The Bahamas: Newspaper Coverage of the Increase in Unemployment Rate
The Bahamas, like most countries, is encumbered by a variety of issues, for example crime, illegal immigration, education reform, economic growth and unemployment. These issues are reported by numerous medias one of them being newspapers. Newspapers are a reliable and popular source of receiving information. Frequently “newspaper vendors stand at the roadside during the morning rush hour, selling copies of the daily papers” and “commuters stop their cars amid traffic to buy copies” (Benjamin & LeGrand, 2012, p. 22). In The Bahamas there are two commonly read local daily newspapers, The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune (Benjamin & LeGrand, 2012). On October 23rd, 2013 the Department of Statistics released its 2013 Labour Force Survey, which was conducted in May 2013 and showed that the unemployment rate in the Bahamas had increased from 14% to 16.2% (Thompson, 2013). The following day, The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune reported on this topic. This paper seeks to analyze the manner in which these two newspapers covered this topic. Newspaper coverage of the increase in the unemployment rate in The Bahamas
The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune
Both The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune had the matter of the unemployment rate increasing as their front page news article. Clearly both newspapers felt this was an important topic because only significant and meaningful stories are placed on the front page of a newspaper, above the fold and toward the left of the page (Baran, 2006). However, the manner The Nassau Guardian reported this topic was not as prominent as The Tribune. Most newspapers use bold large headlines to convey the importance of a story, to grab people’s attention and perhaps entice them to purchase their paper (Baran, 2006). The Nassau Guardian’s headline, “Unemployment up: Rate jumps from 14% to 16.2%”, wasn’t large or contained any phrases to alarm readers or give them any sense of urgency; it just stated the fact that unemployment had increased. In
The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune
Both The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune had the matter of the unemployment rate increasing as their front page news article. Clearly both newspapers felt this was an important topic because only significant and meaningful stories are placed on the front page of a newspaper, above the fold and toward the left of the page (Baran, 2006). However, the manner The Nassau Guardian reported this topic was not as prominent as The Tribune. Most newspapers use bold large headlines to convey the importance of a story, to grab people’s attention and perhaps entice them to purchase their paper (Baran, 2006). The Nassau Guardian’s headline, “Unemployment up: Rate jumps from 14% to 16.2%”, wasn’t large or contained any phrases to alarm readers or give them any sense of urgency; it just stated the fact that unemployment had increased. In
References: Baran, S. J. (2006). Introduction to mass communication: Media literacy and culuture (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Benjamin, L., & LeGrand, C. (2012). Sound and Fury: Newspaper Coverage of the Marital Rape Debate in New Providence. The International Journal of Bahamian Studies, 18 (2012), 16-35. Retrived from http://journals.sfu.ca/cob/index.php/files/article/view/164/219. Department of Statistics. (2011). Labour Force Report 2011. Retrieved from http://statistics.bahamas.gov.bs/download/086361700.pdf Hartnell, N. (2013, October 24). Concern over jobless rate increase to 16.2%. The Tribune. Retrived from http://www.tribune242.com Rolle, K. (2013, October 25). DNA leader questions unemployment rate. The Nassau Guardian. Retrived from http://www.thenassauguardian.com Thompson, T. (2013, October 24). Unemployment up: Rate jumps from 14% to 16.2%. The Nassau Guardian. pp. A1-A2. Turnquest, P. (2013, October 24). Unemployment rises to 16.2%: Statistics are deeply troubling. The Tribune. pp. A1, A18-A19.