One thing that surprised us as we investigated the media's portrayal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal is the amount of coverage given to pro-repeal ideas and opinions. In fact, a majority of Americans and military personnel do support the repeal, but it's difficult to find anything opposing it at all. The casual media consumer might be led to think that there are in fact no people against the repeal.
In fact, lots of people oppose the repeal. The military personnel living in Logan that we were able to talk to gave us several valid arguments to support the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (see "Opinion" tab). A detailed and careful search online finds opinion forums, letters to the editor printed in various newspapers, and articles written by people who support the policy.
The cartoons that acknowledged minority opinions portray the repeal opposition as prejudiced, ill-informed, and conceited. In no case is this truer than that of Senator John McCain. The following cartoon is one of many that portray him as clueless and without grounds.
To sum up, media outlets (especially political cartoons) seem to control or limit anti-repeal material. While the majority of Americans support the repeal, we felt that the portrayal in political cartoons was disproportionate.
Selective Perception
Selective perception weighs in heavily with political cartoons. Many are framed in such a way that doesn't divulge the artist's opinion. Take this cartoon for example:
Does the artist support or oppose the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Is he for or against gay rights? It's difficult to tell. The cartoon talks more about the reaction of military personnel to the repeal than it does about the repeal itself. It's left up to the reader to decide whether this reaction is justifiable or not.
It's likely that with most political cartoons, the readers themselves will interpret the meaning. Those who are for gay rights might interpret a cartoon as sharing their views, even if that's not what the artist had in mind. With some cartoons, the artist's intentions are fairly clear.
Even in these cases, however, political cartoons are unlikely to change opinions. As discussed in class, frequently exposure to opinion or even to fact does little more than to entrench readers further in their beliefs.
Framing and Cultivation:
Framing and Cultivation:
Many people oppose the Don't Ask, Don't Tell bill and many others oppose repealing it, while still others have no firm conviction either way. An individual's opinion is shaped by multiple factors including lack of information - or worse still, misinformation - about this important issue.
Media have always Framed issues and facts to make them jive with a certain way of thinking. For instance, two journalists may very well write about the exact same event or issue and even cover all the facts correctly, but the stories could end up with completely different view points depending on how the information is presented, the words used, and the tone of the article.
The same goes for information on the Don't ask, Don't tell bill. Often we see gays depicted as being extremely different from other Americans and straight soldiers having difficulty working alongside them, when in reality less than one in five soldiers said they were very uncomfortable around a homosexual person (Center for American Progress Study, 2006).
Another factor that shapes one's opinion is the theory of Cultivation. This includes one's own ideas on a matter, and then growing and building upon the information they have received. Depending on the images they see, the stories they hear or the other forms of media they are exposed to, they construct the messages to bend around their personal beliefs. Cultivation is a necessary part of processing information, but like many things, it can also be harmful when it comes to finding the real truth about a matter.
