A Visual Narrative of News in the Networks’ Coverage of the Equal Rights Amendment: 1972-1974

• In Event: The Top Papers in Visual Communication

Abstract

This manuscript examines television news coverage of the Equal Rights Amendment ratification period, from 1972 through 1974, during which 33 of the necessary 38 states endorsed the amendment. By comparing ABC, CBS and NBC’s visual storytelling, the manuscript interrogates how the networks individually and collectively framed their narratives over this significant period. Using Fisher’s (1984,1987) elements of narrative coherence and fidelity, the paper deciphers how the ERA is constructed and revealed longitudinally through the visuals.

Author

• Suzanne Condray, Denison University