Alabama Greek Tragedy Through The Media Frame

Many of us with ties to the University of Alabama have been watching the unfolding of Tuscaloosa's outrageous school board election story.  To put it briefly, incumbent Kelly Horwitz -  who happens to be the wife of Bama lawprof Paul Horwitz - was narrowly defeated by  Carson Kirby, a darling of local real estate interests, in an August 27 election.    And this would truly be mundane Alabama news (moneyed interests defeat the eggheads) but for the fact that Kirby pulled off the win with the support of a shadow University of Alabama Greek organization known as The Machine.  (Get a little background on the Machine from this New Republic article from 2002.  Or perhaps this Esquire article from 1992.  Or even this 1961 piece from the UA newspaper, the Crimson White.)  How did the Greeks do it?  With party buses, free booze, and perhaps a fraudulent registration or two.  Or three. 

This story got lots of attention around T-town and statewide.  But it didn't really go national until the New York Times picked it up on Saturday - 18 days after the election.  Why then?

As media scholars know, editors typically publish news that fits into an existing media frame.  News is more recognizable to editors and more compelling to readers when it fits into an existing storyline.  And while Greek shenanigans is an existing media frame, it's not really the dominant Alabama  media frame.  That, as we all know, is race.  

Thus, nobody was surprised when the newest example Alabama's unrelenting Greek racial segregation - the  universal sorority rejection of an overachieving African-American woman (the step-granddaughter of a former Alabama Supreme Court justice and university trustee, facts that really matter when you're talking about a white prospective) - made it into the NY Times.  The news of Greek racism first surfaced on September 11 (all kudos to the Crimson White, which broke the race story).  This Greek story made it to the Times on September 12, the following day.  It did perfectly fit the Alabama media frame.  And two days after that story, weeks after the bad election, the election story surfaced in the Times.

What interests me is that it took the activation of a University of Alabama fraternity misconduct frame, which only appeared (I believe) because of the race angle,  before the paper chose to follow through the opening the race story created and published the not-quite-so-fresh school board story two days later.  Thus, the media frame effectively inverted the chronology of these two stories.  On the Times Facebook line, presumably, Alabama Greeks performed their racism first then proceeded to steal an election.   

While that is the opposite of what actually happened on earth, perhaps the timing is irrelevant.  This Greek Tragedy is one of hubris and exceptionalism - the endless ability of Alabama Greeks  to maintain segregation and treat public affairs as a playtoy.  And, sadly, the tale of two hapless administrators - Chancellor Robert Witt and President Judy Bonner  - who, unlike those of us sitting in the audience, perhaps do not see their complicity in the unfolding drama.

Updated to edit for clarity.

Comments

[Anon]

"Moneyed interests defeat the eggheads" is perhaps an unfair way to frame an election between two attorneys. The fact that one of them happens to be married to a law professor doesn't really seem to make her an "egghead," even assuming that label is applicable to law professors.

Also, it's "Cason," not "Carson," Kirby.

[John Roberts]

To call this "Greek racism" and to use the term "Alabama Greeks" is not only inaccurate, but insulting to people of Greek heritage and ethnicity who live in Alabama and elsewhere. These kids are American sorority and fraternity women and men, not "Greek" in any true sense of the word.

[anon]

"How did the Greeks do it? With party buses, free booze, and perhaps a fraudulent registration or two. Or three."
Stop! This is a FL classic!
Ethnic terms and allegations of voter fraud all in one neat package.
I haven't checked:
Does the author support voter id and decry ethnic terms in other contexts (e.g., sports teams, etc.)?
*note: this is not an invitation for a lecture on the complete absence of any justification for voter id, or the difference between the "greeks" and the "indians" or the "braves" (terms to which many object). I just couldn't resist noting the sort of delicious nature of this piece of faculty lounge discourse.

[roll tide]

So what’s the media frame that makes this story so fascinating to this chatbort?

Let me guess. It’s creepy and even outrageous for college students to organize and participate in political races. (Unless, of course, it’s at Ohio State and Obama is running for president, in which case student organizing and voting are sacred rights that should be encouraged by the universities.)

(http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/04/ohio_house_targets_student_vot.html )

Or maybe it’s because there was a get out the vote drive including a ride to the polls? Because that’s outrageous (except when Obama does it to win Ohio and when Dems do it in urban areas).

Or maybe it's because of the alleged minor discrepancies related to the listed addresses of voters? Because that’s outrageous (except when Republicans complain about it, in which case they are to be firmly reminded that voting fraud is a wholesale fiction of paranoid minds). Bonus quiz: who said the following quote, Kelly Horwitz or Karl Rove? “Illegalities in elections can't go on in the future. It's not a prank, it's criminal activity.”

Or maybe it’s the volatile mix of alcohol and voting? (Why do you hate George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? If I want to vote drunk, sober, or buzzed, it's my right.) Why didn’t you tell the readers that the plan to offer a free drink wasn’t based upon voting for Cason? It was based on voting at all. And why not tell your readers that neither of the two bars actually offered any free drinks? Because that would ruin your media frame?

Oh I know the problem. When all else fails, there is one outrage that always works. The problem is that the students voted against the white woman because . . . wait for it . . . they are racist against blacks! That’s the media frame that works for this blog.

[Dan Joyner]

Statement by UA President Bonner, just released on video.

http://vimeo.com/74730939