Dead Today, Gone Tomorrow: The Framing of Workplace Injury in Canadian Newspapers, 2009–2014

Abstract

Background How the media frames and presents a subject influences how society sees and responds to that issue.Analysis This study uses frame analysis to examine how Canadian English language newspapers portrayed workplace injuries between 2009 and 2014. Three frames emerge: Under Investigation, Human Tragedy, and Before the Courts. There is also a meta-frame casting injuries and fatalities as isolated events happening to “others” with no cause, thus the public ought not be concerned about workplace safety.Conclusion and implications The article concludes that media frames obscure issues of cause and fault, thereby denying workers a full understanding of why injuries happen in the workplace. These frames serve the interests of employers by obfuscating the employer’s role in creating workplace injury and death.