Differing Local Political News Media’s Framing of Austin Homelessness in 2021

Abstract

In 2021, the Austin homeless frequented the local newspaper headlines due to the wide controversy they faced throughout the year, specifically with the renewal of the camping ban that discriminated against the population. Additionally, much of the Austin public significantly relied on the news reports provided by the Austin leading news media to stay up to date on the controversy taking place. However, despite major social and political action in that calendar year, little research has been conducted on Austin news media’s representation of the homeless during this year and its effect on the public. In this paper, the author reviews literature exploring news media depictions of homelessness through the construction of media framing, media influence on the public, and the differing political views on the topic of homelessness. A retrospective quantitative content analysis was conducted to measure the different media frames included within four politically differing Austin news stations’ 2021 homeless news reports. The research design pursues to identify (a) the overall coverage of mainstream news media on Austin homelessness in 2021; (b) the different types of thematic and episodic frames frequently used when presenting the homeless population of Austin; and (c) how the utilization of these frames varied between differing political biases. Together, the research findings concluded that within the local Austin news reportings on homelessness in 2021, key events drew out more coverage from larger news stations, and left-leaning news stations saw more episodic framing, while right-leaning news stations saw more thematic framing.