Media Framing

>> In this chapter, we are going to
talk about the concept of "Framing"

and go over what framing theory is
and how we see this in our news media.

So the quote that we will use for this
chapter is, "Frames are seen as patterns

of interpretation through which people classify
information in order to handle it efficiently."

When we talk about framing theory,

it's important to understand how
the process of framing works.

So if we think about the amount
of media we get on a daily basis,

it is really an extreme amount, and
more than most people can handle.

So the media is bombarding viewers with
information, and this is coming from TV,

the internet, social media, your
phone, newspapers, et cetera.

We know from our last chapter
that agenda setting is

where the media is defining important issues
through what it chooses to present to us.

So it is setting the agenda, it is letting
the audience know, "This is important.

You should focus on this."

Framing takes that one step further and argues

that the media is actually
determining the way news is presented.

And in essence, that process of determining
the way news is presented affects viewers'

perceptions of how it is portrayed and received.

So media affects researchers that study the
power of the way information is put together

and the effects this has on the minds of media
consumers, are looking at framing theory.

So I will say, my research
is specifically focused on --

I use framing theory in my research and I
specifically look at the way that international

and national news outlets frame events of
terrorism based on whether or not these acts

of terror are carried out by a lone wolf or by
an organized Islamic terror group such as ISIS.

So in my research I look at the ways
that media constructs these narratives

and those differences that lie in how
they are presented to consumers based

on the classification of an attacker.

When we think about how framing has an effect
on consumers, one of the things that we need

to understand is that framing invites people
to think about things in a certain way.

Now, what we know from media effects and in
some of our previous lectures on concepts

like the hypodermic needle theory, we know

that media doesn't have these
immense instant effects on viewers.

But again, what's important to
understand about framing is that the way

that news stories specifically
are framed invites people

to interpret that event in a particular way.

So when we think of framing as,
"Well, accessibility and the way

that people are applying those frames influence
the process of how we perceive the information."

Oftentimes when we look at framing studies,

they focus on the origin or
the evolution of news frames.

And we'll talk about some of those different
news frames in the next couple of slides.

But really what framing researchers are
studying is how these particular interpretations

of events are promoted through framing,

and how the audience then
interprets those ways of influence.

So in the next two slides we are going to
dive into framing theory a little bit more,

and talk about the differences between
frame building and frame setting.

So let's start with frame building.

And what frame building is, is how frames
are constructed by news professionals.

So although we like to think of our news as
being completely objective and just the facts,

we need to also accept and
understand that the process

in constructing news is influenced
by many factors.

And journalists can be influenced
by several things.

And we can see those here; so things
like society's norms and values,

pressures and constraint of news organizations,
policymaker or interest group pressures,

professional routines, like we talked
about in one of our previous slides,

even something like a journalist's
own political attitudes or ideology,

influence of elite members of
society, or the cultural environment.

So all of these small influences
can have an effect on a journalist

and how they are constructing stories.

So through that process we see
this ability to frame events

and promote particular interpretations.

It's also important to note with
frame building that sometimes --

or oftentimes with journalists some of these
influences, like society's norms or values

or professional routines,
journalists may not even be aware

of how much those elements are
actually influencing their process.

We also need to understand the
concept of "frame setting".

So what "frame setting" is, is the examination
of effects on audiences from news frames.

So one of the scholars in framing
theory is named Robert Entman,

and in his research he identified really
four steps in this process of frame setting.

So in framing we oftentimes see the definition
of the issue, then we see this determination

of the cause for issue, we see
this implication for the issue,

and then how we should treat the issue.

So if you take a topic like terrorism, which
is what my research, again, focuses on,

specifically when we look at
the framing of terrorist events,

we oftentimes see the definition of
what that problem of terrorism is;

we determine what the cause is for that issue.

Now, this is where in my research
things start to kind of diverge.

If we look at a lone wolf attack,
oftentimes our media will say the cause

of that issue are things like mental
health issues or issues with gun control;

whereas if we see the cause of an issue of
an Islamic terrorist organization carrying

out an attack, we'll often see that cause
be things like issues in terms of --

that are religious based or issues
of the Middle East versus America.

So we see a very, very different framing
in those based on the classification

of who's carrying out the attack,
even though if we look at the issue,

which is the attack itself,
they are very similar.

Then we see the implications of the issue.

So if we think of any of those causes,
what are the implications of those,

and then how should we handle
it; so what is the best course

of action in treating the issue at hand?

These differences that we will see
in audience members affect the power

of the framed information.

And it's really difficult to understand
exactly what types of effects we --

that framing can have on audience members, so
oftentimes longitudinal studies or these studies

that take place over a long period of
time are better at trying to identify

and understand the true effects
that framing can have.

So through research of framing, scholars have
been able to identify several types of frames.

So I'm not going to go through
all of these, but here is a list

of oftentimes the most commonly used or
invoked frames that we see within our media.

And I'll give you some of the examples.

So if we look at something like
the human interest frame --

I'll use the example, many of you are probably
aware of the terrorist attacks that happened

in Paris in 2015, and we would see a lot of
human interest frames following those attacks.

An example of this would be
something like a focus on the victims,

or a focus on the memorials, or
the coming together of communities.

Those would be a human interest frame.

Conflict frames are oftentimes
very heavily utilized as well.

If we think about terrorist attacks again, this
would be where we are seeing the attack itself

or the story is focused on the
logistics of the attack or the attackers.

So we'll see that.

Other ones you can see, gains versus losses.

We oftentimes see a variation between episodic,
which means we're focused on a specific event,

versus thematic, which is framing an event
based on the bigger context in which it lies.

So it's important for you to understand that
there are definitely different types of frames,

but these are ones that we see
frequently in how our news is produced.

So there are several recent
examples of research in framing

and how that can influence public perception.

You can see some of these on the slides.

Like I said before, specifically, many of us
are aware of ones that are on our slide here.

Conflicts in the Middle East have had
extensive research in terms of framing analysis

and understanding how these
different events are framed.

One thing I think it's really
important to note is, as you can see,

we have this idea that the media oftentimes
accepts the spin from the government.

So and I'm sure many of you can think of
other instances where this has happened,

of this spin of "a few bad apples", and
that is then how the story is framed.

So it's important to note that when we think
about framing, it's not just the influences

on the journalists and how that promotes this
interpretation of how they tell the story,

but also, if we think about
sources such as the government,

that can heavily influence the
way that events are framed.

Here are some additional examples
of recent research in media framing,

so things like illegal immigration, nonverbal
actions in the 2008 Democratic Primary.

So we can look at something like
nonverbal behaviors, gestures,

eye contact, I mean, use of tone of voice.

All of those types of things can look -- can
be used to analyze how events are framed.

You can see through this entire list.

And these are just some examples of recent
research that has done -- been done.

Now, I also have posted a video
example for you in our course site

that shows how important media
framing can be, especially in terms

of how it can promote particular
interpretations.

So that video is a news story that was
broadcast by a news organization in Chicago.

So as we are watching that, I want you
to think about what is the interpretation

that is being promoted based on
the information that is there.