Media Framing Analysis Research Articles

Framing Revolution: Multiframe News Themes in Lebanon’s October 2019 Uprising

This study examines news framing of partisan media during uprisings. Through mixed methods, it studies the framing of Lebanon’s October 2019 protests, compares frames across political divides, and interprets story themes based on associations between multiple frames. First, the qualitative media framing analysis (MFA) inductively interprets issue-specific frames. Then, the quantitative content analysis deductively examines the developed issue-specific frames and the generic frames across five partisan news channels and tests the relationship between them and across the pro- and anti-protests media. Finally, multiple associated frames are grouped together into news story themes. Results from the MFA reveal six frames: solidarity, head-to-head, individualization, acknowledgment, disruption, and peace through violence frames. The study detected the frequent deployment of the solidarity, conflict, and acknowledgment frames and a significant framing difference between pro- and anti-protest channels. Pro-protest channels more often deployed the solidarity frame, while anti-protest channels more frequently used the conflict, acknowledgment, disruption, and economic consequence frames. Finally, the study developed four story themes based on associations between frames: Blame the protestors or the politicians; protestor violence begets government violence; divided they suffer; and politicians may not only be the culprits but also the solution. The resulting multiframe news themes offer nuanced meaning to generic frames that frequently appear with issue-specific frames and highlight the different roles a singular news frame can play when combined with other frames.

Media framing of the Intifada of the Knives

Research examining coverage of Western media on the Palestinian–Israeli conflict shows an imbalance in reporting the news and favoritism towards an Israeli government interpretation of the story. This article aims to examine how the so-called Intifada of the Knives (IK) was framed in Western print newspapers. The research also examines the representation of Palestinians and Israelis during that period. Media Framing Analysis (MFA) is deployed to present a detailed examination of 16 articles that appeared in prominent British, American, Canadian, and Australian print newspapers during that period. Findings show that negative frames were more dominant than positive frames. Overall, the articles framed the Intifada as a religious dispute and empathized more with Israelis who were described as victims while Palestinians were framed as terrorists or anti-Semitic. Little or no background was given as to why Palestinians opted for such actions against Israelis.

Understanding debates about Asiatic cheetah conservation through media analysis

AbstractGiven the global popularity and ubiquity of electronic media coverage of wildlife and conservation, media frame analysis is widely used to help conservation decision‐makers understand public opinion, differing goals and priorities, and arguments used in conflict. Nonetheless, media frame analysis has only been used on occasion to elucidate how different conservation stakeholders frame wildlife management plans. We applied media frame analysis to the case of critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), one of the world's rarest felids now confined to Iranian deserts. Between January 2018 and December 2020, 91 interviews from 44 conservation stakeholders were published in Persian‐language electronic media following the development of an Asiatic cheetah management plan. Media framed conservationists as agreeing on the alarming situation of Asiatic cheetahs and high‐level interventions needed for possible recovery yet disagreeing about using integrated (in situ + ex situ) versus single management approaches (in situ only) between academic and NGO interviewees. Interviews presented a balance of thematic (year‐round) and episodic around National and International Cheetah Days. We also found that the current media debate was highly skewed toward non‐local perspectives while views from reserve staffs were rarely (n = 2) reflected in the media. The increasing number of controversial conservation topics in media debates can persuade the public or policymakers by setting agenda. Disagreement in premises, threats and interventions confuse managers and potentially creates procrastination of necessary actions. Higher inclusion of reserve staffs, technical cooperation between stakeholders and pursuing the existing management plan are interventions that may portend great potential to enhance the conservation impact of media debates.

International Reactions to the Capitol Attack of January 6th: A Media Frames Analysis

On January 6, 2021, the United States experienced an insurrection at the United States Capitol that was framed in varying and complex ways by traditional U.S. allies, competing nations, and adversaries. This manuscript examines the statements of foreign leaders, international media reports, and social media posts through a media framing analysis. Thousands of pages of press reports from countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Israel, Russia, and China, formed different views of the insurrection. There were concerns about U.S. democracy, questions about U.S. leadership, and expressions of each nation’s self-interest in the transactional nature of their own economical, ideological or political interests. Operationalizing a media frame analysis, this essay examines the January 6th events to suggest that global reactions to democracy are bolstered, ridiculed, and, frequently, contested internationally.

Suicide Framing on Online Media in Indonesia

News about suicides in online media is increasingly worrying. This is due to the fact that the news stories often show specific display and details of suicide incidents. This study aims to analyse two online media in framing suicide news and the compatibility of the news of the rules from the press Council in 2019 by using a research method adapted from Matthes and Kohring in year 2008. The data used in this research are 85 articles, with the details of 38 articles from Tribunnews.com and 47 articles from suara.com. This research is important in that, if the news is repeated with high news frequency, the mentioned detailed mode is done explicitly, to hyperbolic reporting, it will be able to cause copycat suicide. It is hoped that the results of this research can provide meaningful input for the Indonesian Press Council to provide guidance to journalists in Indonesia regarding writing suicide reports. The methodology utilised for this research is content analysis of media frames guided by Robert M. Entman and then tabulated using the ward’s method by non-hierarchical clustering. The result of the research shows that online media in Indonesia mostly frame suicide as a crime issue and show in detail the ways in which victims commit suicide. This is opposite of the Press Council’s rules in 2019 who regulated suicide as a mental health issue because it is caused not only by a single factor. Keyword: Suicide, online media, contextual jurnalism, press council, Entman’s framing.

Media Framing Analysis and Islamic Minority Sect

The process of forming the construction in the media is called framing. Shia framing in the Indonesian mass media is constructed in such a way because it is a minority group that is considered deviant. In this study, the author will explain how the online media BBC News Indonesia and Radar Bangsa frame the Islamic minority sect to their readers and the alignments of the two media in constructing the reality of the Islamic minority sect. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method using the analytical framework of Zhongdang and Kosicki by looking at the syntactic structure, script structure, thematic structure, and rhetorical structure. The results showed that BBC News and Radar Bangsa have different framing in presenting and presenting a fact. The difference in locality makes BBC News Indonesia have a wider perspective in delivering news about minority sects, but Radar Bangsa only discusses the small scope of the report.

Who has a beef with reducing red and processed meat consumption? A media framing analysis.

Diets high in red and processed meat (RPM) contribute substantially to environmental degradation, greenhouse gas emissions and the global burden of chronic disease. High-profile reports have called for significant global RPM reduction, especially in high-income settings. Despite this, policy attention and political priority for the issue are low. The study used a theoretically guided framing analysis to identify frames used by various interest groups in relation to reducing RPM in online news media articles published in the months around the release of four high-profile reports by authoritative organisations that included a focus on the impacts of high RPM production and/or consumption. Four major RPM producing and consuming countries - USA, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. None. Hundred and fifty news media articles were included. Articles reported the views of academics, policymakers, industry representatives and the article authors themselves. RPM reduction was remarkably polarising. Industry frequently framed RPM reduction as part of a 'Vegan Agenda' or as advocated by an elite minority. Reducing RPM was also depicted as an infringement on personal choice and traditional values. Many interest groups attempted to discredit the reports by citing a lack of consensus on the evidence, or that only certain forms of farming and processing were harmful. Academics and nutrition experts were more likely to be cited in articles that were aligned with the findings of the reports. The polarisation of RPM reduction has led to a binary conflict between pro- and anti-meat reduction actors. This division may diminish the extent to which political leaders will prioritise this in policy agendas. Using nuanced and context-dependent messaging could ensure the narratives around meat are less conflicting and more effective in addressing health and environmental harms associated with RPM.

“Not a Big Climate Change Guy” Semiotic Gradients and Climate Discourse

ABSTRACT This study explores the comparative grounds people employ to understand weather and climate, recognizing weather change while distancing themselves from climate change. It draws on interviews with farmers and ranchers in the Texas panhandle and West Texas, confirming previous research that rejects the idea of a knowledge gap or information deficit leading to misunderstanding of climate change. The semiotic method extends findings of media frame analysis and critical discourse analysis, showing how climate contrarianism employs semiotic gradients as people attach scales to sense of place, environmental process and personal identity. This scaling process clarifies why rural communication avoids the term “climate” while accentuating local, practical and weather-based responses.

Representations of (Im)migrants in Chilean Local Press Headlines: a Case Study of El Austral Temuco

Nowadays immigration has been deemed an important societal issue in Chile. One of the ways to legitimize ideology in a society is through the media (van Dijk, 2012); therefore, media representation of immigrants may lead to the formation of social stereotypes and ultimately to their different treatment in a host country. This paper aims to analyze the ways in which the media portrays immigrants in Chile. To accomplish this goal, we examine a corpus of newspaper headlines published in El Austral Temuco during 2015–2018, applying a methodology which combines CDA and media framing analysis. The results of the analysis show a strong context difference in the terms use by the media, mainly, between a foreigner, an immigrant, and the national: the first one is represented as a professional, and the last two are portrayed as passive social actors. Thus, the conclusion is that the immigrants in the South of Chile are presented by the media to foreground the Government actions, and little emphasis is done to their contribution to the Chilean society.

COVID-19 and the Risk of Displacement of Migrant Workers: An Analysis of Media Framing in the Indian State of Kerala

Migration and migrant movement are a global scenario, in which one of the main drivers, which facilitates migrant movement, is the search for better living conditions. One of the most vulnerable communities in this regard is migrant workers, especially in the developing world, who conduct cross-country migration. Labour migration is a significant national phenomenon in India in which the workers migrate across the states, which were facilitated by the interstate movement. The recent outbreak of pandemic COVID-19 poses the greatest challenge to the migrant workers who face the challenge of displacement due to the restriction of movement and public perception. One of the significant actors facilitating public discourse is the media, which explores the migrant scenario through framing. This article analyzes how the Indian newspaper portrays the plight of the migrant workers in Kerala through media framing using qualitative case analysis. The study reveals that the media frames portray the plight of the migrant workers during the pandemic situation, and the result could be helpful for policy developers on immigrant’s integration.

Environmentally Sound Agriculture Between Transformation and Conformation: The Changing Portrayal of the Growing Organic Farming Movement in Austria's Newspaper Coverage

ABSTRACT Possible contributions of organic farming to solve the current environmental crisis in industrialized agriculture can range from greening the existing agrofood system to being a driver for systemic change. The growth of organic farming has led to debates over whether organic is still a driver of societal transformation or whether it has become a slightly greener version of conventional agriculture. We investigate the changing roles that are ascribed to the growing organic farming movement by societal communication processes in the context of transformations towards more sustainable food systems. We analyze how organic is portrayed in six Austrian newspapers during its time of growth (1990–1999) and in more recent years. Results from media frame analysis show that already in the 1990s organic was not portrayed as a radical driver of change, and the emergence of new product-centered frames indicate an increasing representation of organic farming as simply a green production method.

The portrayal of online shaming in contemporary online news media: A media framing analysis

Online shaming, where individuals participate in social policing by shaming supposed wrongdoings on the internet, is a rapidly increasing and global phenomenon. The potential impacts of online shaming are said to be extensive and wide-reaching, however minimal empirical research on this topic has been conducted to date, with existing coverage being largely anecdotal and media-based. The current study aims to demonstrate how online shaming is constructed in contemporary online news media. Qualitative analysis using Giles and Shaw’s (2009) media framing analysis was completed on 69 online news articles published within the last two years concerning online shaming. Two overarching representations of online shaming were uncovered: a dominant narrative framing online shaming as a dangerous threat with serious consequences, and a smaller frame representing online shaming as more constructive and capable of resulting in positive outcomes. Variations in conditions presented, as well as the many rationalisations, consequences, and recommendations posed for mitigating online shaming embedded within the articles collectively represent online shaming as a multifaceted and morally ambiguous phenomenon. Understanding media depictions of online shaming is important, as it may have broader implications for public perceptions, debate, and support of policies and other related processes.

Analysis of 48 Hours of Television News Coverage Following the Columbine High School Shooting

On April 20, 1999, two Columbine High School students started a shooting rampage, ultimately killing 12 students and one teacher, wounding 21 victims, then completing suicide. Using media frame analysis (MFA), we examined 265 transcribed major network television news stories aired during the 48 hours following the shooting. In these stories, we investigated the frequency of warning signs of youth violence. Though later disputed, stories included warning signs that fortified the myth of the juvenile superpredator. Television news coverage of school shootings often spotlights perpetrators, fuels false narratives, creates an inflated sense of risk and vulnerability, and fails to place such events in the larger context of youth violence. We urge professionals to contextualize news stories within a broader framework of youth violence; to support fact-based communication between the media, school administrators, and law enforcement; to eliminate the spotlight on perpetrators; and to carefully consider reactionary responses that are not evidence-based nor proven effective.

Media Frames of Voluntary Childlessness in the United States from 1989 to 2018

Voluntary childlessness (VC) is a family communication issue which has garnered media attention for over 30 years. Guided by framing theory, in the present study we analyze media frames of voluntary childlessness in the United States between 1989 and 2018 to critically examine the formation of discourses governing childfree families over time. Guided by mixed method media frame analysis, 103 news articles were inductively thematized and then deductively coded to identify and quantify the dominant frames and the frame elements (i.e., story characters and generalizations to ongoing phenomena) that comprised them. Results first offer demographic information which provides necessary context to indicate from whom and where news coverage of VC is produced. Results further indicated five dominant frames of childfree families, seven character categories which elucidate who is (and is not) represented in news media coverage of VC, and three domains of generalizations which underscore the connection between VC and population changes, policy issues, and cultural and social shifts. Findings also offer empirical support for changes in frames and frame elements over time. The present findings offer a historical and culturally situated view of voluntary childlessness over the past three decades. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

‘The bell was tolling’: the framing of religious freedom in The Australian editorials 2015-2019

ABSTRACT The Australian is one of the country’s most politically influential newspapers. Between 2015 and 2019 it ran a campaign, supported by an unusually large number of editorials, which raised the profile of the issue of religious freedom in public debate. This article uses media framing analysis to examine the 40 editorials that addressed religious freedom published during this period. Religious freedom was framed by The Australian as a right under profound threat which could have significant consequences for Australian society. The analysis also shows, however, that the framing of religious freedom—and the intertwined freedoms of speech and conscience—was deliberately constructed in order not to protect and promote these rights, but to undermine the progress of LGBTIQ rights, and marriage equality in particular. In the clash between The Australian’s avowed libertarian principles and its politically conservative policy agenda, the newspaper used its framing of religious freedom to continue its longstanding campaign against the progressive left.

What can tripartite semantic network analysis do for media framing research?

This study primarily aims to demonstrate how tripartite semantic network analysis can help us with media framing analysis. Predominant quantitative framing research has tended to focus on identifying salient frames and/or assessing their influences on public opinions. Also, semantic network analysis has been used to display relationships among frames, which complements conventional quantitative frame analysis for frequency and salience of frames. However, it needs to be advanced in the way that it can assess the dynamical relationships among actors, frames, and the actors’ stances on an issue. In this vein, it is encouraging to find that Robert Entman has demonstrated the dynamics in framing and the complicated relationships between frames and actors in different social realms through his cascading activation model. Tripartite semantic network analysis is expected to contribute to systematically depicting the complicated framing relationships in the form of network. This research attempts to showcase how tripartite semantic analysis can complement framing analysis through a case study on a controversial local housing policy in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. While the descriptive statistical analyses show the overall differences in framing across the newspapers and the changes in framings over time, the tripartite semantic network analyses display delicate and significant differences and changes in framing, which is hard to be captured in quantitative framing analysis. It might also be valuable for not only research but also more effective engagement in public discourses.

What can tripartite semantic network analysis do for media framing research?

This study primarily aims to demonstrate how tripartite semantic network analysis can help us with media framing analysis. Predominant quantitative framing research has tended to focus on identifying salient frames and/or assessing their influences on public opinions. Also, semantic network analysis has been used to display relationships among frames, which complements conventional quantitative frame analysis for frequency and salience of frames. However, it needs to be advanced in the way that it can assess the dynamical relationships among actors, frames, and the actors’ stances on an issue. In this vein, it is encouraging to find that Robert Entman has demonstrated the dynamics in framing and the complicated relationships between frames and actors in different social realms through his cascading activation model. Tripartite semantic network analysis is expected to contribute to systematically depicting the complicated framing relationships in the form of network. This research attempts to showcase how tripartite semantic analysis can complement framing analysis through a case study on a controversial local housing policy in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. While the descriptive statistical analyses show the overall differences in framing across the newspapers and the changes in framings over time, the tripartite semantic network analyses display delicate and significant differences and changes in framing, which is hard to be captured in quantitative framing analysis. It might also be valuable for not only research but also more effective engagement in public discourses.

Turbulence in St. Louis County: School Transfers, Opportunity Hoarding, and the Legacy of Brown

ABSTRACT In the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional, and the process of school desegregation fell mostly to Black children. For over 35 years, Black families in St. Louis City have been using school transfers to cross boundaries in order to send their children to higher performing, predominately White schools in suburban St. Louis County in search of “a better education.” Relying on turbulence theory and Critical Race Theory (CRT), this study uses a media framing analysis to examine how newspaper articles described school transfers to the broader public between 2007 and 2017. Findings indicate that the articles described Black and White school districts as being affected by varying levels of turbulence and conflict. Findings also outline examples of opportunity hoarding by White schools and districts. The original focus of the Brown case was the lack of equitable resources in Black schools, and this study reignites questions about exclusion, privilege, and the choices made by Black families to receive educational equity.

Twenty Years After: Czech Heroes and Fallen Heroes of the Nagano 1998 Olympic Games.

In February 1998, the entire Czech Republic was in jubilation over the gold medal victory of its ice-hockey team at the Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. The players were spectacularly welcomed home by tens of thousands of fans, including ordinary citizens and political figures. Goal-keeper Dominik Hašek, the famous NHL star Jaromír Jágr, and team captain Vladimír R?ži?ka, were heavily covered by the media. The three athletes went on to have successful careers after Nagano. Czech media coverage played a significant role in the „Naganomania“ of the time and was later also to assist in the social fall of some of those heroes. Based on the theory of myths in sports journalism, the concept of fallen heroes, and the media frame analysis, this paper presents the development within the media coverage of the four above-mentioned athletes in selected Czech dailies. The media portrayals of these athletes so similarly celebrated in 1998 are shown to have diversely evolved over a twenty year span.

How Farm Animal Welfare Issues are Framed in the Australian Media

Topics related to ethical issues in agricultural production, particularly farm animal welfare, are increasingly featured in mainstream news media. Media representations of farm animal welfare issues are important because the media is a significant source of information, but also because the way that the issues are represented, or framed, defines these issues in particular ways, suggests causes or solutions, and provides moral evaluations. As such, analysis of media frames can reveal how issues are being made public and identify the cues that audiences are given to help them make sense of complex ethical issues. Previous research on media frames and animal welfare has tended to focus on single issues or events; however we sought to identify whether media frames extended across different farm animal welfare-related issues to investigate whether there is any commonality between issues. We analysed articles published in the mainstream press in Australia between 2014 and 2016 related to farm animal welfare, and identified two dominant frames: that governments and the farm animal production industries cannot be trusted to ensure good farm animal welfare; and that consumers can act to improve animal welfare through ethical consumption. These frames have implications for how the Australian public interpret and understand the roles and responsibilities of different actors in the food production system. This research also contributes to discussion about the role of the media in shaping public opinion about ethical issues in agriculture and how, in turn, the media landscape itself is being shaped by consumer attitudes.