Media Analysis Project 3: News Media and Framing

Shooting in Council, Idaho

Taylor Minshall
Soc 339
Mr. Meuf

On Sunday November 1, 2015 Jack Yantis, a 62-year-old local rancher, was shot and
killed after his bull was hit by a car. The incident began when a car crashed into his bull on the
highway in Council, Idaho. While emergency responders where working to get the individuals
out of the car, the bull was charging at them. The Yantis family was at dinner when the phone
rang to inform Mr. Yantis that his bull had been hit and he needed to come down. State and
County officials claimed that the two deputies were getting ready to put the animal down when
Mr. Yantis arrived with a rifle. Much of what happened next remains uncertain; no official report
has been made. There was an altercation and all three individuals fired their weapons injuring an
officer and killing Mr. Yantis.
The news media serves as a valuable source of information and communication. This
power that the media has is used to control what people around the world understand and are
aware of on a daily basis. They have the ability to dictate what stories are newsworthy and how
much status and space is distributed. The information is then spread by various forms of
communication, all of which are framed to meet the goals of the providing source. Framing the
information directly shapes the audiences opinions and therefore influences them. In this case,
the news media negatively portrayed the police officers involved to gain more attention.
In most cases, police departments have to internally review cases. They have a policy that
in order to avoid interference or conflict they do not release the results of its assessments until
they or other departments run their course. During this lengthy period of time the media has to
find little information on the subject. Much of the information that they do receive is from family

members or friends who are either angry or grieving. Therefore, while the department is
investigating the incident the story is very much one sided and just like Surette stated, the
Heroes and villains have become more alike during that time. (p. 207)
The following articles that I have collected on this incident support my claim. The
mainstream media thrives on negative portrayals of anyone, therefore the representation of police
is more negative than positive. Police officers see the best and worst in humanity. Sometimes
they are thanked and then a second later they are spit on. The articles that I have gathered
portrays them in a way that will get the most attention, so for media, police officers are negative,
whether that is true or not.
An article provided by the Idaho Statesman, Idaho
Ranchers Wife: I saw them murder my husband is a prime
example of how the media picks and chooses which stories
to air. In the readings, Chermak claims that organizations are
often cited as primary sources within crime stories.
However, some journalists are starting to highlight every
flaw that they have discovered with local law enforcement. In this article, the journalist chose to
interview the common citizen. The common citizens in this case where family members of
Mr. Yantis. Of course these individuals have a strong opinion on the whole situation. Provided
with this article is a Scene of Death image that shows what happened according to the family.
Using the family members as a source creates a strong article to sway the thoughts of the reader.

Another article that uses the common citizen is, Supporters

of rancher killed in officer involved shooting march peacefully in
council produced by The Idaho Statesman. The first line of this article
made me scratch my head a little bit, A march and rally Saturday to
support the family of a rancher who was fatally shot by deputies was
peaceful and incident-free, ending with a group standing in quiet protest
outside the Adams County Sheriffs office. Many of the individuals that were protesting had
signs that read Murder is Legal if youre a cop and what happened to de-escalation?. These
posters dont sound very innocent to me; in fact, they are very much pointing fingers. This article
is very biased. The journalist got statements such as, Im here to support the family in getting
the truth out and I just dont know how a guy can come to shoot a bull and get shot himself.
There was however one line that was unbiased, Its kind of big news in these small towns,
Wright said. People tend to be judgmental. I think we have to wait for all the facts. But this
was at the very end. If this statement was at the top of the article, the entire article itself probably
would have had a different outlook.
In several of the reports the articles have mainly focused on the officers. Once the names
of the police officers involved were released they decided to publish an article that included their
background information, Public records show past of parties involved. One of the officers,
Brain Wood, had been previously hired on by McCall Police Department but left after he was
accused of roughing up a 78-year old man. This was gold for the media. On December 2, 2015
KTVB released a video of the traffic stop that led Wood to being accused of violating the 78-year
olds civil rights. The title of this article provided by KTVB was McCall dash cam footage: Get
your hands off me!. Before watching I would have thought that the police officer was being

aggressive, however, after watching I have completely different views. The dash cam video
shows officer Wood pulling the man over for speeding. You cannot see the interaction but can
hear it.
Officer Wood: Can I get you to take a seat in your car for me?
Whaley: What?
Officer Wood: Go ahead and sit back in your car for me.
Whaley: What do I look like a crook?
Officer Wood: Sir, Im telling you to go sit in your car. Im not telling you you look like
a crook. Just go sit down in your car.
Whaley: I resent your attitude young man.
Officer Wood: Sir, Im not giving you any attitude, but Im not giving you any option,
get in your car right now.
This situation never got to the point where officer Wood hurt the man, he eventually arrested him
which is when the elderly man stated: Get your hands off me. You can tell what the media was
trying to do here. They effectively got the attention of the public to watch this video.
As you can see from my analysis of this incident, you cant always rely on the media to
produce an accurate report. The media can control the news using a variety of strategies that will
alter the audiences opinion. In this case, because the law enforcement has not finished the
official review of what happened that night, the media used family and friends to negatively
portray the police officers involved to gain more attention. It is always important to consider the
source of the information that you read, especially when it is coming from the media.

Resources
Hensley, Nichole. Cattle rancher shot and killed by Idaho deputies in fight over bull
injured by car New York Daily News. 2 Nov. 2015. Web
Hill, Martin. BOMBSHELL: Deputy accused in Jack Yantis Killing is an FBI-Trained
sniper, was previously sued for roughing up 79-year-old: time to name the Idaho Sheriffs.
LibertyFight.com. 30 Nov. 2015. Web
Johnson, Kirk. Anger and Doubt Rise After Idaho Mans Fatal Encounter with
Deputies. The New Work Times. 17 Nov. 2015. Web
KMVT. Council, Idaho man killed in officer shooting. KMVT. 2 Nov. 2015. Web
KTVB. Adams County Rancher shot and killed by deputies. KTVB. 7 Nov. 2015. Web
KTVB. FBI investigating shooting death of Council rancher KTVB. 12 Nov. 2015. Web
Moeller, Katy. Supporters of rancher killed in officer-involved shooting march
peacefully in Council. Idaho Statesman. 14 Nov. 2015. Web
Russell, Betsy. FBI now investigating shooting near Council, says US attorney. Idaho
Statesman. 12 Nov 2015. Web
Sewell, Cynthia. Adams County Deputy Brian S. Wood: Sued over traffic stop, he left
McCall Police Job. Idaho Statesman. 30 Nov. 2015. Web
Sewell, Cynthia. Idaho Ranchers Wife: I saw them murder my husband. Idaho
Statesman. 7 Nov. 2015. Web

Shelton, Bonnie. McCall dash cam footage: Get your hands off me!. KTVB. 3 Dec.
2015. Web