Feature Article

Shaking Up the Dominant Frame: Indonesia, Earthquakes, and Marge Simpson

By Brian Freeman

Indonesia. Heard of it? You may want to tell American news networks about it.

Following the earthquake and tsunami on September 29th, 2009 and two more devastating quakes within a week, four of the five network evening news programs did, in fact, cover the events, but Indonesia dropped off of the news cycle within days, even as massive aid to the nation began to arrive, much of it from the United States. Considering that the death toll could reach numbers as high as those suffered during Hurricane Katrina, the lack of network news coverage should be surprising.

But, wait…what about Marge Simpson?

Analysis of U.S. evening news coverage following the earthquakes illustrates the issue. While we continue to see media coverage of Hurricane Katrina four years later, Indonesia following the earthquakes received a total of ten minutes of unique coverage on four of the five major evening news outlets (Fox News did not provide any evening coverage of the events) between September 30th and October 9th. The final coverage of the events was on October 9th, when it received the same amount of time (twenty seconds) as the report in the same segment reporting that Marge Simpson would pose nude for Playboy magazine. So, nine days after the event, we see CNN covering a massive disaster affecting the nineteenth largest economy in the world by providing coverage equal to pornographic animation. Consider that, and consider why.

In an informal survey conducted between October 16th and 19th, 2009, ninety percent of respondents were aware that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any nation, but none were aware of what form of government or economic system it possesses, or whether normal relations exist between Indonesia and the United States. In fact, Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and the single largest capitalist economy in Southeast Asia, with the United States as its second largest trade partner following Japan. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Indonesia is a successful democracy. All of these traits would seem to make Indonesia sound very similar to the United States and other “Western” nations. So, why would it receive coverage equal to 10% of that afforded to David Letterman’s sexual trysts?

One explanation may be that the media does operate as a tool to frame “the other,” in this case Muslims in other countries, as quite unlike us. This aided the government as the war in Iraq progressed, and as the Afghanistan conflict continues. It may be undesirable to show images and disseminate information that would call this dominant frame into question. Vilification of “radical Islam” is a theme that is a useful tool for media and the U.S. government in perpetuating the profitable discord between the so-called “east” and “west.” By framing the issue as an opposition to “American values” such as freedom, democracy, and capitalism, the state is able to dehumanize the alleged enemy and muster support for military endeavors while still making conciliatory statements affirming that not all Muslims favored radicalism.  However, network news images of most Muslims outside of the United States routinely show only radical, anti-American activity and the images of the “good” adherents to the Islamic faith are left vague, at best.

So, Indonesia is troublesome if the dominant theme in media is a framework designed to make Islamic nations seem not only alien to the American “way of life”, but actively opposed to it. Closely covering news from a nation with a capitalist, democratic society that also happens to be Islamic presents a conundrum when the images the viewing audience would receive refute this dominant framing.