Distorted realities The discursive construction of realities in digital news media
Stockholm University Department of Media Studies
Master Thesis Global Media Studies June 2020
written by David Jeremias Vogt Email: [email protected] Supervisor: Professor Kristina Riegert
David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities
Abstract This study is designed to gain an understanding of the reality creation process in digital news media. By looking into the case of the Trump-Ukraine scandal the way how the 2 major US online news platforms CNN and FoxNews discursively construct reality for their audiences is examined. Within this analysis a qualitative framework is used, by applying a multi-method approach, consisting of a multimodal-discourse analysis and a critical discourse analysis. In the increasingly polarized and fragmented US society, explanations are needed for why people are having fundamentally different understandings of the current political events. A quite reasonable amount of research has been conducted in this field. However, the media studies are currently lacking profound explanations in the field of digital news. This project offers relevant findings of how the analyzed publications construct the events around an important and controversial topic through their online news coverage. Interestingly, this project shows that the news coverage about the Trump-Ukraine scandal in both channels differs decisively in terms of its journalistic style and contextual meaning. FoxNews uses direct quotations to hand over the narration to the political actors involved in the political process. In that way, FoxNews functions as the opinion creation machine for conservative worldviews and presents a Trump-favorable version of the events. On the other hand, CNN injects its news coverage with emotionalizing elements and creates through that a very Trump-critical and partly prejudiced news reporting, focusing more on the sensational value of the story rather than on sole information. Important to mention is that this research offers limited explanations to the problematic nature of the issue since digital news embodies a decisive factor in the opinion creation process but is one factor out of many. Therefore, more research is needed to fully elaborate on the digital news environment and its impacts on society.
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Table of Contents Abstract ...... 3 Acknowledgements ...... 6 1. Introduction ...... 7 1.1 Aim of the research ...... 8 1.2 Research questions ...... 8 1.3 Motivation for this research ...... 9 1.4 Limitation ...... 10 2. Background ...... 12 2.1 FoxNews ...... 12 2.2 CNN ...... 13 2.3 The media environment and partisan lines in the US – theoretical findings ...... 15 2.4 The Ukraine affaire ...... 19 2.5 Political scandals in the US: a long tradition ...... 20 3. Theoretical framework ...... 22 3.1 Reality: a social construction ...... 22 3.2 The role of language ...... 23 3.3 The social construction of news ...... 25 3.4 Scandals and emotion: the driver for discursive reality construction ...... 27 4. Methodological framework ...... 30 4.1 The method ...... 30 4.2 Multimodal Discourse analysis ...... 30 4.3 Critical Discourse Analysis ...... 32 4.4 Operationalized research questions ...... 34 4.5 The topic ...... 35 4.6 The sample ...... 35 4.7 Analytical framework ...... 37 4.7.1 Video analysis framework ...... 37 4.7.2 Textual analysis ...... 38 5. Research results ...... 41 5.1 Phase 1 – CNN Segment 1 ...... 41 5.2 Phase 1 – FoxNews Segment 1 ...... 43 5.3 Phase 2 – CNN Segment 2 ...... 44 5.4 Phase 2 – FoxNews Segment 2 ...... 46 5.5 Phase 3 – CNN Segment 3 ...... 48 5.6 Phase 3 – FoxNews Segment 3 ...... 51
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5.7 Phase 4 – CNN Segment 4 ...... 53 5.8 Phase 4 – FoxNews Segment 4 ...... 55 6. Discussion of the results ...... 57 6.1 Video analysis ...... 59 6.1.1 Main underlying messages ...... 59 6.1.2 Ideological standpoints: ...... 59 6.2 Textual analysis ...... 60 6.2.1 Quotation ...... 60 6.2.2 Metaphorization and lexical choices: ...... 62 6.2.3 Identity construction of political actors ...... 62 6.2.4 Narratives ...... 63 7. Conclusion ...... 65 8. Sample ...... 67 8.1 CNN ...... 67 8.2 Foxnews ...... 67 Works Cited ...... 69
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Acknowledgements This project exceeds the suggested word scope of this project. The two very text-heavy methods in combination with the complex theoretical constructs of this project require a more detailed and precise description to do justice to the desired intention of this research.
I would like to thank my supervisor, my parents, and friends, who supported me along with this lengthy, enlightening path.
David Jeremias Vogt
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1. Introduction
At the beginning of this journey lies the question which is concerned with the reasons for America’s increasingly bitter divide. The Ukraine affair around Donald Trump has shown once more what high level of controversy the battleground of US politics is offering. Hard fought partisan lines are reflected in the media’s agenda what does not leave audiences behind impact less. Therefore, the main objective of this present research is to find out how digital news media discursively construct reality for their audiences. A qualitative approach is used to examine how 2 of the most influential news channels, naming CNN and FoxNews are creating worlds and worldviews for their readers through their digital publications. The thematical input for this study offers the Ukraine scandal, a political scandal with international importance, exciting and upsetting media audiences in the US and beyond. A combination of a multimodal discourse approach and a classical discourse analysis is used to explore the ways of news reporting on this controversial issue. The material is given through news segments that consist of videos and textual components. The theoretical background is delivered by Paul A. Boghossian, from who’s theories on the social construction of knowledge it is possible to conclude that reality is constructed and not perceived (Boghossian, 2010). Furthermore, the theories of Berkowitz and Liu on the social construction of news, together with the findings of Wahl-Jorgensen about emotions in news, build the theoretical backbone for the analysis of the research results. Looking at the social construction of news, the authors refer to 3 main frameworks that determine the cultural production of meaning in news. This first is described as journalistic storytelling through mythical narration. The second frame deals with collective memory in news and its role in explaining and reframing specific events. The third concept is defined through the construction of meaning through ideography (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, pp. 306-310). Concerning emotions in news, Wahl-Jorgensen points out that emotionalizing elements are often embedded in news reporting on political issues. She explains that emotions are inherent in mediated communication. In the case of news coverage on political scandals, mostly the moral aspects of the topic are foregrounded (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2019, pp. 39-42). The methodological tools in this study have a qualitative character. On the one hand, the material is analyzed through the multimodal discourse approach. The concept presented by Gunther Kress (2010) is used for the video parts of the news segments. The multimodal
7 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities discourse approach emphasizes the multimodality of discourses. Forms and types of communication can appear on several levels and in different modes. That means discourses are anchored and existing in many different modes. The multimodal discourse approach offers a way to explore how within and across these modes meaning is created (Kress, 2010, p. 32). Therefore, this investigation approach is offering a suitable way to examine content with several layers of meaning, like video footage. Furthermore, the critical discourse model by David Machin and Andrea Mayr (2012) is deployed to investigate the textual parts of the material. This method helps to find out how meaning is created through language. This together with the theoretical findings of Norman Fairclough builds the methodological framework for the text material. The general idea is that ideological convictions and social norms originate in language. As Fairclough explains, language can be seen as a form of social practice (Fairclough, 1993, p. 134). In that way, the critical discourse approach is applied to find out how this social practice resonates in the news reporting on the Ukraine scandal. Moreover, in the center of critical discourse studies lies the idea that content producers have different word choices available. By looking into these word choices, specific understanding about the values, convictions, and deeper-lying meaning can be gained (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 30).
1.1 Aim of the research This research is designed to find out how realities of complex political issues are discursively constructed in digital news media. The reality versions, which are constructed in 2 widely consumed and ideologically very different positioned US online news outlets are analyzed, by looking into the news reporting of the Ukraine affaire around President Donald Trump. The gained results through the qualitative framework are interlinked with the theoretical findings. In that way a profound understanding of the social construction of reality and power structures in online news in generated.
1.2 Research questions In the following, the two main questions are presented which motivate this study. Those questions build the basis for the 5 operationalized research questions which are presented in chapter number 4, Methodological Framework.
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RQ1: How does the video content of the online news coverage about the Ukraine affaire create reality versions for their audiences? RQ2: What language components are used within the textual part of the news reporting about the Ukraine Affaire to rephrase, frame, and describe the events taken place?
A sequence of pivotable moments is designed to create a frame for the material selection. This time frame comprises the 4 following phases: the revelations of the scandal, the public hearings and investigations, the process, and at last the debate around the aftermath of the scandal. In that context from each news channel 1 segment of each phase was selected and analyzed. Each segment contains a video, as well as a textual part. The videos were examined through the multimodal discourse approach, for the textual parts the classical critical discourse analysis was used. Interestingly, this research delivers valuable insights into the way how both channels report on the issue. Looking at CNN a special role emotionalization can be identified. In the case of FoxNews, the narration of news through direct quotation is revealed. Both channels remain within their partisan lines – FoxNews, republican and CNN democratic, and reflect these ideological standpoints in their news coverage.
1.3 Motivation for this research The decisive motivation for this research is to trace the reasons for a remarkably increasing divide throughout the US American society. Traditional ideological lines, social values, and common practices of political debate are nowadays fully distorted. Depending on what media people are consuming, they have different understandings of the present political events. This has led to the creation of deep divisions in voting blocks. The new factor is that those different opinions and attitudes are not fought out based on discussion and debate. They originate in fundamental objection towards the other, which creates what can be called a battlefield for ideologies (AssociatedPress, 2016). People are constructing their realities through consuming media. It is within the responsibility of the media studies to deliver explanations for why these realities can be so contrasting. For the communication studies, it is, therefore, crucial to find out, firstly, what role the media are playing in this process of division. Secondly, what responsibilities media actors are carrying with regards to their influential potential for meaning and opinion creation.
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The digital publications of the two TV giants CNN and FoxNews are listed amongst the 10 most influential news channels in the US (Feedspot, 2020). Both formerly classical TV channels, publish nowadays news in the form of articles and stories, mostly in combination with video material on their online platforms. They can both be allocated to the same media category, covering news issues on a 24-hours basis. Ideologically they have very different standpoints. CNN can be seen as more liberal and proclaiming democratic values. On the other side, we find FoxNews, a media channel part of the Murdoch media complex, speaking to conservative, more right audiences. The different ideological standpoints create an interesting basis for a comparison, which looks into how facts are conveyed and how reality is discursively constructed concerning a controversially discussed and highly important issue. In other words, this analysis helps to find out how two structurally very similar digital news outlets with alike reaches can create realities for their audiences by reporting about a topic with a high level of complexity. There is a reasonable amount of research existing dealing with topics that are related to the investigated media channels. Their strong ability to influence public opinion and the potential to lead political debates can be seen as one of the main reasons for the wide interest of the media studies. Since these are traditionally TV news outlets, the main attention was given to their television coverage. However, there is a lack of actual and adequate scientific knowledge about how reality is constructed in the current digital news environment. Therefore, is this research designed to fill this gap and delivers important insights into how 2 of the most popular digital news destinations construct the events around a controversial issue with great importance.
1.4 Limitation The specific design of this research with its qualitative tools helps to gain scientific knowledge about how online news media discursively construct realities for their readers. However, since the results are not from quantitative nature, general conclusions are not possible. Moreover, since the analysis looks into one particular case, it is important to point out that other cases could deliver different results. Furthermore, relating the research intention to its motivational origin, it offers answers to the question about America’s increasing polarization. In this context, it is important to mention that this explanation must be viewed as one of
10 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities many. Digital news can play an important role in the public opinion creation process, but so do many other media forms, like social media platforms for instance. Additionally, media effects can be viewed as very controversial phenomena. Other studies can deliver divergent results about the same topic. The comparative approach of the study is limited since the news segments belong to different genres from article, over editorial, to opinion. Therefore, the contribution of this project must be seen as only one part of the puzzle which explains the media’s role and the environment, where reality construction takes place.
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2. Background
The present section is designed to offer an overview of the thematical topic, insights about the channels delivering the material, as well as important theoretical findings from the media studies which are relevant for this research.
2.1 FoxNews The 24-hours-a-day news channel was introduced to the US cable market in 1996 by Rupert Murdoch. The news coverage is allocated more in the political right and conservative spectrum (DellaVigna & Kaplan, 2007, p. 1191). FoxNews is viewed as the polarizing media output for conservative and right anchored opinions in the US. It is also very often brought in connection with promoting the agenda of the Republican party. The channel itself describes it with the following words: “a 24-hour all- encompassing news service delivering breaking news as well as political and business news.” (Foxnews, 2020). Additionally, they refer in their description to several reports and polls promoting their popularity and trustworthiness as a news outlet. Research from 2020 published in the American Journal of Political Science found out that the market entry of FoxNews in 1996 had a significant effect on congressional elections by changing the entry calculations of the concerned politicians. Data shows that through the emerge of FoxNews, more quality candidates of the Republican party were likely to run in districts dominated by the Democrats. On the other hand, the results show that quality Democratic candidates were less likely to challenge quality Republicans in their districts after the go-live of the FoxNews cable channel (Arceneaux, et al., 2020). These findings demonstrate what effects national news media can have on the political landscape and deliver a great understanding of the partisan media system. However, it is important to mention is that these findings are based on data from cable TV news consumption from 1996. Therefore, the presented findings have limited validity today. For that reason, more precise research is needed to gain understanding of the actual situation. Especially the role of digital media sources should be elaborated more in detail. Another project conducted by Clinton and Enamorado investigated the relationship between elected officials and media effects on them in the period of FoxNews’ market entry between 1996 and 2000. The authors found out that there is no evidence suggesting that more
12 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities conservative politicians were elected due to FoxNews’ appearance. But that there is a positive correlation shown between FoxNews and elected officials becoming less supportive of the Democratic President Clinton (Clinton & Enamorado, 2014, p. 941). The research project conducted by DellaVigna and Kaplan goes even further and ascribes FoxNews the power to change elections. In their project, the authors studied the effects of media bias on voting behavior. Interestingly, they found out that through the expansion of FoxNews cable between 1996 and 2000, the elective behavior in certain areas where FoxNews was available got shifted toward the Republican party. The study claims that towns with FoxNews presence, showed a higher voting result on the Republican’s site in the 2000 presidential elections, compared to the previous election round in 1996. The authors conclude that such a shift can be decisive in elections, which means in other words, FoxNews would have the force to change the outcome of an election (DellaVigna & Kaplan, 2007, p. 1228). As reasons for this phenomenon, the authors name the ability of FoxNews to mobilize particularly conservative voters in Democratic-dominated districts (DellaVigna & Kaplan, 2007, p. 1189). The results of this project must be regarded very critically since statistical relationships can be misinterpreted and do not entirely offer conclusive explanations for the identified media effect. On the contrary, they deliver interesting insights on the possible influential potential of news media and suggest the phenomenon FoxNews, should be investigated further. FoxNews can on the one hand be seen as political power, with the potential to shift public opinion and even results of general elections. On the other hand, FoxNews embodies a media corporation, which operates in the same way as other national news channel and is subject to the same economic laws of the media industry (Yglesias, 2018, p. 682).
2.2 CNN By today, the TV channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner can be seen as one of the most important cable TV news channels, offering 24-hours news reporting. Historically, reasons for the popularity of CNN can be found in the coverage of hot and actual high-level topics with global importance, like the Gulf War in 1991, the Tiananmen Square protests, and the fall of Communism (Ghasemi Tari & Emamzadeh, 2018, p. 78).
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CNN is often mentioned together with the genre of 24-hours news reporting and its coverage of international issues. It is associated with a high level of influential potential in both US policy and society. News effects on politics and public opinion are often described with the media phenomenon referred to as the CNN-effect. It means that the use of shocking and emotionalizing images, mostly depicting humanitarian crises, can lead to shifts in public opinion and policy. This phenomenon was firstly discovered in combination with the CNN news reporting about the Gulf War in 1991 and further identified in other humanitarian crises like Somalia, Haiti, and in the Balkan (Bahador, 2007, pp. 3-4). However, it is important to mention that this media effect was theorized, but not fully proven. Other research suggests that the media phenomenon must be viewed as limitedly effective (Robinson, 2002, pp. 121- 122). CNN describes itself as the global leader in digital news and information and states their mission as follows: “To Inform, Engage and Empower the World” (CNN, 2020) The online segment, CNN.com, is believed to be one of the most popular news platforms in the US and is rated globally as one of the most influential and widely consumed digital news channels according to several sources (Medialandscapes, 2020); (Similarweb, 2020). A notable research project which was published in the Journal of Politics and Law analyzed CNN video news coverage about the 2016 election in combination with Tweets of Trump. The study delivers relevant findings of the complex relationship between the presidential candidate and the news channel (Ghasemi Tari & Emamzadeh, 2018, p. 79). It was shown that the presidential campaign of Trump disregarded and ignored accusations and allegations brought up through CNN systematically. Only issues which enjoyed wide popularity amongst the US society were addressed by Trump and his team (Ghasemi Tari & Emamzadeh, 2018, p. 85). From these findings, we learn that CNN as one of the main news sources in the US has a very ambivalent relation to Trump. In the research, it is mentioned that the news network was accused of focusing a significantly higher share of its coverage on issues related to Trump (Ghasemi Tari & Emamzadeh, 2018, pp. 78-79). Trump’s allies like TV host Larry King, as well as his opponents, aids to his competitors Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio expressed how one-sided CNN’s coverage was during the primaries of 2016 (Grynbaum, 2016). Additionally, it is important to mention that during the 2016 election period, CNN reached its highest peak
14 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities in terms of viewership figures. Therefore, it is from crucial importance to look into how this news giant constructs the events of a highly relevant topic concerning President Trump. Summarizing the findings of CNN, the news channel presents itself as a media company promoting and practicing journalistic values like transparency, accuracy, and truth. It became widely popular through the news reporting on hot and explosive topics. Furthermore, its relation to Trump can be seen as ambivalent, since it is one of his loudest criticizers, but lends him through that a fair amount of attention.
2.3 The media environment and partisan lines in the US – theoretical findings Farhi, a media specialist, presents in his article published in the magazine American Journalism Review in 2003 interesting insights about the complex relationship between CNN and FoxNews. The article advocates that the 2 channels, generally regarded as bitter rivals in the TV news industry, are so fundamentally different in tone and style, that they are not competing in the same genre. CNN with its long tradition and viewed as the inventor of the 24hours-news genre seemed to be outperformed by FoxNews, entering the market in 1996, as part of the Rupert Murdoch media complex (Farhi, 2003, p. 32). The author calls both channels as being “…separate solar systems in the same galaxy.” (Farhi, 2003, p. 32). Important to mention is, those statements are not from scientific nature but help to better understand the 2 media channels which are in the focus of this research. With it, we can try to explain why the worlds which are constructed in both news outlets are fundamentally different and why opinions are increasingly polarized. It maps out the way to further look into the reasons for the bitter divide of the US society. It is within the responsibility of the media studies to deliver scientific explanation, evidence, and possible solution approaches to this phenomenon. A notable research project published in The International Journal of Press/Politics (2012), deals with the news coverage about the issue of climate change on the 3 major US cable TV networks, FoxNews, CNN, and MSNBC. The research project follows the main goal to investigate the hypothesis, which states that news consumption behavior affects beliefs and opinions about climate change. The research draws back on findings of the partisan divide in the US society. It was shown that great differences are existing on how the topic of climate change is perceived between Democratic and Republican supporters (Feldman, et al., 2012,
15 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities p. 4). With the media as the main source for public information, it is critical to investigate how different news coverage can influence, shape, extremize, and divide public opinions. The 2012 research shows that different cable news consumption behaviors affect views and opinions on the issue of climate change. The study demonstrated that more people tend to watch FoxNews, the less likely they are to accept the fact that climate change is a human- created phenomenon with severe negative impacts. On the contrary, the more people watch CNN and MSNBC, they more likely they are to accept global warming (Feldman, et al., 2012, pp. 22-23). Interestingly, from this research, we learn that partisan lines and news consumption behaviors play a decisive role in the understanding of complex political issues. The two most important main conclusions to be found in this study postulate, on the one hand, that cable news has the potential to influence public opinion and understanding. On the other hand, and most importantly, different media channels can convey different views of reality. Those can contain different opinions and understandings, which polarizes audiences (Feldman, et al., 2012, p. 23). That means in simple words, FoxNews creates a different reality than does CNN or MSNBC. This project gives important hints and leads the way for further investigations. The examination of the news coverage about controversial issues in TV news delivers interesting insights and conclusions. With the growing usage of online news channels, comes the need to investigate how such topics are presented in digital news. Online news media have become one of the main sources of information within the last years, with more predicted growth to come (Twenge, et al., 2019). For that reason, the analysis of reality construction in online news delivers a relevant and actual subject.
In the past 2 decades, the media landscape has gone through an era of change. Nowadays, the US society is offered a drastically increased variety of media content, in both television and online. In consequence, this growing range of content variety leads to fragmentation of audiences (Gil de Zúñiga, et al., 2012). In this context, for the media studies, the crucial question emerges, which deals with the impacts of this fragmentation. There is a need to investigate the reasons for why political opinions are driving apart from each other, why are fundamental understandings of politics and society are becoming more extreme and what are the origins of polarization and extremization.
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A study published in the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (2012) investigates the correlation between selective exposure to cable TV news and the viewers’ ideological standpoints. In this study data sets of US citizens were analyzed, to look into the interlinkage between selective TV news consumption, of either FoxNews or CNN and the audiences’ ideological convictions and the opinions towards a highly controversial issue – naming Mexican migration. The main goal of the study is to examine the effects of “selective exposure” and “ideological reinforcement” on the audience’s opinions towards the particular social group and the politics concerning it (Mexican immigrants). In the study data from the years 2008 and 2009 was collected and analyzed (Gil de Zúñiga, et al., 2012, p. 598). The results of this project are worth mentioning. It was found out that the more conservative a person is, the more likely they are going to consume FoxNews media content. On the other hand, the data showed that the more liberal a person is, the more likely this person will watch CNN and avoid FoxNews. Moreover, this research shows that ideological convictions play an important role in dealing with controversial topics. Conservative people have more negative attitudes towards Mexican migration than more liberal persons (Gil de Zúñiga, et al., 2012, p. 606). From this research, we learn that conservative Republicans tend to watch FoxNews and in turn, Democrats with a more liberal mindset consume CNN content. Additionally, from these findings, we learn about the so-called FoxNews-effect, which explains that people from both political streams, Republican and Democratic, who consume FoxNews media content, have more negative opinions on topics like migration (Gil de Zúñiga, et al., 2012, p. 610). These findings help to understand the complex fragmentation of the US media environment. However, on the other hand, they only deliver a simplified view of this fragmentation. The classification into only 2 binaries, left and right, FoxNews and CNN, and democratic and republican can be seen as limiting. Each binary contains large depths and variations in opinion. Moreover, this research maps out the way for further investigations. Noting here, there is a need existing to shine a light on the different ideological standpoints, which are interwoven in the coverage about controversial issues, like for example the Ukraine affaire, in online news, as we find it on CNN and FoxNews. It can be relevant to examine what different ideological convictions are present and what are the underlying messages carrying these ideologies. Additionally, it is worth investigating if the 2 news channels are reporting along their predicted partisan lines, meaning FoxNews ‘pro-Republican’ and CNN ‘pro-Democratic’.
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An interesting research project published in the journal Journalism Studies, analyses how journalists at CNN, Fox, and MSNBC are making use of source networks for their media coverage. As mentioned before, the US media landscape has changed drastically within the last years. The 2 main characteristics are deregulation and technical progress, both fostering the predominance of big media corporations (Conway-Silva, et al., 2020). The article explains that cable news channels can be described as horizontal media. The term horizontal aims on describing the level of content and opinion diversity. Horizontal diversity means that variety does not exist within a given news outlet, but through the variety of outlets, diversity is created. On the other hand, vertical outlets, mostly broadcast media, typically have a greater variety of perspectives and tend to produce more objective content (Conway-Silva, et al., 2020, p. 840). This study explains that cable news in the US is communicating with highly fractured audiences by using different actors to convey their messages. The most dominant messenger role is found within the responsibility of prominent political actors. The study concludes, that the reasons for the existence of fundamentally differentiating worlds and world views within the US main news networks originate to a high level in the different voices which are heard in them. Moreover, the authors conclude, that the news coverage of the analyzed material is strongly branded with subjectivism, which stems from the partisan influence on the media channels (Conway-Silva, et al., 2020, p. 852). From these findings, we learn that it can be interesting to look closer into how political actors are heard in the US mainstream media. This forms an important pillar of the examination of reality construction in digital news media. The idea that politicians through statements, direct quotation, or other multimedia contributions control the narration within news media builds a critical issue, which needs to analyzed closer.
By today, CNN and FoxNews are listed as the leading digital news networks in the US. In the Digital News Report of 2019 from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, CNN is listed on place number 2 followed by FoxNews under the category top online news brands in terms of user figures (Jenkins & Graves, 2020). As of February 2020, Statista ranks CNN on number 4, with 95 million unique visitors and FoxNews on place number 6, with 65 million unique visitors, as the most popular news websites in the US (Statista, 2020). Additionally, data from SimilarWeb shows that CNN has higher traffic numbers, but more traffic coming
18 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities from other countries than the US. FoxNews users tend to visit 2,7 pages on average and stay about 7 minutes on site. Users of CNN remain 3,5 minutes on-site and browse 1,9 pages. Those user figures suggest that both digital media channels have similar influential potential in the USA. The usage numbers of CNN are higher, but with more traffic coming from other countries. FoxNews users on the other hand tend to stay longer on the site and visit more pages (SimilarWeb, 2020); (SimilarWeb, 2020). Therefore, both media channels are very suitable for comparative investigation. They have a similar reach in the United States and can be categorized into the same schemata of TV and digital media hybrid, publishing, and covering stories in the same structural way.
2.4 The Ukraine affaire To begin with, it is important to mention that this present study does not seek to assess the legal or ethical aspects of the Ukraine affaire. The following briefly describes the background of the thematical input that relies mainly on media reports and claims no scientific completeness. The news coverage of the Ukraine affaire was chosen since it delivers a controversial and highly important issue for the US public and beyond. The Ukraine affaire, by today also known as President Donald Trump’s impeachment process, deals in general with allegations against Trump in terms of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress by pressuring a foreign government to investigate a political rival. In the center of the story lies an anonymous whistleblower complaint, which made the accusations against Trump public matter. In August 2019, an unknown intelligence official expressed concern about a phone conversation between Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine. In the phone call, Trump urged Zelensky to investigate former Vice- President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Mr. Biden, the frontrunner of the Democratic party for the 2020 election, can be seen as Trump’s direct political rival. Importantly, the phone conversation took place shortly after US military aids for Ukraine was blocked through Trump. Members of the Democratic party argued that Trump broke the law by pressuring a foreign nation to investigate his political opponent through withholding essential military support. Trump and the White House denied this and alleged on the contrary Biden, by stating that he abused his power to prevent possible investigations against his son during his Vice- Presidency. The revelations were followed by a period of fact-finding and closed-door
19 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities investigations, which lead to public hearings, in which multiple government officials testified in the House of Representatives. The from the Democrats dominated House impeached Trump on two charges – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. A process in the Republican-controlled Senate was the consequence. In the end, the Senators voted to acquit Trump of all charges. The issue marks the 3rd impeachment trial in US history. (BBC, 2020) (Seung Min, 2020) (McCarthy, 2020).
2.5 Political scandals in the US: a long tradition Political scandals have a long tradition in the United States. The media has been an important player in revealing and discussing illegal and immoral events happening in US politics. To name 2 of the most popular issues, which have been branded into the collective memory of American history, we find the Watergate scandal and the Clinton-Levinsky affair. In 1972 it became public that President Richard Nixon and his team were trying to cover up a break-in at the Democratic National Committee office in the Watergate complex in Washington. Members of the Nixon re-election campaign tried to steal sensitive material from their political opponents. When the story went through the media, the people were shocked. Nixon resigned before he could be impeached. This scandal changed US politics and the way how Americans see elections fundamentally (Waxman, 2018); (Stezano, 2018). In 1998, the news broke that President Clinton had a sexual affair with White House intern Monica Levinsky. Clinton firstly denied, but later were the allegations found to be true. The mediated response was characterized by sensationalism and absurdity. The accused President was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice but finally acquitted of all charges (Stezano, 2018). These events help to understand the meaning of political scandals concerning US presidents. It provides a historical background and allows us to understand what explosive topics are startling the US public. Parallels can be drawn to the Trump-Ukraine affair. November 8th, 2016 when Donald Trump got elected as the 45th President of the United States, marks the ultimate day of a new political era. Old, long-established habits, norms, and values were thrown overboard. As new President got a man elected who against all odds won an election which was characterized through populism and absurdity. While with it the question emerges, asking for the reasons of the phenomenon Trump: How could this unusual,
20 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities largely criticized man, whose leadership qualities were questioned widely become the official elected President (Kivisto, 2017, pp. 2-3)? The answers might not be simple and explained through several phenomena. However, this present research looks into how mass media, particularly digital forms, are dealing with the aftermath of this development.
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3. Theoretical framework
This section is designed to offer a theoretical framework for this research to answer the questions posed previously. It marks a combination out of several established theoretical approaches explaining the different thematical layers, this research is touching onto. In that way, it functions as the theoretical backbone explaining and elaborating the results of the empirical analysis.
3.1 Reality: a social construction The ideological starting point of this research project is the assumption that reality is something that is socially constructed. Therefore, the ultimate goal which arises from this philosophical discussion is to find out, how this reality creation process is done. Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann discuss in their classical work “The Social Construction of Reality” the terminology ‘sociology of knowledge’. With it, the authors refer to an analytical process that not only looks into the diversity of knowledge in different societies. They are concerned with how several elements of knowledge come together and will be socially established as ‘reality’ (Berger & Luckmann, 1966, p. 15). In other words, what the authors refer to as the ‘sociology of knowledge’, means a process to deal with and to examine these construction efforts. A process that is concerned with “the analysis of the social construction of reality” (Berger & Luckmann, 1966, p. 15). One further, for this research relevant, socio-philosophical understanding of the concept of knowledge is mapped out by Paul A. Boghossian. In his work with the title “The Social Construction of Knowledge” (Boghossian, 2010), he tries to find answers to fundamental questions about how knowledge can be socially constructed. For this research project, this is relevant with regards to the anchoring of knowledge within our socially constructed reality. Boghossian explains the main cognitive activities, that are responsible for the process of knowledge creation. Firstly, he notes that believing can be seen as a mental state of mind. In this context, it is crucial to mention that beliefs are built out of propositional content. This proposition allows us to access beliefs, for example as true or false, justified or unjustified or as rational versus irrational. Important to mention is that propositional content is built out of concepts (Boghossian, 2010, p. 11). To give an example, for someone being able to believe that the sky is blue, one must have the concepts sky, being, and blue. It is possible to postulate
22 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities that concepts are used to construct and assemble knowledge. Concerning this present research, it is important to find out how such concepts are shared from individual to individual and from many to many. For the question asking about, what it means that something is socially constructed, we firstly must declare what it means, to construct something in general. In simple words, to construct something means that we built something together with some level of intention. Following from this, we can conclude that something which is constructed does not exist already and cannot be found or discovered, the distinctive factor is the intended creation process involved (Boghossian, 2010, p. 16). The theory of constructivism is foremost concerned with the construction of facts, rather than the construction of material things. Facts come into existence and receive their meaning through mutual agreement. To give an example, ‘money’ can be viewed as a social construction. In that way, a piece of paper becomes a specific value ascribed, which then can be traded universally in several ways. That only becomes possible because there is mutual agreement existing about the value and the meaning of money (Boghossian, 2010, p. 17). The same rules can be applied to the construction of social knowledge. Knowledge within a certain society can only exist through shared ideas. In addition to that, to call something a social construction it is necessary that facts are and can only be constructed collectively through society (Boghossian, 2010, pp. 17-18).
3.2 The role of language Within capitalist and what we call developed societies, power structures are predominately enforced through ideological products and guidelines which regulate our living together, rather than through physical forces. It is our cultural nature that determines the production and reproduction of the social order, to which we align our behavior. The role of language is in this interplay of significant importance. Through discourse, we establish ideologies, practices, and meanings. Our knowledge, the values we commonly agree on and our identities originate in discourse. In a debate, it is, what allows us to reach consensus and gives us the possibility to learn. Interestingly, the mass media can be seen as the first and premium social institution, impacting and enabling communicative processes transmitting discourse (Fairclough, 2010, p. 531). Therefore, by understanding what media do with language and
23 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities what discourses can be found in their messages, we can understand one of the most influential forces shaping social opinion and belief. By analyzing the discursive elements of media content, the role of language must be determined. Within the critical discourse studies, the phenomenon of linguistic determinism plays an important role. In its most extreme interpretation, linguistic determinism states that all our thinking is determined by the language we use. That means we do not only use language to describe the world we see. Moreover, language delivers us the components with which we construct our view of the world (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 16). The first attempts to get a hold on these thoughts can be found in the theories of Saussure. The idea was to study language features, the lexical and grammatical choices, referred to as building blocks. These building blocks can be viewed as systematic choices reflecting specific ideological standpoints and convictions. With regards to the relationship between language and meaning, we can view language as a form of code, on which user terms we commonly agree on. Characteristically for the distinction between the different forms of code is their relational nature. Words for example stand in no direct relation to the things they describe. They inhabit meaning, but this meaning comes into existence through the distinction, or more precisely their difference to other words, rather than their similarity to the actual object they are referring to. Therefore, it does make sense to study language according to its use. In that way, it is possible to extract the underlying systems of the language components we analyze, for both textual and visual elements (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 17). Another noteworthy perspective on the use of language offers the social semiotic theory of communication. Its core message defines language as a set of resources. In this context, it is mainly interested in finding out how semiotic resources are used for both visual and language communication. The availability and choice of semiotic resources are decisive in this interplay. This approach ultimately aims on revealing what people are doing with the set of semiotic choices available to them. The multimodal semiotic approach, evolved from the social semiotic theory, reaches even further, it is not solely interested in the choices, moreover, it is concerned about what these choices are and how they are expressed (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 17). This knowledge lets us conclude, that the way how we use language, determines how we speak and think about something. It builds the very basic fundament of how we perceive and understand the world and will finally be reflected in our actions. What people do with
24 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities language allows us to conclude how they think and act in general. Therefore, if we can encode language use in media and create systematic patterns out of that, we learn about how language enforces power and what impact this power has on societies.
3.3 The social construction of news The core interest of this research is to find out how media are constructing reality. Noting, reality construction in this context, means the creation and interpretation of meaning. From the philosophical and sociological theories described previously, it is possible to conclude that those realities express their creators’ deepest opinions, interests, beliefs and can be transferred into other realities, where they at a final stage are reflected in social actions (Berger & Luckmann) (Boghossian) (Fairclough). The source of this meaning creation process is the language that resonates in communication. Therefore, news delivers the components for the realities of their readers, in the form of language. The goal of this project is to determine and analyze those components adequately. The answer to the question of why this is such an important issue delivers us the acknowledgment that we humans are creatures, who are deeply concerned with meaning. One of our main descriptive characteristics is our passion, combined with the need to create and to interpret meaning (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, p. 301). Referring to the study of news, the common predominant argumentation within the communication theories is to regard news production not as a strategic, crafting practice, with classical characteristics, comparable to other professions. It is rather viewed as a process that creates, uses, and relates to meanings. Those meanings are already omnipresent within the journalistic occupation, as well as the culture of the societies they are released into. That means, news production is the reproduction of events resonating in the values and convictions already existing in society (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, p. 306). Berkowitz and Liu map out two approaches that explain the phenomena news thoroughly. On the one hand, we find a sociological explanation, which views the topic news from the perspective of the field of its origins. The organizational structures and ways of working in a news organization, together with common journalistic strategies build the main thematical aspects of this approach. On the contrary, the cultural approach is concerned with the
25 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities professional culture and the society in which, and for which the phenomenon news is produced (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, p. 310). Journalism seen as an occupation is a field that is deeply impacted by its ideals of working and the organizational structure around it. Tensions arise from the conflict journalists are facing, created through competing factors given through moral and ethical norms and other internal or external interests involved in the news creation process (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, p. 304). For example, journalists need to consider what level of neutrality they need to apply by retelling a story. Furthermore, journalistic work means to fulfill the specific ideals the profession brings with it. These struggles, combined with the specific characteristics of the profession, let sociologists suggest that reality in news is constructed (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, p. 304). At the bottom of this discussion lies the question about how far news can reflect reality and truth. From the sociological angle point, the main emphasis deals with the limitations of journalistic work to create a coherent image of reality. Within this present work, the focus lies more on the construction of reality through cultural and ideological means, rather than on the examination of practical limitations of journalistic work. In that way, this present project views the topic news more from the cultural perspective, although it also refers to the sociological approach, especially with regards to the organizational structures of the media outlets providing the sample material. Regarding the construction of reality in news, we find 3 theoretical frameworks to explain the cultural production of meaning. One particularly interesting phenomenon is explained by Berkowitz and Liu with the so-called mythical narrative. This strategy embodies a way of telling a story through foreseeable chains of action, recognizable frameworks of plots, commonly shared cultural and moral values, and well-established ideas of characters – they together form world views aligned to specific ideologies. It is possible to identify 7 main types of mythical narratives in news reporting. Those master myths, delivering the templates for storytelling in news are determined as follows: “the victim, the scapegoat, the hero, the good mother, the trickster, the otherworld, and the flood” (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, pp. 306-307). Another way of telling news pointed out by the authors is the use of collective memory. This strategy of telling events draws back on collectively aggregated memory, which is widely agreed upon within a certain group or a society. By reporting a specific event, journalists scan through their memories to find the right matches for rephrasing the new content. In that way,
26 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities the past becomes the model delivering the components for constructing the future. Important to mention is, that in most cases, the memory used as the reference material for telling and consuming news, is built upon cultural values and ideology (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, pp. 307-308). As the last framework elaborating on the topic news, we find the construction process of meaning through ideography. This approach is particularly important for this research since it touches on the role of ideologies in combination with news understanding. The basic idea is, words can carry more than their sole meanings as we define them linguistically. On a meta- level words have a more far-reaching meaning. They can convey whole ideologies. Shared meanings and convictions build the ground from which news reporting using ideographs can emerge. Those shared meanings are reflected in for example everyday conversations and, therefore, are omnipresent in certain socio-political contexts. News using those ideographs are then tapping into these contexts, to abstract, convince and shape public opinions. Ideographs are to be found at the center of societies and originate in media, popular culture, from well-known public actors, social media, and society itself. They carry meaning, which is ideologically anchored. Following some examples for such ideographs as we find them in news reporting: ‘freedom’; ‘in-equality’; ‘freedom of speech or religion’; specific ‘concepts of cultures’ like ‘Western’; ‘capitalism’ or ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ (Berkowitz & Liu, 2014, pp. 308-310). Those three frameworks together with the following section build the centerpiece for the examination of the sample material. The analysis is concerned with how mythical narratives, ideographs, and collective memory are used to transmit discourse.
3.4 Scandals and emotion: the driver for discursive reality construction The following section delivers theoretical findings on how news media and political scandals are interlinked and what effects this connection has on the social construction of knowledge. In Tuchman’s classic Making News, the idea from the news as the mirror to society is evolved. In this context news functions as a reflection for society (Tuchman, 1978, p. 183). Regarding the news reporting on political scandals, news producers act as active contributors to the sociopolitical process of knowledge production. Tuchman illustrates this by referring
27 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities to 2 scandals enraging large parts of US society. She explains that the My Lai massacre1, one of the darkest moments in US military history, was not existing for Americans until the story entered the news. Until that point, the killing of several hundred civilians through US soldiers was only a personal tragedy of a few. The Watergate affair can be seen similarly. The news coverage turned the break-in to the Watergate complex and the involvement of certain actors into public agenda, affecting an entire nation. In both cases, the news coverage had direct impacts on the realities of many. In the first case, it strengthened the anti-war movement, in the latter case it forced President Nixon to step down. Concerning the events mentioned before, the media become part of the construct, producing and shaping public knowledge. In other words, the events of both crises were transformed into public reality, through the media’s public dissemination. In that way, the media turned personal destinies into key events, affection future politics, policy, and the destinies of many others (Tuchman, 1978, p. 190). The mediated character of political scandals can transform them into national or even global events. Through global, delocalized media networks and organizations information is spread in a short time and uncontrolled. It was shown in previous scandals that they have the potential to become hotly debated topics for global audiences. This creates discussion and bewilderment beyond borders. Typical examples for this development are Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, or the Clinton-Levinsky story. Furthermore, scandals can be transformed into historical memory. They are preserved in a wide amount of media material in both physical and digital forms (Thompson, 2000, p. 71). In her work, ‘Emotions, Media, and Politics’, Wahl-Jorgensen provides theoretical findings on emotions in political news. Interestingly, she explains, that within journalistic storytelling, emotions are playing an important role. Contradictive to the classical ideal of objectivity and neutrality, news narration about political issues often makes use of emotionalizing elements. Furthermore, she notes that best practices in journalism, which are characterized through objectivity and renunciation of emotionalization, cannot prevent content from being emotionally stimulating. Since the journalistic narration often relies on or refers to non-
1 The Mỹ Lai Massacre was the mass murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.
28 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities journalistic actors, who are not bound to journalistic ethical standards, emotions can be interwoven into the content (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2019, pp. 38-39). Wahl-Jorgensen points out that news reporting on political scandals in most cases addresses the moral aspects of the topics. She explains that to a wide extent, such news coverage calls for public moral anger. This journalistic genre, which helps to hold political actors responsible, aims at public denunciation, to stimulate its audiences. Keeping this in mind, it becomes clear that journalism with its essential control function to democratic systems, is making use of emotionality (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2019, pp. 41-42). Most relevant for this present research, Wahl-Jorgensen’s conclusions, define emotions as an inherent part of political communication. She notes that emotions in political news construct media discourses. These discourses follow certain rules and regimes. They carry ideological meaning and are a central part of the depicted events in the media (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2019, p. 168).
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4. Methodological framework
To shine a light on this issue, this examination focusses on the phenomena of discursive reality construction on the digital news platforms of mainstream online media. It analyses the elements of constituting and constructing discourse. In that way, a comparative approach is used to examine possible differences in the way, style, and characteristics of the news reporting of the selected outlets (CNN.com / FoxNews.com). The main question this research tries to answer is how is the reality of one complex political issue discursively constructed on ideological opposed digital news channels?
4.1 The method This study makes use of the critical discourse model developed and described by David Machin and Andrea Mayr in their work “How to: Critical discourse analysis” (Machin & Mayr, 2012). In addition to that delivers the multimodal discourse approach designed by Gunther Kress the methodological framework for the video content analysis (Kress, 2010). Furthermore, this work refers back to the theoretical findings of Fairclough, van Dijk, and Kress with Van Leeuwen to explain and elaborate on the methodological tools used in the course of this study. The origins of the study of critical discourse are to be found in the linguistics, combining a set of approaches to analyze text and spoken language. Defining the use of a critical discourse study further, it forms a method to unveil how meaning is created and communicated through language (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 1). A critical discourse study is usually used to analyze media material, to reveal deeper-lying strategies that on the surface seem to appear as normal but in fact are branded and ideologically shaped in a particular way. The description of the method as critical means that the approach ultimately seeks to identify power structures incorporated in the content (Machin & Mayr, 2012, pp. 1-2). In the following section are the 2 used methods in this study described.
4.2 Multimodal Discourse analysis The video material of the publications will be analyzed through a multimodal discourse analysis. This examination process takes place within the critical discourse analysis framework and has the goal to find out how the sample material evokes meaning for its readers.
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The idea for the deployment of a multimodal discourse analysis originates in the need for a precise and accurate toolkit to analyze visual content. The basic idea of this investigation approach is to apply the same analytical principles, which are used for linguistic content, to visual communication (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 7). In simple words, a multimodal perspective looks into how common semiotic elements operate within and beyond different types of modes. In that way different contextual elements can refer to or create different types meaning, for instance, specific music refers to action, creates an emotional background, or illustrates more complex physical occurrences like time (Kress & Leeuwen, 2001, p. 2). Mentioning at this point, that we can describe discourse as ‘socially constructed knowledge of reality’. Socially constructed means, knowledge is constructed in specific social contexts, which are directly and indirectly influenced by the interests of the social actors involved. As the authors Kress and Van Leeuwen explain, the range and meaning of those interests can differ in various ways. They can be expressed as a discourse within a family or a group of friends, they can be established within specific cultures and countries, or reach beyond and form whole concepts of living adopted by a wide range of people, independent of space and over generations (Kress & Leeuwen, 2001, p. 4). Moreover, it is important to add, that socially constructed reality requires knowledge about the events constituting that reality. In most cases, different reality alternatives compete with each other, people then tend to choose the one which is most closely aligned to their interests (Kress & Leeuwen, 2001, p. 21). In addition to that, by discussing the concept of multimodal discourse it is important to mention the role of language. The classical critical discourse framework sees in language the origin of discourse. Within the multimodal discourse framework, this conclusion is developed further, it claims that discourse can exist without a direct connection to its mode of realization, but that discourse is still expressed in language. In other words, the multimodal approach suggests that discourse can exist and be brought into existence in many modes. In this context, modes become the carrier of meaning (Kress & Leeuwen, 2001, p. 24). Communication appears to us multimodal. That means that the forms and types of how communication takes place can show many different characteristics and exist in various communicative levels. To name a few examples, communication can be spoken in the form of a speech, instructions, or a dialogue between people. It can appear as non-verbal through gestures and mimics. Moreover, written text embodies communication, in a letter, or simply a restaurant menu. In addition to that, communicational ways can differ, for instance,
31 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities communicational content exists in visual, audiovisual, verbal, or non-verbal form (Kress, 2010, p. 32). Therefore, it is crucial, to look into all modes where communicational content brings the potential to construct knowledge of reality on a social level. In this present research, the video content of the sample material creates a multimodal piece of communicational content. The material consists of audiovisual content, conveying various communicational components. Therefore, the multimodal approach offers a suitable way of examining how the various layers of meaning are created by consuming news media content. The focus of the examination links back to the research questions, intending to identify what main underlying messages are conveyed in the video content of the news segments. Furthermore, it looks into what ideologies are occurring in the news coverage to gain insights into the content creation process. Communication takes place when the participant’s attention has caught some part of the communicational aspects, has recognized such as communication, and framed the aspects for internal interpretation. Kress calls this the semiotic sequence of encoding, which consists of 3 steps: ‘attention’ – ‘framing’ – ‘interpretation’. This sequence takes place ceaseless, involving all participants, at all times, but with subjective effects, since framing and interpretation happens individually on a cognitive level (Kress, 2010, p. 32). The examination of the video material aims on revealing this sequence. The components raising attention are located, the possible framing, as well as interpretation functions, are described and categorized – to be able to explain how discourse comes into existence. In this way, the methodological and theoretical framework will allow us to understand what forms of discourse are created within the examined material. Furthermore, it allows it to identify how discourse constructs reality for the consumers of CNN.com and FoxNews.com. Important to mention is that this research is not focusing on the visuality of the videos. The visual elements build an interesting part of the analysis, but their examination would exceed the suggested limit of this project.
4.3 Critical Discourse Analysis The study of critical discourse has become one of the most important tools within critical social studies. It is concerned with how language is used to construct, form, and shape
32 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities discourse. Furthermore, it builds a useful tool to understand the effects of media on meaning creation. The term discourse describes a particular form of knowledge. This knowledge impacts and shapes the way how we speak and think about something. Moreover, it determines how we understand the world as such. Apart from that, discourse can be understood in terms of language. In this context, discourse builds particular types of language properties with its own rules, conventions, and institutions (Rose, 2001, p. 136). Ideological convictions and social norms are deeply interwoven in the structure of language use. Language is a product of ideology, it is reflected and determined by it. The dialectical relation between discourse and its structures is from mutual nature. Discourses are shaped through the structure they take place in, but also shape those structures. Language usage, therefore, becomes the code, which expresses and relates to the specific ideological standpoints of their creators (Fairclough, 2010, pp. 58 - 59). In this project, a critical discourse study is used to gain knowledge about how meaning is created in online news publications. It shall help in finding out how power relations form and influence the way how we perceive the world. The method is used to find out how the usage of language within news reporting constructs reality. Furthermore, how this language affects our understanding of complex political issues. In addition to that, the decisive reason for choosing this specific way of examining can be found in the fact that the focus of a critical discourse study goes beyond classical solely textual properties. With it, it becomes possible to reveal deeper-lying social patterns and most importantly power structures (Dijk, 2016, p. 2). The analysis of discursive elements in news media means to analyze the language used which conveys information and explains the events a publication is referring to. Norman Fairclough referrers to the ambilateral emergence of language. Language seen as a form of social practice emerges from social action. This mode of action can have a social or historical origin and is interlinked with other ‘facets’ of ‘the social’. Therefore, Fairclough concludes that language is in both ways socially shaped, but also socially shaping (Fairclough, 1993, p. 134). He elaborates that the decisive task within a critical discourse analysis is to investigate the relation between the two forms of language expression, ‘the socially shaped’ and ‘the socially constitutive’. For this study most relevantly, he explains that language consists of three elements: social identities, social relations, and systems of knowledge and beliefs (Fairclough,
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1993, p. 134). It is those elements that this analysis is concerned with to find out how language impacts the construction of realities in news media In that way, the critical discourse approach is used to analyze the language components, which form the discourses conveyed in the news segments. These are divided into 3 categories. Firstly, the lexical choices made by the authors. Secondly, the way of constructing identities of political actors through language. At least, the metaphorization styles occurring in the textualities. Here, the analysis looks into how the metaphors are used to signify specific topics or concepts. To give an example, nature metaphors are used to describe specific political situations. Those three categories are aiming at the first discourse element, presented by Fairclough, naming social identities. Furthermore, the narrative elements occurring in the news reporting become subject of the examination. It looks into how the involved actors come to speak through direct quotations. This aims on revealing the second element of discourse, social relations. Finally, it is concerned with the main narratives which can be found in the news segments. This examination step aims on determining the systems of knowledge and beliefs. It tries to find out what is the main underlying message and intention of the publications. These categories build the main focus of the sole text analysis part. The raw results gained through this are linked back to the theoretical findings and a comprehensive explanation becomes possible.
4.4 Operationalized research questions Based on the previously presented methodological framework, 5 operational questions are extracted leading the path for this research. The examination of the videos focuses on 2 elements of the media content. Firstly, it is concerned with the main underlying messages, and secondly with the ideological standpoints, found in the news segments. The analysis of the textual parts focuses on 3 types of language components, naming, lexicality, construction of the identity of persons, and the usage of metaphorization.
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Furthermore, the investigation of the texts is concerned with 2 narrative elements, on the one hand, the appearance of direct quotations within the articles, and on the other hand, what are the narratives to be found in the stories.
Video material – conducted through multimodal discourse analysis What are the main underlying messages conveyed in the video content of the news reporting about the case of the Ukraine affaire around Donald Trump? What ideological standpoints can be identified in the video content of the news coverage about the Ukraine affaire?
Textual material – conducted through critical discourse analysis What lexical patterns are used to construct the reality around the events of the Ukraine affaire, with regards to lexical choices, identity construction of political actors, and the usage of metaphorization? How is direct quotation used within the news coverage of the Ukraine affaire to explain and inform about the political events? What main narratives can be found within the news reporting about the Ukraine affaire?
Note: Important to mention is that this project does not analyze the interlinked effects of the videos with the textual parts due to the suggested limit of this project.
4.5 The topic The thematical input for this research project builds the case of the so-called Ukraine affaire around Donald Trump. This analysis investigates how the two online news channels CNN.com and FoxNews.com discursively construct realities for their audiences.
4.6 The sample The sample of this research is defined through the specific constellation of the events taking place within the Ukraine affaire. News segments are chosen to become subject to this analysis
35 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities according to specifically designed selection factors. In summary, these are the publication time, publication type, relevance, and content. A time frame consisting out of 4 phases is constructed, each phase describes a pivotable moment within the course of the Ukraine affaire. From each pivotable moment, one news segment per outlet is selected through a keyword search. The specific news segments are selected according to their relevance and their conformity with the keywords. That means a segment was selected if it was ranked as the first result in the keyword search and matches all the other factors presented below. In other words, the segments were selected with the highest popularity rate, in terms of clicks, according to the information of the concerning online news outlets. The segments were accessed through the website services of the concerning news outlets. Third-party providers for accessing the news material were avoided to not distort the search results.2 In simple words, the most relevant news segments found in the various pivotable phases build the sample.
Following are the selection factors for the sample presented: • Time: matching the time frame of the pivotable moment • Channel: the publication must be published on one of the selected news platforms • Publication type: online news publication with textual elements as well as video content • News media content: the textual part of the publication must be classified as a report, a story, an article, an editorial, or an opinion • Relevance of the news segment: the highest-ranked segments are selected according to the news channels providing the content
Following is the constructed time frame containing the pivotable moments within the Ukraine affaire presented, together with the specific keywords used for searching the news segments: Phase 1 September 20th — 21st 2019: the time frame when the Ukraine affaire became widely popular after the revealed information from an anonymous whistleblower. Keywords: Ukraine; Trump
Phase 2 November 19th — 21st 2019: the time frame in which most of the public hearings in the US House of Representatives took place.
2 The selection process was executed based on the search results of the website services of the selected news outlets.
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Keywords: impeachment inquiry
Phase 3 January 27th — 31st 2020: the time frame when the impeachment process took place in the US Senate. Keywords: impeachment process
Phase 4 February 3 — 6th 2020: time frame when the voting on the impeachment article in the US Senate took place. Keywords: impeachment process
4.7 Analytical framework
4.7.1 Video analysis framework The analysis of the video material is designed to serve 2 goals. Firstly, it looks into what main underlying messages can be found. Secondly, what ideological convictions are interwoven in the videos. The multimodal discourse approach is applied to help in finding the beforehand described discursive elements. As previously explained, according to Kress, communication appears to us multimodal and on several levels (Kress, 2010, p. 32). In this way, the various communicative levels of the video content are examined, to identify the modes which build the source for reality construction. In this particular case – the coverage of the Ukraine affaire, the following modes are in the center of the research focus: • Spoken communication: language • Unspoken communicative measures: mimic and gestures • Appearing actors: behavior, intention • Format of the video segments: news format (with news anchor), report, interview, discussion (panel), • Narration styles: who tells the story and how • Thematical focus: what does the video tell the viewer • Contributors: standpoints and opinions • Audiovisual elements: sound/ music, images, visual appearance, but not visuality of the video themselves (due to the limit of this project)
Through the examination of the previously mentioned modes, the main elements of the video analysis are being explored and described, naming the main underlying messages and the ideological standpoints in the news coverage of the Ukraine case. By looking at what messages are present in the content and from which ideologies they are stemming from, we learn about the interests, to which Kress and Leeuwen were referring to.
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These interests are affecting the specific social contexts, which are constructing, the so-called ‘knowledge of reality’ (Kress & Leeuwen, 2001, p. 2). Therefore, they can be seen as the key to finding out how the social construction of knowledge takes place.
4.7.2 Textual analysis The textual analysis is designed to examine the following 3 discourse strategies in the material: • Lexical patterns: lexical choices, metaphorization, identity creation • Narratives • Quotation
The following graphic demonstrates the exact interplay of the research focus:
With it, the socially shaping function, of the occurring language is revealed, as it was explained by Fairclough (1993, p. 134). The idea is that content producers have different sets of word choices available. These choices signify specific values, opinions, and convictions, and provide insight into the deeper-lying meaning of the examined language (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 30). Therefore, within the analysis the focus lies on the following lexical strategies: • lexical choices: it is assumed that an author can choose out of a set of word choices, the words chosen, build the fundament of the discourse and frame the content in a specific manner • Verbs, adjectives, and substantives: identification of patterns • Complex/ polarizing terms: which are used, but not explained
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• ‘Overlexicalization’ • Hyperbole: exaggerated statements • Lexical oppression or absence • Structural oppositions – opposing concepts: young–old, rich–poor, democracy– communism • Structural oppositions of ideological standpoints: democratic–republican, conservative–liberal • Lexis describing actions and events • Lexical choices which can indicate power and authority for audiences: legal terms, hierarchical means, specialist knowledge • You, your, I – usage: can in news segments create a dialogue between reader and author in an equal sense • Suppression: what is missing can be as important as what can be found in the text
Furthermore, the analysis looks into how social actors are presented in the news material. The representational strategies are the semiotic resources a communicator can use to describe and present groups and individuals (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 77). The following representational strategies become part of the investigation: • Labeling of people • Level of personalization • ‘Individualization’ vs. ‘collectivization’ • Persons are represented as generic types/ categories or as individual actors • Nomination/ functionalization • Functionality or honorifics, terms that suggest a degree of respect and seniority • Objectivation: the reduction of a person to a specific feature • Anonymization • Us versus them constellation
Moreover, this research is concerned with how metaphor thinking is embedded in the textual segments. Metaphor thinking is a fundamental part of human cognition. Humans tend to constantly think of things in relation to other things. This creates context and helps for better understanding (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 163). How do metaphors function? We refer to occurrences by using another occurrence, putting things in relation makes it easier to understand. The underlying pre-existing knowledge must be commonly shared, for the metaphor to work. Metaphors are an elemental part of our language usage in which we grasp the reality we construct. Metaphors can have hidden ideological meanings since they inhabit the fundamental significance of our understanding of the world (Machin & Mayr, 2012, p. 164).
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Functionality: Target domain: the topic or concept that we want to describe through the metaphor Source domain: the concept that we draw upon to create the metaphor
Examples for metaphors: • Food metaphor: half-baked, digest something, the salt in the soup • Journey metaphor: Path, way, down the road, getting off track, small/ big steps • Natural metaphorizations: flood, outbreak, thunder, storm • Metaphorization of physical occurrences: pressure, pull, push • Metonymy: the substitution of one thing for another • Synecdoche: when one part represents a whole
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5. Research results
In the following section are the findings of the examination presented. The results of each news segment are illustrated and explained chronologically according to the constructed time frame. Following this chapter, the results are summarized and brought into a deeper context with the theoretical findings.
5.1 Phase 1 – CNN Segment 1 Title: Whistleblower timeline: Team Trump contacts and Ukraine Published: September 21st, 2019 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/20/politics/whistleblower-timeline-ukraine-team-trump/index.html Pivotable phase: 1
In the video content of CNN segment 1, a news anchor summarizes the events around the revelations of possible power abuse through President Trump for the audience. A male voice sounds from the off, his narration style appears exciting, fast, and slightly hectic. This lends the video a sense of importance and urgency. It carries the message of a scandal that is brought to light. The images form a collection of clips showing the main protagonists like Donald Trump, members of the Ukrainian government, Joe Biden, as well as scenes from the US Senate. The main message presented in the video puts Trump in ambiguous light, portraying him as an unscrupulous politician who has something to hide. The underlying narrative occurring in this segment suggests that Trump is guilty of his accusations and needs to be convicted. This becomes clear by looking at the following statement of the narrator: “President Donald Trump offered up a new excuse for his actions.” (CNN, Edition 1, 00:12). This specific word choice – ‘excuse’, suggests that Trump is guilty of the accusation, but it does not clearly say, that at this point, the state of affairs is not entirely clear. Trump’s actions are judged as distraction maneuvers and hashing up of facts. Although the story relates to facts and reports, it does not reflectively and neutrally deal with the open questions caused by the accusations. In the textual part of the news publication, the first stylistic feature coming to attention is the level of personalization of the actors. Both Donald Trump, as well as Joe Biden are named with their full titles, whereas Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine is only named by his function (in the further course his full name is stated). This can be seen as an indication of the Anglocentric perspective of the author. Furthermore, the issue of controversy is brought up
41 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities concerning Trump’s actions. This creates a suspicious picture of the accused President and lets him appear as immoral to the readers. The following presented oppositional structure in the article showcases this clearly. The statements regarding the issue of the 2 Biden’s roles (Joe & Hunter) create a strong oppositional context, explaining that there is no evidence of possible wrongdoing on their site.
Trump’s actions Biden’s actions Scrutiny Growing controversy No evidence of wrongdoing Whistle-blower Investigation
This oppositional structure reveals the ideological standpoint of the author, who sees in Trump a corrupt president, who has abused his power. The question of possible guilt or innocence does not seem to be very important since the author already has made their judgment. The following quote showcases this finding: “Even before the whistleblower complaint was made available to lawmakers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday declared Trump had betrayed his oath of office and announced she was opening a formal impeachment inquiry into the President.” (CNN, segment 1). The last part of the article consists of a detailed timeline of the key events around the political scandal. Characteristically for this timeline is its accuracy and focus on details. It provides the reader with a profound overview of the events leading to the political scandal. Important key issues are referenced with links. This creates journalistic credibility and can be perceived as high-quality journalism. In this segment, it is possible to identify the means of journalistic storytelling through the mythical narrative ‘the trickster’, with which Trump and his actions are mainly framed. Additionally, this publication draws back on collective memory. In that way, by referring to the concerning scandal as a whistle-blower-story, the article makes use of a well-known theme in US politics. The whistleblower theme is branded into the collective memory and originates in previous political scandals like the Watergate affair. (Sample, CNN, segment 1)
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5.2 Phase 1 – FoxNews Segment 1 Title: Ukraine foreign minister defends Trump's call with Zelenskiy: 'I think there was no pressure' Published: September 21st, 2019 Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-trump-zelensky-biden Pivotable phase: 1
The video piece builds a clipping of the TV show ‘Cavuto Live’, which is moderated by the man giving the show its name, Neil Cavuto. It is a panel discussion format with NYC Councilman Joe Borelli, political strategist Jessica Tarlov, and FOX Nation host Kat Timpf as guests, debating the political consequences of the Ukraine revelations through an anonymous whistle-blower. The main underlying message to be found in this video states that what Trump did was questionable, but adequate, given the facts that the accusations against Biden are more severe. A closer analysis of the video shows that the main intention of moderator Cavuto is to shift the narrative of the story away from Trump towards Biden as the guilty politician in this case. Cavuto relativizes the accusation against Trump by criticizing that Biden’s action was not dealt with in the same way and create more reason for concern: “…but no concern about a guy wants to be the leader of this country (sig.), was doing when he was the second- highest elected official in this country, in Ukraine.” (Cavuto: 00:37 – 00:48, FoxNews, segment 1). Borelli takes the accusations of Trump and throws them on Biden, by stating that he is guilty of abusing his political power for personal interests, by pressuring another government through a quid pro quo. Other political and ideological standpoints are heard, but only to refute arguments against Trump, leaving in the end only a version that legitimates his actions, and symbolically acquits him. Jessica Tarlov presents her version, arguing for the innocence of the Biden’s, which is constantly questioned and invalidated by Cavuto (FoxNews, segment 1, 02:04 – 03:59). The way how the story is constructed is one-sided and not reflected. This becomes clear by looking at the panel. There we find 3 persons arguing for Trump’s standpoint and promoting suspicions against the Democratic party. Tarlov argues against the dominant narrative, but her defensive statements receive no credibility. This can be seen as a pro-Trump influential piece of media content, which asks only questions which are answered favorably in line with the ideological standpoint of the moderation. The main message in the textual publication to be found is that the highly debated phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy offers no reason for concerns. This is already reflected in the headline: “Ukraine foreign minister defends Trump's call with Zelenskiy: 'I think there was no
43 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities pressure'” (FoxNews, segment 1). Furthermore, the narrative is shifted towards the issue of possible wrongdoings through Biden. Suspicions about Joe Biden’s involvement in abuse of power during his Vice Presidency are fostered through unclear allusions. The significant issue here is, that the main context of Trump abusing his power in office is twisted in such a way, that now the actions of the Biden’s are brought in relation to corruption and power abuse. The editorial part of the article never states this clearly, but through adopting the narrative of Trump and his team through citations and Tweets, the events are presented in a way that the reader tends to overtake such as the true reality version. Quotes and tweets are presented, but not explained, neither questioned. Following the excerpt, showcasing how one of Trump’s Tweets is quoted in this article: “"Now that the Democrats and the Fake News Media have gone 'bust' on every other of their Witch Hunt schemes, they are trying to start one just as ridiculous as the others, call it the Ukraine Witch Hunt, while at the same time trying to protect Sleepy Joe Biden," Trump said. "Will fail again!"” (FoxNews, segment 1).
Therefore, the story does not offer a critical and objective perspective on the events presented. Regarding metaphorization, the ‘machine’- or ‘production’-metaphor stands out, which is used in a cited Tweet of Trump explaining that the allegations against him are a constructed plot: "[So] they fabricate a [...] story about me…” (FoxNews, segment 1). To conclude, the style of the textual publication is very neutral and formal, but what speaks out of the text are the statements of the various actors. The publication, therefore, claims to be objective, but in fact, allows the direct quotations to construct the main message. Without critical analysis or explanation of the personal statements of the actors involved, the reader could tend to adopt them as the factual reality. (Sample, FoxNews, segment 1)
5.3 Phase 2 – CNN Segment 2 Title: In impeachment hearings, lessons on the erosion of American democracy Published: November 21st, 2019 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/21/opinions/impeachment-american-democracy-ben-ghiat/index.html Pivotable phase: 2
The video of segment 2, consists mainly out of statements from testimonials given during the impeachment hearings. They deal with the person and the role of Rudi Giuliani, Trump’s
44 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities former personal lawyer, who was involved in the events happening in Ukraine, which lead to the allegations for impeachment. The main red thread in this video is spun around the person of Giuliani and his involvement in the impeachment scandal. The statements describe Giuliani as an ominous figure whose interference in the Ukraine affaire was decisive. Giuliani is depicted as the unscrupulous layer, who does the dirty work for President Trump. He is alleged of being the leader of an aggressive smear campaign against former US ambassador to Ukraine, Maria Yovanovitc. The dominant emphasis suggests that Giuliani was actively involved in US foreign diplomacy towards Ukraine. His request to the Ukrainian government, to announce investigations against Burisma, the company Hunter Biden was involved with, is accessed clearly as a quid pro quo (CNN, Segment 2, Gordon Sondland, 03:06 – 04:00); (US Ambassador to the EU). The scenes are cut together, we only see statements that verify the hypothesis of Giuliani being part of Trump’s complot of abusing power for personal political interests. They can be seen as a collection of condemnations of the lawyer. Since the statements are taken out of context, they can create a distorted picture of the events presented in the news reporting. Regarding the storytelling, the narrative ‘trickster’, as well as the ‘the scapegoat’ are occurring throughout the video. On a metalevel, the ideographic standpoint of being anti- Trump is carried out through the whole video. The textual part of segment 2, is labeled as an opinion-article, written by Ruth Ben-Ghiat (a frequent contributor to CNN). Opinions do not fit into the classical genre of ‘news’ but play an important role in the opinion creation process and became, therefore, part of this present investigation3. The textual part of segment 2 deals in general with the current state of American democracy, its values, the implications of the impeachment scandal, and the effects of Trump’s politics on society. The main message here to be found sees the democratic system in the US under threat through an authoritarian agenda of Trump and his helpers. The fundamental ideological idea to be found in this text, sees in a healthy democracy an institutional body built out of tolerance and different opinions, kept together through the rule of law. According to the author, this system is undermined through Trump’s autocratic agenda, by establishing
3 The segment is matching the designed selection criteria of this research, which also contains the media content format ‘opinion’.
45 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities a specific practice and discourse, which knocks overboard well-known values and practices in politics. Trump’s agenda and efforts are compared and brought in line with those of foreign authoritarian political leaders and nations, in particular, Putin and Russia. In that way, the text draws back on the collective understanding of Russian politics as anti-democratic. Trump’s personality is described as an unscrupulous politician who established threatening and aggression as common ways of working within US politics. Trump is described as the ‘trickster’, promoting a specific person cult, in which his word leads the norm. Important to mention is the ‘playbook’-metaphor, with which the manipulative and influential efforts of Trump and Putin are symbolized: “…Trump's authoritarian playbook is, in part, Vladimir Putin's authoritarian playbook, and it aims not just at making people believe in alternate truths.” (CNN, segment 2). The playbook in this case signifies strategic, questionable political efforts. The content can be seen as a highly influential piece with an anti-Trump undertone. Through a coherent argumentation line and cross-references, a dark projection of the future development of the US democracy is given, strongly branded through the author’s understanding of values and ideology. (Sample, CNN, segment 2)
5.4 Phase 2 – FoxNews Segment 2 Title: Dems could draft 4 articles of impeachment, GOP plans for full Senate trial, sources say Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/impeachment-articles-senate-trial-republicans Published: November 21st, 2020 Pivotable phase 2
The video of segment 2 consists out of 4 elements. In the beginning, a scene of the impeachment hearings in the US House of Representatives is shown in which Fiona Hill, one of the witnesses is giving her testimonial. After that, a correspondent is commenting on the scenes and handing the story over to news anchor Chris Wallace, who then from the studio is leading the viewers through the course of the video. In between a scene of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives is shown which builds the main subject for discussion in the video piece. In this segment, 2 fundamental messages are competing. The anti-Trump line, which suggests that the President should be impeached and removed from office, since the withholding of crucial military aids in combination with the request to investigate a political opponent, forms
46 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities a criminal act. This position is presented through Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives. On the other hand, we find the following main underlying message going through the entire video, promoted by the two FoxNews contributors: The impeachment issue is an unnecessary and false initiative of the Democratic party determined to fail. The main argument in this context is that the plan of the Democratic party is very likely going to fail due to the majority of the Republican party in the Senate. Moreover, an impeachment process would be a lengthy and arduous issue for American society. In the last part of the video, a Tweet of Trump is quoted directly by the FoxNews correspondent, in which the President expresses his rejection against being brought in connection with possible impeachment. Trump’s position is presented uncommented and without critic. Due to her special role in the impeachment process, it is possible to interpret that Nancy Pelosi is brought into the video, not as a contributor to the debate, but as a political target for the oppositional FoxNews audience. The video ends with the underlying message that in the long run, the Republican party will be the winner of this political match: “…these hearings are analyzed as if the Democrats win the morning, Republicans win the afternoon.” (FoxNews, correspondent, segment 2, 04:22 – 04:27). In this video, the two competing ideological standpoints, conservative vs. liberal, Republican vs. Democratic and pro-Trump vs. against- Trump are clearly shown. The statement at the end of the video, in combination with the presentation of Trump’s Tweet, can be seen as an intentional pro-Trump conform media agenda. Nancy Pelosi’s appearance in this segment is from decisive importance. As the House Speaker, she was one of the main protagonists in pushing forward with the impeachment inquiry against Trump (Ball, 2020). Republicans, together with Trump supporters see in her a threat to their ideological and political position. To put Pelosi in the center and to present her as the target for conservative opinions, distracts subconsciously from the accusations against Trump. The text article deals in summary with the future development of the impeachment inquiry of President Trump. In the main focus are possible procedures of the impeachments process. These are presented in a historical context, drawing back on historical memory. The main message in the article explains that most likely the impeachment process would be handled in the US Senate, where Senators of both parties will vote about the case. A historical queer reference is made to the previous impeachment case of President Bill Clinton, who was acquitted in 1999. Here the article draws back on collective memory to explain and construct
47 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities the events around Trump’s impeachment inquiry. The possible voting in the senate is referred to as the “Clinton model”, in that way the story is directly linked to the Clinton case and framed decisively. The former Democratic President was impeached but acquitted of all acquisitions after a vote took place in the Senate and allowed him to remain in office. Through those historical parallels, the article provides the reader with a possible outlook and projects the same outcome of the Clinton case on Trump. In addition to that, the article mentions that testimonies in the Senate could favor the defense of Trump, since then the whistleblower, people of the Democratic party as well the Biden’s could be called to testify. The main emphasis of the article suggests that through testimonies in the Senate the false claims of the Democratic party could be revealed. Moreover, the article carries two main narratives. The first one aims at the possible acquittal of Trump through a vote in the Senate, which is dominated by the GOP4. The latter one refers to the accusations against the Biden’s and distorts the events in a way that not Trump, but Biden, his son Hunter and the Democratic party are portrayed as possibly corrupt and power abusive. Following the excerpts emphasizing this narrative: “Hunter Biden held that lucrative role despite limited expertise while his father oversaw Ukraine policy as vice president. If Senate Republicans could put forward evidence showing the president's concerns about the Bidens' potential corruption were legitimate, they could undercut Democrats' central argument for impeachment.” (FoxNews, segment 2). (Sample, FoxNews, segment 2)
5.5 Phase 3 – CNN Segment 3 Title: Bolton's book could pull Barr into political fight he has avoided for months Published: January 29th, 2020 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/29/politics/john-bolton-william-barr-impeachment-fight/index.html Pivotable phase: 3
The video starts with two news anchors presenting a story published in the New York Times which deals with possible revelations through John Bolton in his forthcoming book. Bolton was a former national security adviser to the Trump administration. They call the events “explosive” (CNN, Segment 3, 00:27), which lends the story the character of another scandal in the already hot debated impeachment process around President Trump. The news anchor
4 GOP stands for Grand Old Party, as which the Republican Party in the USA is referred to.
48 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities firstly relativizes the importance of the book, calling it a draft, but then pinpoints to significant impacts of it on the further course of the impeachment process. With it, the critical importance of the book concerning the accusations against the President is highlighted. In the following course of the video, we see a correspondent from the White House commenting on the latest developments. His narration style is very fast, almost excited – in that way the issue appears to be the breaking story which can change the entire impeachment affaire. The correspondent cites Bolton’s lawyer, explaining that he didn’t confirm nor deny the version presented in the NY Times article, but calls his statement of being very ‘close’ to confirmation. From a logical point of view, one can either confirm something to be true or untrue, a statement in between does not allow conclusions about validity. In that way, the video follows the discourse that with Bolton’s testimony the impeachment process would be fundamentally changed and that his testimony would be necessary to shine a light on the truth in this controversial story. At the end of the video, we see one of Donald Trump’s tweets in which he takes position to Bolton’s role in the Ukraine affaire. Following the exact wording of the Tweet: “I never told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If Bolton said this it was only to sell a book.” (sig.) (CNN, segment 3, 03:12 – 03:26)
The tweet is presented without comment as a still at the end of the video. Its content directly contradicts the story presented ahead. It appears as an alternative perspective and allows insights on how Trump and his supporters see Bolton and his book. Here clearly the polarizing context of the story is highlighted. This underlines the main discourses found in this news edition: • Bolton, the key figure who can change the outcome of the impeachment process through his revelations. • Trump the scrupulous liar who is guilty of abusing the power of the US for his private interest.
In general, the article of segment 3 deals with the impacts of John Bolton’s forthcoming book. The revelations in the expected book are described as highly significant for the further development of the impeachment process. The impeachment process in that way is framed as a scandalous drama at the heart of US democracy. The politics of Trump are illustrated as immoral and brought in context with foreign authoritarian political leaders from Turkey and China. The following excerpts demonstrate this storyline:
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“Barr, through a spokeswoman, has pushed back on Bolton's account of their talks, disputing Bolton's claim that Barr had discussed with him concerns that the President was intervening in Justice Department matters to do favors for the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China.” (CNN, segment 3)
Here is becomes clear that the article suggests, Trump’s political actions are driven through corruptive means. The connection to authoritarian actors, the ideological enemy to democracy and freedom, lets Trump appear as the traitor of liberal values. In that way, through specific ideographical ‘pro-democratic’ standpoints and collective understanding of other foreign political systems, Trump’s agenda is described as an aggressive campaign eroding the democratic fundament in the US. This underlying message reoccurs throughout the entire article. With regards to metaphorization, the ‘heart’-, together with the ‘key’-metaphor is used to describe what important role Bolton and his book could play. Citation is here used as a method of proving the facts and underlining arguments. Arguments are explained and then confirmed through citation with queer reference. Barr is described as someone who could get into huge trouble if Bolton’s revelations turn out to be true. Following the paragraph emphasizing this portrayal: “Barr has distanced himself from Giuliani as the impeachment inquiry has unfolded, and is said to have warned Trump that his lawyer was doing him a disservice in television appearances after the special counsel report was released last year. But little so far has been revealed about Barr's possible awareness of Giuliani's efforts in Ukraine before they factored into the whistleblower complaint that kick-started the impeachment process.” (CNN, segment 3)
The person of Bolton is portrayed in a very neutral way. His role is foremost described through the importance of his forthcoming book and his endeavors serving the interests of his country. The article does not touch upon the issue, that he could be seen as the fired security advisor who now wants to smear the President, neither his questionable hardliner position is being elaborated. Guiliani is presented as an unscrupulous liar, doing the dirty fieldwork for Trump. He is portrayed as the engineer, who designed Trump’s corruption campaign: “Giuliani had led the Ukraine effort on behalf of the President, and had worked alongside two Soviet-born businessmen as far back as 2018 to engage with Ukrainian officials and solicit damaging information about former Vice President Joe Biden (…).” (CNN, segment 3). In that way, Trump’s position is brought in connection with the efforts of corruption and power abuse. The article of segment 3 contains 3 main narratives. Firstly, that the information of Bolton’s book is from decisive importance for the further development of the impeachment process
50 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities and marks a possible twist point. The draft of Bolton’s book is presented as very hot scandalous disclosures. Secondly, Bolton’s revelations tell that William Barr, Attorney General, is somehow involved in the issues leading to the ongoing impeachment process. At last, the narrative occurs that Guiliani complotted a corruption campaign in Ukraine to damage the President’s political rivals and that this was happening in Trump’s interest. (Sample, CNN, segment 3)
5.6 Phase 3 – FoxNews Segment 3 Title: Schiff, in Trump's Senate impeachment trial, denies knowing whistleblower Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/adam-schiff-denies-knowing-trump-whistleblower Published: January 29th, 2020 Pivotable phase 3
The video of segment 3 consists solely out of scenes from the US Senate in which House Manager Adam Schiff (who in the impeachment hearings acts as impeachment Manager) answers questions about the whistleblower case in connection to the ongoing impeachment issue. In this segment, two main messages compete. On the one side, we find Schiff’s version disclosed in full depth. He calls the rumors in which the whistleblower collaborated with the House Intelligence Committee in order “to hatch an impeachment inquiry” (FoxNews, Segment 3, 03:51 – 04:10) a conspiracy theory and full of fiction. On the other hand, the main storyline suggests that the whistleblower, revealing Trump’s wrongdoings, was politically biased. Furthermore, that the impeachment inquiry is a false and staged initiative of the Democratic party. Schiff’s defensive statement lets him appear as the one who has to answer to possible accusations, which distracts from Trump’s possible guilt. Important in this context is the focus of the video. Not Trump is portrayed as a suspect of political fraud, it is Schiff who is targeted and presented as someone who has done something wrong. In summary, the textual article is about the role of the anonymous whistleblower who formulated the official complaint concerning Trump’s wrongdoings. Adam Schiff, who acts as the official impeachment manager, in this case, is in the center of the story. He is cited directly and his involvement in the impeachment issue is elaborated. The heart of the article builds the question of whether Schiff knows the identity of the whistleblower and if he has been in contact with him before the official complaint was handed in. On the first glimpse appearing as a neutral formulated report, mostly consisting out of citations of the actors involved, it is
51 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities possible to identify a deeper-lying message which aims on questioning Schiff’s credibility and trustworthiness. Several statements of Republican politicians are mentioned in which Schiff is presented as a liar: “Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, accused Schiff in October of helping stage the whistleblower's complaint to orchestrate political upheaval, with the goal of damaging Trump. "I think they were complicit in working with the whistleblower to come forward with his complaint and start this entire impeachment inquiry," McCaul said on "Fox & Friends."” (FoxNews, segment 3)
Moreover, important to mention is the focus of the story in this news segment. The story deals foremost with the involvement of the prosecution in the scandal, but not with Trump and his possible wrongdoings. In that way, the article appears firstly as a neutral news piece, but a more precise analysis lets it appear to be an intended story illustrating the wrongdoings of Trump's prosecutors rather than his own. The main narrative element in this report is direct quotations. Their sequence draws a storyline, in which suspicions about the whistle-blower being politically biased, are presented. Schiff’s defensive arguments are followed, by further accusations, and statements about him being a fraud and a liar. The sequence is decisive, firstly we see Schiff’s comments, on the accusations of being directly involved with the whistle-blower. In the next step, the positions of Rep. Michael McCaul and Donald Trump are stated, contradicting Schiff’s arguments (FoxNews, segment 3). In the last step the article ends with Sens. Josh Hawley’s comment, which suggests that what Schiff told was everything but the truth: Hawley later told Fox News that Schiff frequently changed his story. He also said the GOP would be wise to continue its pursuit of this line of questioning, as the impeachment trial progressed.
“I don't believe anything he says on that because he's lied and changed his positions multiple times, which is just weird," Hawley said. "I mean, why would you do that? It's a very relevant set of questions and I imagine we might hear more of it. (FoxNews, segment 3)
It is possible to assume that the main intention of this segment is to question Schiff’s credibility and distract from the allegations against Trump. In this article, it is possible to identify the ‘scapegoat’-theme in relation to Schiff’s role as the storytelling element through the means of mythical narration. In terms of metaphorization, the word ‘whistleblower’, for describing a person who secretly exposes legal or unethical behavior, is occurring several times throughout the text. It is a widely used terminology for describing secret political disclosures. (Sample, FoxNews, segment 3)
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5.7 Phase 4 – CNN Segment 4 Title: Trump acquitted at end of months long impeachment process, found not guilty of two articles Published: February 5th, 2020 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/05/politics/senate-impeachment-trial-vote-acquittal/index.html Pivotable phase: 4
The video of CNN segment number 5 consists out of a selection of scenes showing the pronouncement of judgment of Trump’s impeachment process, as well as statements of Senators, who voted on the issue. The statements are presented extraordinarily, statesmanlike, partly very emotional. This lends the entire video an important reference, indicating a historical decision has been made. As the main messages in the video can 3 narration lines be identified. Firstly, it would be a sad moment in history. A corrupted president, guilty of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress needs to be convicted and removed from office. Secondly, that Trump is guilty, but his wrongdoings are not sufficient for impeachment. At least, that this impeachment process needs to end since it leads to the erosion of the US society. The scenes are shown uncommented, therefore, the people in the statements, the Senators who voted on the impeachment are providing the main context. Following the words Senator Romney used to justify his decision to convict Trump: “Corrupting an election, to keep oneself in office, is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” (Sen. Mitt Romney, 00:18-00:30, CNN, segment 4). Out of the 3 main messages stem 3 ideological standpoints. The first is clearly anti-Trump, the latter one rather neutral and the last one is more concerned with the general implications of the heavily fought political process. Important to mention is that we see mainly the statements of Senators who found Trump guilty or who acquitted him but were thought to be sitting on the fence, meaning they were undecided, except for Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican majority leader of Senate. This can be seen as in line with the information provided in the article, but also understood as a partly one-sided presentation of the events taken place, since we only hear Trump-critical opinions. In general, the article of CNN segment 4, deals with the aftermath of the vote on the impeachment article against President Trump. Key issues the article discusses are the impacts
53 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities of the impeachment decision on US politics and society, the historical significance of the outcome, the voting behavior of the Senators, as well as important details of the process itself. Interestingly, direct quotations are used in the article to reflect the personal standpoints and moral understandings of the involved actors. In particular, the statement of Schiff (Dem. Senator) stands out, in which he promotes the historical meaning of the vote and refers to the ‘David & Goliath’ metaphor for people to remind them of their moral duties. The main narrative in this article is emphasizing the historical meaning of the decision in the Senate. Moreover, the article refers to the impeachment process as scandalous drama, which drove members of the Senate into moral dilemmas about the question, what to vote for. Especially the case of Senator Mitt Romney, the only Republican who voted to convict Trump, is pointed out. Here his ideological conviction, based on moral values, rooted in his faith are highlighted. He is characterized as the only Republican who was brave enough to act morally correct and listened to his faith and not on the interests of his political party – he is described through mythical narration as the ‘lonely hero’. Special attention in the article was given to Nancy Pelosi and her relation to Trump, as she has torn apart a paper copy of the President’s speech of the Union. Here the frontlines and the two competing ideological standpoints, from ‘anti-Trump’/ ‘pro-Democratic’ to ‘pro- Trump’/ ‘pro-Republican’ are mapped out. Additionally, the meta-discourse concerning John Bolton is present (already present in CNN segment 3). The former national Security advisor announced the forthcoming of his book with revelations about Trump’s actions, which is described as a game-changing moment. Bolton’s claims are framed as “a bomb”, which “was dropped on Republicans”, to describe the criticality of the issue (CNN, segment 4). Regarding metaphorization, strong concepts like the ‘fire’-metaphor or ‘nature/weather’- metaphors are used to describe the hard-fronted conflict within US politics. For instance, the Pelosi-Trump relation is described as “icy” (CNN, segment 4). Summarizing, the article offers a high level of information and provides a profound picture of the political developments. It emphasizes the sensational values of the story and therefore, is wandering on a thin line between information and infotainment. (Sample, CNN, segment 4)
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5.8 Phase 4 – FoxNews Segment 4 Title: White House claims 'full vindication' after Trump acquittal, slams Romney as 'failed' candidate Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-trump-acquittal-slams-romney Published: February 5th, 2020 Pivotable phase 4
The video of FoxNews segment 4 embodies a panel discussion moderated by FoxNews anchor Brett Baier and his colleague Martha MacCallum. Guests are Chris Wallace, another FoxNews anchor, Byron York, a FoxNews contributor, and Molly Hemingway, senior editor at ‘The Federalist’, an American conservative online magazine (The Federalist, 2020). In general, the panel discussion deals with the outcome of the vote in the Senate on the impeachment article filed against Trump. The main underlying message to be found in this video segment regards the decision of the US Senate to acquit Trump as rightful. This in combination with the expression for relief that the impeachment drama has found to an end, suggests that Trump is now in a better position than before the process. The US Senate is presented as an honorable institution securing stability and order. Moreover, it is said that the speculations that some Republicans could break rank and pledge for guilty against Trump did not come true. In this segment are only ‘pro-Trump’ opinions and standpoints present. The panel consisting only out Republican-favoring members, together with the moderators, creates a specific discourse which condemns the impeachment plans of the Democratic party as inadequate and appreciates the decision taken in the Senate to acquit Trump from the accusations. The following statement of Hemingway describes this finding adequately: “We already knew that Donald Trump would not be removed from office. There was no way that they were gonna (sig.) get as many Republicans as were needed to switch sides. (…)” (Molly Hemingway, 03:28-03:39, FoxNews, segment 4). The whole discussion takes place in an ideologically ‘pro-Republican’ environment. Through this, a specific one-sided focus is created, not allowing alternative opinions to be heard, neither debated. All in all, the textual article deals with the vote, held in the US Senate in which Trump got acquitted in all cases of his impeachment allegations. The article refers to the statement of Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who after Trump’s acquittal takes position on the events taken place. The main message of the news segment states that Trump after his acquittal receives full “vindication and exoneration” (FoxNews, Segment 4). Whereas the style of the text is very neutral and explanatory, the news piece can be seen as influentially favoring the
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Trump agenda. By looking under the surface of the text, the deeper-lying power structures become clear. The main narrative elements are direct statements from Grisham and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who can be seen as opponents in the landscape of US politics. In addition to that, the article deals with the issue of Mitt Romney the Republican Senator, who as the only one of his party broke the lines and voted for Trump to be guilty. Grisham’s comment on his role is presented and lets Romney appear as a lone, frustrated politician: “…and labeled him a “failed Republican presidential candidate.” Romney lost to then- President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential race.” (FoxNews, segment 4). Here, the article focuses on Romney’s character, instead of emphasizing that a Republican Senator breaking partisan lines tarnishes the reputation of the GOP. The metaphor “witch hunt” explains efforts on site of the prosecution against Trump and frames these as unethical and illegitimate. With it, the article uses the mythical narrative ‘the victim’ to explain the events taken place. (Sample, FoxNews, segment 4)
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6. Discussion of the results
Disclaiming beforehand, that the discussion of the research results should not embody an assessment of the journalistic quality found in the material. The main focus lies on the examination of the discursive reality construction in the various digital media segments.
This research is designed to find out how reality is constructed in digital news media. In this context, special attention was given to the question, what main underlying messages can be found in the video material. This together with the question, aiming at, what ideological standpoints are omnipresent in the video content, builds the first analysis part. Regarding the textual examination, the lexicality was in the center of the research, in particular, the word choices, metaphorization, and identity construction of political actors. Furthermore, the investigation was concerned with how quotation was used in the material to reconstruct the events around the impeachment issue, as well as what narratives can be found in the media coverage about the controversial issue. Summarizing the research results, it was clearly shown that both news outlets were reporting on the topic very closely aligned to their ideological agendas, without exception. CNN in most cases was promoting an anti-Trump line, whereas the content of FoxNews must be seen as more Trump favoring. The realities which are constructed in both channels are decisively different in style, appearance and through the messages, they speak to the audience. This finding will be elaborated in the following. The news coverage of CNN can be regarded as a factual depiction of the events. Background and references with links to sources and explanations appear on the first glimpse as quality news journalism. Through a deeper examination, it becomes clear that the CNN content is full of sensation and emotionalizing elements, fostering anti-Trump opinions. The emotionalizing paradox, which was explained by Wahl-Jorgensen is present (2019, p. 41). Like Tuchman elaborated, CNN turns the private phone conversation between Trump and Zelinski into a national event, which follows the classical narrative of political scandals (Tuchman, 1978). It is spread in a short amount of time over decentralized global networks, reaching large audiences, like it is theorized by Thompson (Thompson, 2000). CNN fully remains within its partisan line and tries to promote the Democratic party’s argumentation. Alternative arguments are shown and brought into the discussion, but a clear
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‘anti-Trump’ biased line is identifiable. These leaves the audience behind with partly one- sided views and does not offer critical, neither reflective information. Following an excerpt showcasing CNN’s way of constructing reality: “Yet the impeachment hearings also showed how degraded our political culture has become and how much progress President Donald Trump has made in implementing the authoritarian playbook that he began to write for America during his campaign.” (CNN, segment 2). FoxNews on the other side offers its viewers an outlook into another sphere. Facts and circumstances are assessed differently. Opinions and ideological convictions can be viewed as fundamentally contrasting. This becomes particularly clear by looking into how both channels present the ‘Biden case’. In the CNN material, the accusations against the former Vice president are categorically labeled as pure fiction. FoxNews is constantly questioning Biden’s role and promotes the smear campaign created by Trump’s team. Furthermore, the fact that FoxNews is giving the Biden case such a high level of attention, allows it to conclude that the focus intentionally is shifted away from Trump as being supposedly guilty towards Biden. This must be seen as the fundamental difference between the news reporting of both channels – CNN convicts Trump, FoxNews distracts by suspecting Biden. Additionally, within FoxNews, the journalistic narration through non-journalistic actors is central. As Wahl- Jorgensen (2019, pp. 38-39) explained, here actors, like Trump, become the leading voices of the news segments, infusing them with emotional stimulation: “President Trump earlier on Saturday tweeted about the "Ukraine Witch Hunt," which he says is a last-ditch effort by the "Fake News Media" to protect Biden.” (FoxNews, segment 1). It can be concluded that CNN uses the textual content parts to elaborate on the issues, explain the background, and inform their readers with facts, but importantly also to stimulate and emotionalize them. The FoxNews news segments are more aiming on providing their audience with a projection of the events taken place, with a special focus on the conflictive potential between the two political parties. It that way, the FoxNews segments are aiming on fostering already pre-existing attitudes and opinions.
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6.1 Video analysis
6.1.1 Main underlying messages It is clearly shown that the main underlying messages in the CNN video coverage describe the accused President as an unscrupulous politician who is guilty of power abuse and corruption. The actions of Trump and his lawyer Giuliani are presented as strategic complot, threatening US democracy. This becomes particularly clear by looking at the video of segment 2 (CNN), where several highly ranked officials testify and provide detailed information about Giuliani’s involvement. “Over the course of 2018 and 2019, I became increasingly aware of an effort by Rudi Giuliani and others, including his associates (…). To run a campaign, to smear Ambassador Yovanovitch and other officials at the US embassy in Kyiv.” (Georg Kent, 00:38-00:52, CNN, segment 2) (Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs)
Moreover, the CNN video coverage highlights the historical importance of the impeachment issue for US politics and gives special attention to the revelations through John Bolton, whose expected book could bring decisive evidence in the truth-finding process of the affaire. This is clearly shown in the statements of the Senators in segment 4 (CNN), where the outcome of the impeachment voting, and its consequences are discussed. Within the video coverage of FoxNews, the main underlying messages are dealing with the role of Joe and Hunter Biden in the Ukraine affaire. Their actions and involvement are described as politically corrupt and power abusive. This is for example demonstrated in the video of segment 1 (FoxNews).
“(…) Joe Biden was actually the Vice President. If you listen to his own words, what you just had on the screen. He admits essentially to a quid pro quo, involving US taxpayer dollars, a billion dollars of it, in response to the Ukrainians firing a prosecutor that (eh) (..), to fire a prosecutor that was investigating a company in which his son had a financial interest.” (Joe Borelli, 00:49-01:12, FoxNews, segment 1)
The impeachment initiative is portrayed as a staged campaign of the Democratic party, set in place to harm Trump and without legal legitimacy. The third main message appearing in the FoxNews segments, states that the decision in the Senate on Trump’s acquittal, came out as expected and is framed as rightful (FoxNews, segment 4).
6.1.2 Ideological standpoints: Looking at the ideological standpoints, at FoxNews, conservative-libertarian convictions are dominating. A tendency in both, the moderation, as well in the context itself, towards the
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‘pro-Trump’ line is present. Its news coverage functions as the opinion creation machine for Republican views and as a pro-Trump understanding of the issues forming the Ukraine affaire. Regarding the ideological standpoints found in the video coverage of CNN, we can identify 2 main convictions. Firstly, an anti-Trump, pro-Democratic attitude. The second is embodied through the idea that the democratic value system is from very high importance and that such is under threat through Trump’s political agenda. It becomes clear that the news reporting in both cases is built on shared meanings and convictions. Like Berkowitz and Liu explain (2014, pp. 308-310), ideographs are used to simplify, convince, and shape public opinions. Most conspicuously appear the conflicting concepts of liberality and conservatism, as well as, being democratic or republican.
6.2 Textual analysis
6.2.1 Quotation Looking at quotation, within the textual FoxNews coverage, the organic editorial parts, meaning what is written by the editors and not directly quoted, can be seen as much more neutral and factual. Crucial to mention in this context is, in most cases, the textual parts receive their contextual meaning and messaging through direct quoted statements, comments, and Tweets. It is possible to identify a systematic depiction of the events through such direct references. Following 2 quotes from the FoxNews coverage which demonstrate this: “"[So] they fabricate a [...] story about me and a perfectly fine and routine conversation I had with the new President of the Ukraine. Nothing was said that was in any way wrong, but Biden’s demand, on the other hand, was a complete and total disaster," Trump said.” (FoxNews, segment 1)
“Trump called Schiff a "fraud" during a White House news conference in October and said he believes the California Democrat helped write the whistleblower complaint. "It shows that Schiff is a fraud. ... I think it's a scandal that he knew before," Trump said. "I'd go a step further. I'd say he probably helped write it. ... That's a big story. He knew long before, and he helped write it too. It's a scam." (FoxNews, segment 3)
Interestingly, through that, in the majority, the opinion or argumentation of the political actors are presented uncommented. This systematic way of depicting news creates specific reality versions for their audiences. In other words, in several cases, the argumentation of Trump and his political allies is directly embedded in the content and uncommented conveyed
60 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities to the audience. As Wahl-Jorgensen explained, non-political actors appearing, and contributing to news production can inject emotions into the content (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2019, pp. 38-39). Therefore, it is possible to postulate that in the investigated FoxNews media content, ‘pro-Trump’ reality versions are crafted through the explicit use of direct quotations. Looking at CNN in comparison, here direct quotation is mainly used to illustrate personal opinions and standpoints, or simply to prove specific statements or findings. The organic editorial content of CNN appears to be much more polarizing and impactful compared to FoxNews. A higher level of complexity and greater usage of metaphorization suggests that the motivation on the editorial site is higher to convince the reader with their arguments or findings. The following excerpt demonstrates this: “The acquittal verdict was the final act of a four-month impeachment process that inflamed the partisan tensions simmering throughout the course of the Trump administration, friction that boiled over during the State of the Union even though Trump left impeachment out of his speech. While Wednesday's vote marks the end of the formal impeachment process, Trump and his Democratic detractors are sure to take up the fight over the ultimate significance of the President's impeachment as the presidential campaign heats up.” (CNN, segment 4)
However, it is crucial to mention that these findings are limitedly valid. FoxNews produces in that case news articles, CNN on the other hand, news editorials. Different genres can resonate in different styles. In the beforehand presented excerpt, it is possible to identify the fire/ flame metaphor signifying the heavily fought political process with its hard-partisan lines. Further, the cooking metaphor emphasizes the tensions in the State of the Union, describing them as boiling. For the reader to be able to understand the language presenting the events, a profound overview of the political situation, and as Machin and Mayr explain, pre-existing knowledge about the concepts describing the events must be given (2012, p. 164). Viewing the content of FoxNews, the sections between the direct quotations are reading much drier and more uninspired. This leads to the conclusion, that this specific narration style is intended. Through it, the content seems to be neutral and uninfluential. It causes a shifting of the main narration, by handing it over to the main protagonists with their quotations or Tweets.
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6.2.2 Metaphorization and lexical choices: In the coverage of CNN, the events are partly described through the use of metaphorization. This way of storytelling is used to explain specific situations, to simplify complex phenomena, or to illustrate political relations. Whereas in the news coverage of FoxNews, we see metaphorization, but not on the same level as compared to CNN. Here, mostly relations or complex circumstances are illustrated through metaphors. Following an example of CNN demonstrating these findings: “That credibility is key if Bolton is to be called as a witness in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.” (CNN, segment 3). The key metaphor is used to describe Bolton’s role and his importance in the ongoing truth-finding process.
Both channels drawback on collective memory, to frame the events around the Ukraine case. In this context, most importantly it is referred to previous political scandals and impeachment scenarios, like for instance Bill Clinton’s impeachment process from 1999. Following the excerpt illustrating this conclusion: “That would be a similar timeframe to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton: The House impeached Clinton just before Christmas in 1998. The Senate trial then began in January 1999.” (FoxNews, segment 2). The ideographic lines are drawn along the party lines, mostly either Democratic and anti- Trump or Republican and pro-Trump.
6.2.3 Identity construction of political actors The way how the identities of the involved political actors are created differs in the two investigated media channels fundamentally. In the case of CNN, Trump is often portrayed as a corrupt president who does not stop at threatening and attacking his political rivals. The dominant attribute for describing his character is aggression and offensiveness. Following an example demonstrating this finding: “First, the hearings revealed just how much Trump's cult of personality has tied subordinates to him, and how much of his playbook operates on keeping them in thrall to his singular threat: show loyalty, no matter what I say or do, or else.” (CNN, segment 2)
On the other side within the coverage of FoxNews, a similar logic was used by constructing the character of Joe Biden. His personality was not illustrated as aggressive as Trump’s but referred to as corrupt and false. In the segments of CNN, a special place finds Rudi Giuliani, Trump’s private lawyer. He is depicted as the evil conspirator and the engineer of the
62 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities campaign, leading to the impeachment accusations. Interestingly, both news coverages make use of mythical storytelling, as explained by Berkowitz & Liu (2014). The 2 most dominant themes are the ‘trickster’ and the ‘scapegoat’. Within the CNN material, Trump is portrayed as the ‘trickster’, within FoxNews this role is ascribed to Biden. In CNN Giuliani finds himself in the role of the ‘scapegoat’, whereas within FoxNews Adam Schiff is illustrated as such. Following the excerpt in which the ‘scapegoat’ theme concerning Schiff becomes clear:
“Hawley later told Fox News that Schiff frequently changed his story. He also said the GOP would be wise to continue its pursuit of this line of questioning, as the impeachment trial progressed. “I don't believe anything he says on that because he's lied and changed his positions multiple times, which is just weird," Hawley said. "I mean, why would you do that? It's a very relevant set of questions and I imagine we might hear more of it."” (Foxnews, segment 3)
6.2.4 Narratives The narratives to be found in the textual material are pointing in several directions. Looking at FoxNews, the conspiracy version is dominating, which refers to the impeachment initiative as being a staged complot of the Democratic party. This can be seen as intended news coverage which is aligned with the version presented by Trump and members of the Republican party. Regarding CNN, the main narratives are dealing with the importance and the historical meaning of the events around the Ukraine affaire. Furthermore, the main narration on CNN lets Trump appear in a light where he is found guilty of his accusations. In that way, both media channels are generally failing in providing a neutral and not biased explanation of the key issues found in this political affaire. On the one hand, we find a Trump- favorable red thread, which speaks to the readers through direct and uncommented citations – FoxNews. This can be seen as the prolonged voice of Trump and his helpers. On the other hand, we see a prejudiced agenda, which undermines its information with emotion and sensation. The narration factor of engaging people, rather than to solely inform them is the crucial driver in the CNN coverage. The following 2 excerpts illustrate clearly the emotionalizing style of CNN that heavily relies on sensation and exceptionalism: “This is a dark world, and it's one the impeachment inquiry shows is fast descending on American politics, as the testimony and experience of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, in particular, suggests. The son of a father who fled Ukraine to escape the brutalities of the USSR, Vindman started his appearance by recognizing that "my simple act of appearing here today ... would not be tolerated in many places around the world," and that in Russia (…)”. (CNN, segment 2)
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“The Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment Wednesday, marking the inevitable and historic end to a bitterly fought, divisive impeachment trial that will reverberate into the 2020 election and shape Trump's presidential legacy.” (CNN, segment 4)
Here is possible to identify the discursive construction of media discourses through emotions. These discourses carry pro-democratic ideological convictions, promoting concepts like freedom, and rejecting any authoritarian efforts. Moreover, they provide their audience with a compass to assess the political conflict (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2019, p. 168). The following part demonstrates how FoxNews on the other hand, injects its coverage with Trump’s agenda: “The Fake News Media didn't want to report that "Joe Biden [demanded] that the Ukrainian Government fire a prosecutor who was investigating his son, or they won’t get a very large amount of U.S. money," the president had said.” (FoxNews, segment 1)
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7. Conclusion
In summary, this project delivers interesting insights into how two US major online publications discursively construct realities for their audiences. By looking into the case of the so-called Trump-Ukraine affaire, the media strategies of the concerned channels are revealed. Additionally, by looking into the Ukraine case, the way how those online publications construct the events around a controversial topic is described. It becomes clear what is the main focus of each news outlet and where does this thematical context ideologically originate from. About the video material, the main underlying messages are discovered, together with the ideographs reflected in them. Furthermore, this research delivers fundamental findings of the textual media coverage of the analyzed material. Results concerning lexicality, use of citation, and narration are gained. Regarding the lexical patterns, this project reveals how metaphorization and specific word choices construct the events of this controversially debated topic. Through that, explanations about the media’s power to divide public opinions and the society they exist in are gained. Moreover, this research delivers explanations of how two structural similar channels can create fundamentally different word views for their audiences. It is shown that by searching for the reasons for America’s bitter divide, the partisan news coverage carries a big part of the responsibility. Not information, but stimulation is in the foreground of the coverage of this so controversial and polarizing issue. Additionally, it becomes clear that systematic use of quotation can hand over the main narration to the various actors appearing in the news coverage. The media as active contributors in democratic systems are equipped with an immense potential to influence and to steer public debate and opinion. But with this ability comes responsibility. The communication studies must function as the control mechanism, through applying scientific critique. From this research it is possible to conclude that reality in news media can be constructed in several ways, delivering various outcomes about the same events. Therefore, the media studies must look into this process of news reporting. Most important is that this investigation in any case remains critical, no matter if it looks left or right. However, on the one hand, this study delivers relevant insights, on the other hand, it is important to mention that the contribution of this project is limited. It delivers reasons for the increasing fragmentation and polarization of the US society. But there are many more explanations for these problems. Digital media are just one factor out of many, and this
65 David Jeremias Vogt – Stockholm University – Distorted Realities present project looks at only one case. Through looking at other issues and topics more valuable and relevant findings could be gained. It can be relevant to investigate how the construction of reality takes place concerning other issues with similar significance. The health crisis caused by the spreading of COVID-19 would deliver another perfectly suitable object of investigation, delivering important insights on how media create different worlds for their audiences. Alternatively, it would be from high importance to examine how online news media deal with other controversial issues like police violence against people of color. Reasons for the stimulation and opinion creation in the US pubic can also be found in other media forms like social media. Further investigations could look into what role social media platforms are playing and how the reality creation process takes place in such channels. Moreover, TV as an information source should not be forgotten. For being able to fully understand the media landscape and its power structures, the present role of TV needs to be reconsidered and examined. It is the qualitative nature of the research results which allows these far-reaching conclusions about a topic which not only concerns US American citizens. For the media studies, it is in this context from decisive importance to further look into this issue with a quantitative approach. The qualitative results open up the door and lead further investigations in specific directions. Science using quantitative methods can in the next step prove the previously gained conclusions. It would for instance be interesting to analyze to what extent both media channels have reported on the issue, how often which narrative appears in their news reporting, and to which thematical context which channel gives the most attention. This research can be seen as fruitful but marks just a friction in the enlightening process of the media studies. The journey of understanding the channels that fill our worlds with information is still long and will never be completely accomplished. In an ever-changing world, constant curiosity is the key to achieving insight. All in all, it is shown that news media are discursively creating the worlds for their audiences. What we see, read, and hear in the media does not entirely determine our beliefs and thoughts. But amounts to a great extent what we confront ourselves with day by day, consciously and unconsciously. Consumers of news media do not undergo this confrontation without impacts. Therefore, must we always question what we see, hear, and steadily criticize our judgments.
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8. Sample 8.1 CNN Segment 1: Title: Whistleblower timeline: Team Trump contacts and Ukraine Published: September 21st, 2019 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/20/politics/whistleblower-timeline-ukraine-team- trump/index.html Pivotable phase: 1
Segment 2 Title: In impeachment hearings, lessons on the erosion of American democracy Published: November 21st, 2019 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/21/opinions/impeachment-american-democracy- ben-ghiat/index.html Pivotable phase: 2
Segment 3 Title: Bolton's book could pull Barr into political fight he has avoided for months Published: January 29th, 2020 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/29/politics/john-bolton-william-barr-impeachment- fight/index.html Pivotable phase: 3
Segment 4 Title: Trump acquitted at end of months long impeachment process, found not guilty of two articles Published: February 5th, 2020 Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/05/politics/senate-impeachment-trial-vote- acquittal/index.html Pivotable phase: 4
8.2 Foxnews Segment 1: Title: Ukraine foreign minister defends Trump's call with Zelenskiy: 'I think there was no pressure' Published: September 21st, 2019 Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-trump-zelensky-biden Pivotable phase: 1
Segment 2 Title: Dems could draft 4 articles of impeachment, GOP plans for full Senate trial, sources say Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/impeachment-articles-senate-trial-republicans Published: November 21st, 2020 Pivotable phase 2
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Segment 3 Title: Schiff, in Trump's Senate impeachment trial, denies knowing whistleblower Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/adam-schiff-denies-knowing-trump-whistleblower Published: January 29th, 2020 Pivotable phase 3
Segment 4 Title: White House claims 'full vindication' after Trump acquittal, slams Romney as 'failed' candidate Link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-trump-acquittal-slams-romney Published: February 5th, 2020 Pivotable phase 4
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