By: Madison Wilkins
We often speak of law and culture in one breath. That may be so because both systems play key roles in our society today. Therefore, it is desirable to examine their similarities and the impact they have on one another. Law and culture typically go hand in hand. They impact one another back and forth by creating breaking news stories, the shift in societal norms, and complete cultural resets. However, it is the deep dive that we take to determine how they are perceived in the public eye, and more importantly their ability to simultaneously allow us to understand the public agenda.
Agenda setting is the ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda. The study of agenda-setting describes the way media attempts to influence viewers, and establish a hierarchy of news prevalence. Agenda setting today allows for the media to decide what should and should not be seen as crucial information. Somewhere along the way, society became so easily influenced by what was said on television and through social media that we may often utilize it as our only source.
Roe v. Wade has recently hit the headlines once again as the Supreme Court overturned the decision.. A case formed in 1970 managed to make its way back into the public agenda and people have major differences in opinion. According to Oyez, “In 1970, Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, where she resided, challenging a Texas law making abortion illegal except by a doctor’s orders to save a woman’s life. In her lawsuit, Roe alleged that the state laws were unconstitutionally vague and abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments”.
I believe Roe v Wade has such a powerful position in law and culture because it defies this idea that all “MEN” are created equal as it calls the equality of women in the United States into question. Additionally, it also promotes the more feminist approach now where many see the importance of a women’s right to her own body. While most would take a look at why Roe v Wade was overturned, agenda setting allows us to focus on the media’s ability to influence the importance of the overtun and the direct impacts of this Supreme Court Ruling. Although many saw the decision as a pivotal moment in history, I question if people would’ve still placed such importance if the media had not. The public was definitely moved by the headlines and breaking news stories. Ultimately, bringing forth more emotions and opinions on the topic.
Fox News Framing: The Right Side of the Aisle
Although agenda setting encompasses influence, each major news network took different routes for the influence of Roe v Wade in the public agenda. The Fox News Agenda Setting of Roe v Wade offers a more conservative approach compared to their media company rivals. Brook Singman of Fox had the opportunity to discuss the Supreme Court ruling with Donald Trump. According to Brooke Singman, when asked whether he feels he played a role in the reversal of Roe v. Wade, after having appointed three conservative justices to the high court, Donald Trump told Fox News: “God made the decision. We end this opinion where we began. Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives”. Fox News saw the overturn as a victory, a long awaited decision in the making. Fox News utilized agenda setting in order to influence the public to see Roe v Wade overturned as a moment of triumph. They did so by evoking emotion and having the public look at the decision through the lense of a pro life citizen. There was great celebration from their viewers and supporters as we saw footage of the supporters in Washington D.C. following the decision. Amongst all the excitement from Fox News watchers, other news networks influenced opinions on Roe v Wade differently and they took a different approach to do so.
CNN Framing: The Left Side of the Aisle
Despite the fact that CNN is also a leading news media company, they influenced and see Roe v Wade in a different lense than those of Fox News. CNN viewed Roe v Wade from a more logical perspective and took a more informative approach. They explained the news for what it was and the impact that it has on various states and the governing laws that would be put into place. However, in the breaking news article Biden’s opinion was brought forth on the matter. He claimed that this supreme court ruling casts a “dark shadow” over our country. Therefore, CNN did see Roe v Wade overturned as a loss for our country. According to the writers of CNN, “‘It’s a sad day for the court and for the country,’ Biden said, speaking from the White House, calling for Congress to codify the right to an abortion — something that’s unlikely given the split balance of power in the Senate”. Biden’s perspective was important to CNN as they felt it would influence the public opinion to hear the President of the United State’s state how the Supreme Court’s decision is going to negatively impact our country. In terms of agenda setting, you’ll notice that CNN’s breaking news story offers more visuals of state impacts as opposed to the conservative Fox news that utilized a more emotional video to influence their viewers. CNN and Fox are consistently seen on opposing sides on the other ends of the political scales, but it is crucial to see what a more moderate approach has to say about the overturn of Roe v Wade.
NBC News: A Moderate Perspective
The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American-English language commercial broadcast television and radio network. It is the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast. NBC tends to take a less political approach to law and culture. According to their news source, “The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed the right to abortion in the United States, undoing decades of legal precedent and paving the way for around half of all states to ban the procedure”. NBC influenced users to stay in the know by bringing them consistent news on states and further decisions to be made. They did not frame it as a victory or a dark storm cloud, it is simply being shared as news from the perspective of an unbiased individual. Many of the articles that followed the breaking news also cited updates with very nonemotional and uninvolved headlines. These new stories served more as updates and less for political usage.
All things considered, there’s a different side to every story. Whether it’s Fox News, CNN, or NBC, you’ll receive the same news from different perspectives with different influential intentions. There is a reason we often speak of law and culture in one breath. They both work as systems to play key roles in change within our society. Law and culture typically go hand in hand. The evidence of this is shown in our history. Despite the fact that Roe v Wade was put into place decades ago, the culture of this ever changing generation and the opinions of citizens today display a need for change. Whether you are on either side of the aisle, we see people striving for positive impacts. Regardless of what they believe in, we are seeing law and culture on both sides. They impact one another back and forth by creating breaking news stories and the shift in societal norms. Ultimately, they are the reason we are influenced into deciding and understanding what we should perceive as important. As we move forward, we will continue to see these effects in Roe v Wade, and other current events the media deems relevant.
