The Media Frames a Hero
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    The Jonesboro tragedy consists of many frames.  One in particular is the story about the teacher who lost her life that day.  Shannon Wright was a respected teacher, wife, and mother.  She is often described as a "heroine who apparently gave no thought to saving her own life in those horrific moments..." (Washington Post).  The "heroine" image portrayed by the media is a very powerful frame.
    Robert Entman describes framing to be the "influence over a human consciousness [that is] exerted by the transfer of information from one location...to that consciousness" (Entman 52).  Entman continues to analyze how frames work in this manner.
 
 
First a problem must be defined. In this case, a school tragedy that brought the death of a teacher is the problem.  This automatically triggers other problems, such as violence among youth. 
Second, a cause is diagnosed.   The cause in this case is the shooting that took Shannon Wright's life. 
Third, the story makes a moral judgement.  The school shooting is a violent, tragic incident that shook the entire nation.  The question becomes: how does this happen in America's schools?
Finally, the story must suggest a remedy.  This type of tragedy may be avoided in the future by preventative measures, or by stricter rules and guidelines. 
    In understanding Entman's outline of how frames work, the examples used each represent a storyline used by various media sources.  Storyline framing is used in Pan and Kosicki's article, "Framing Analysis: An Approach to News Discourse."  Pan and Kosicki suggest that every news story has a basic storyline, or plot. The storyline of "teacher as hero" is very prevalent throughout the media coverage of the Jonesboro tragedy.
    Pan and Kosicki discuss another technique of framing that focuses more on what the news story is trying to prove.  This technique is a thematic structure, or hypothesis test.  Essentially, the stories concerning Shannon Wright are daring the public to think of Jonesboro as anything but a tragedy.  She is held up as a symbol of the tragedy.  In the coverage, the other four victims were mentioned, but none as much as the teacher.  This exclusive coverage represents the symbolic status of the "hero frame."
    The third framing technique Pan and Kosicki discuss is the rhetorical structure, or what writing techniques are used in news stories.  For example, the use of the word "hero" is a common theme that adds salience to the story.  "Teacher as hero" is a common phrase, also used to add salience to the story.  The word choice used in the news stories regarding the Jonesboro tragedy is important to giving the entire frame meaning.
    Each of these techniques of framing influence the audience's consciousness.  The frames are powerful tools used to influence how the audience will think about the situation.  In the Jonesboro case, it is difficult to think of Shannon Wright as anything but a hero.
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