances as their male counterparts in the field of politics.

Politics can be seen to be a very complicated and difficult issue for many people to understand. Most people rely on others to be informed on issues regarding national and world affairs (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

Therefore it is the duty of media to ensure that people are informed about such issues prevailing both in the society and the world as a whole thereby the media plays a very important role in relaying information.

With the public been exposed to such multiple sources of information then they are likely to be greatly influenced by what they see and understand from the media where it is clearly seen the media has a major role in dictating how people ought to think(Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

The media greatly controls how people ought to think as it is responsible for ensuring people relate and react to what kind and specific type of information. They exercise control over information and are in charge of determining what kind of information should be relayed to the public. The media decides which information or news the public should get therefore dictating the issues which should catch the attention of the public (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

The media frames have been widely seen to affect the different opinions and the primary approach that people use to make sense of matters. This is because media frames are usually aimed at dictating how people understand and perceive different issues portrayed by the media. Media frames are mainly aimed at this to ensure that media maintains control of the information that it relays to the public (Borg A, 2005).

Media frames are never neutral in their role and responsibility of relaying information to the public. They introduce important issues to the society at the same time suggesting or mildly dictating how people should interpret the issues being addressed (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

This mainly provides the media with power and the ability to gain control as they play a very influential role by providing people with the information they deem and believe to be important to their own standards which does not reflect the information that the reader would perceive as issues that would need to be addressed according to their perception and importance.

Media frames also go an extra mile in influencing what people think about situations and issues by framing situations and questions in a different way which aims at directing the public’s school of thought toward the direction that they want the public to think (Shaw D C and McCombs E M, 1977).

This introduces a one-way kind of thinking which is directed towards achieving their purpose. This tactic becomes effective in that it limits the people’s options thereby creating a one-sided approach and dimension toward interpreting the particular information relayed by the specific media source, be it print media or broadcast media.

Media frames greatly influence what we ought to think about by ensuring that the type of information relayed is effective to the public to which it is being relayed. This is achieved by ensuring the kind of information being relayed is relevant (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

The media will concentrate on giving the public information that they believe the public would be most interested in wanting to know and desires to know. In so doing the public will relate with that specific information getting an opportunity to greatly influence the public as the public will seek the information (Kindler D and Lynger S 1987).

This eventually results in the purpose of the information losing its credibility as there is room for the media to make adjustments or exaggeration as many people will be motivated to seek the specific information as it is deemed important and relevant (Borg A, 2005).

References

Kindler D and Lynger S (1987) News that matters.

Borg A, (2005) Chronicles of a controversy Institute for Women and Technology.

Shaw D C and McCombs E M, (1977) the Emergence of Political Issues.

Alic M, (1986) Hypia, s Heritage, a History of Women in Science from Antiquity to the late 19th Century. London, the Women Press.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Harvard President Larry Summers' Controversial Speech." August 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/harvard-president-larry-summers-controversial-speech/.

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