ABSTRACT. Herman and Chomsky affirm that the mass media are not a solid monolith on all issues. Inoue and Kawakami point out that television news viewing is an important factor for receiving news events faster regardless of news category. Thompson et al. say that news stories that focus on gangs have influenced attitudes and opinions by providing vivid public images of gang crime and criminals. Altheide and Michalowski claim that words are powerful when they become symbolic frames that direct discursive practices.