Framing of economic news stories in jaffna's regional newspapers

Abstract

Economic news take an important role for the mind setting of media audiences .Since the economic development influence on individual of the particular country ,people will concentrate more on the news coverage of economic news. This paper examines the factors that explain variations in economic news coverage as a function of both economic indicators and contextual influences. Mutz (1992) suggests that citizens' perceptions of the economy are developed directly from news coverage as well as from one's personal experiences. Scholars argues that media coverage of the economy distorts reality, and frequently in a negative direction they find that when the economy is good, the media gives the economy poor attention, but when the economy is bad, the media gives the economy a good deal of attention. The argument that the news media generally overemphasize the negative and downplay the positive is common to media research. In terms of economic information, scholars Haller and Norpoth (1997) argue journalists are prone to negative economic news because bad economic times are perceived as more newsworthy than good economic times. In Jaffna northern provincial election also impacts the level of economic coverage. Given the essential role of the media in citizens learning about the economy, the kinds of economic news presented by the media will affect the amounts and kinds of economic information that citizens gain. In this research Jaffna's regional newspaper namely Valampuri,Uthayn and Thinamurasu are examined under the sub themes like inflation ,economic growth and economic development .Content analysis used a research methodology and qualitative and quantitative content of the news coverage are examined. Results illustrate the news media does not view all economic statistics equally and at the same times in deciding economic newsworthiness and level of coverage.