Task 1- Identify the open or hidden agenda in the various reporting media locally + internationally

First of all the purpose of this task is to research four media news reports, local and international. The agenda either open or hidden should be identified in each media news report. There will also be comparisons and similarities of each article. Included there will also be theories that were mentioned before in class.

With regards to the topic, I chose to do about the abortion pill. As a topic, it's quite sensitive. Everyone tackles this subject differently. '' Every individual is a unique manifestation of the whole, as every branch is a particular outreaching of the tree''- Alan Watts. The articles that I have chosen are from; Newsbook, One News, New York Times, and AlJazeera. They all have different ideologies and agendas.

The first article is of One News; 'Fil-Qorti biex tidħol il-morning after pill''. In this article, there is an open agenda. This is to give a voice to those who are in favor of the morning-after pill. This article also promotes a campaign, by Dr. LaraDimitrijevic. There is also hidden agenda in this article. One News is in favor of the government. The government is not against this pill. This subject was introduced in Malta in the year of 2016. This article is making use of multi-media tools to deliver the story. There is a screenshot of a post that was published by the Emergency Contraception for Malta. It stated that on the 16th of June of the year 2016, 100 women filed a judicial report against the state of emergency contraception.

The second article is of Newsbook; ''Resorting to the Abortion Pill: Stop and Think''. In this article, there is also mentioned real-life examples of people that passed from this experience and it was described as such an awful experience. This article was written to influence readers emotionally, by making them rethink if they were to do something that they had in mind. The hidden agenda is that Newsbook is owned and has values of the catholic church in Malta. As you might be aware, the church has the strictest ban on abortion in the EU. So due to this reason, it might be that this article was written to influence readers emotionally and do not even think about doing this subject.

The third article is of AlJazeera; '' Women in Mexico use mobile apps during at-home abortions''. The article is mainly about Maria Muñoz, who is a journalist, that found herself facing an unwanted pregnancy in Mexico City. There are so many people out there in society that are struggling. The hidden agenda is that it was actually a social media platform that helped this journalist and others during the process of committing an abortion. Another hidden agenda in this article is that abortion should not be illegal.

The fourth article of the New York Times; '' What if you had abortion pills in your medicine cabinet?''. The open agenda in this article is to inform the people and to give a voice to those who want the pill to be available in the market. There is also a hidden agenda throughout the whole article. The author is trying to give the impression that the ones who work in the field of science are the experts. Scientists and health experts are mentioned a lot and they represent so much importance.

As Brian McNair(2003., p. 43) stated the media and those who work within media organizations are considered as political actors. Furthermore apart from conveying communications(news) of political entities to the audience, they alter them across numerous steps of news development and interpretation(ibid., p. 43). The article of One News is defending the interest of the government. In this article, there is also McNair's three-element model of political communication. It goes this way; the political party to the media and the media to the citizens.

The AlJazeera article is a clear example of a pseudo event. Daniel Boorstin (1961) in his book The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America stated that when a pseudo-event is held, the occasion gets significant media coverage. The article of AlJazeera is an example of a pseudo-event, as the protestors had the intention of gaining attention with regards to legal and safe abortion in Mexico City.

References:

• Adams, P. (2021). Opinion | What if You Had Abortion Pills in Your Medicine Cabinet? The New York Times. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/opinion/abortion-pills-texas-prescription-doctors.html. [Accessed: 30 Oct.2021].

• Jobson, S. (n.d.). Blog: Resorting to the Abortion Pill: Stop and Think - Shirley Jobson. [online] Newsbook. Available at: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/blog/resorting-to-the-abortion-pill-stop-and-think/ [Accessed: 30 Oct. 2021].

• www.aljazeera.com. (n.d.). Women in Mexico use mobile apps during at-home abortions. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/14/women-in-mexico-use-mobile-apps-for-at-home-abortions?fbclid=IwAR0Cv8svbdL00QFZgfFZPWnWPBipIDn2YegI9Rd9sT_BBQC5svDuFDEz0NE. [Accessed: 30 Oct. 2021].

• One News, (2016). Fil-Qorti biex tidħol il-morning after pill - ONE. [online] Available at: https://one.com.mt/fil-qorti-biex-tidhol-il-morning-after-pill/ [Accessed 31 Oct. 2021].