Like historical accounts , journalism and news media can also be framed in the dominant narrative lens . This historical dominant narrative can affect what news people are actually being exposed to . This is problematic because only news that the dominant narrative deems important receives the most media attention . An example of the dominant narrative at play in the media can be seen in the way the Rwandan genocide was almost completely ignored by Western media and news . This genocide consists of the ethnic majority group , the Hutu , attempting to extinguish the Tutsi ethnic group . Initially , the Rwandan genocide was not framed by the media as a genocide , in an attempt to ignore the severity of the event . The early developments of the Rwandan genocide were minimalized as a way to justify a lack of intervention by many countries . Since the events in Rwanda did not directly affect US citizens the genocide did not seem to be as big of a deal in media , especially because the genocide consisted of black non-Americans this genocide was hardly discussed , as it is a counter-narrative to the dominant narrative . But even when race is not a factor at play the mass media can shape the dominant narrative in a way to instil indifference and avoid intervention . This happened , for instance , during the early phases of the breakup of Yugoslavia , as many international authorities disputed and denied that a genocide was taking place in Bosnia
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
Dominant narrative