Un-presidented: a qualitative framing analysis of the NAACP's public relations response to the 2000 presidential election

Abstract

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has a 100-year history of mobilizing minority voters. Millions responded to the NAACP's multi-million dollar publicity campaign in the 2000 presidential election. When the election stalled unexpectedly, the NAACP's communications response was intended to help U.S. voters interpret the unusual circumstances. The NAACP's public relations department uses the media and the Internet to reach its audiences. This study qualitatively examined the NAACP's messages and compared them to almost 400 post-election news articles in six mainstream newspapers. There was little overlap between the media's frames and those advanced by the NAACP, which suggests that the NAACP's messages were ignored.