Framing

Sigurd Allern,
Trends in international journalism

News as frame

News is a window of the world. Through its frame,

American learn of themselves and others, of their
institutions, leaders, and life styles, and those of other
nations and their peoples

But, like any frame that delineates a world, the news

frame may be considered problematic. The view through
a window depends upon whether the window is large or
small, has many panes or few, whether the glass is
opaque or clear, whether the window faces a street or a
backyard. (Gaye Tuchman, Making News, 1980)

Defining framing

Frames are organizing principles that are socially

shared and persistent over time, that work symbolically
to meaningfully structure the social world (Stephen D. Reese
(2001: 11) in Reese, Gandy & Grant (eds.): Framing Public Life, L. Erlbaum
Associates, New Jersey/London)

To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality

and make them more salient in a communicating text
(Robert Entman 1993: 52)

The frame suggests what the controversy is about, the

essence of the issue (Gamson & Modigliani 1989, in Vreese: 27)

Defining framing (2)

Frames are..persistent patterns of cognition,

interpretation, and presentation, of selection,
emphasis and exclusion by which symbolhandlers routinely organize discourse (Gitlin
1980: 7)

Frames are ..interpretative packages that give

meaning to an issue (Gamson & Modigliani,
1989: 3)

Journalistic tools in framing the news

Choosing the news angle

Selecting the sources

Formulating the headline of the story

Summing up the main point of the story

Choosing the right picture

How was the news item

introduced?

Headline or prefatory statement by reporter or anchor?

What expectations did the introduction create about the

story?

What other introduction could appropriately have been

used? How would other introductions have reframed the
report?

Was there a summary statement at the end of the report?

What interpretation, if any, did it impose on the report?
(Jamieson & Campbell: 115)

Frame-building

Frame-building are factors internal and external

to journalism that determine how journalists and
news organizations frame issues. Internal
factors are to an example journalistic news
values, market strategies and organizational
constraints.The frame building process takes
place in a continuous interaction between
journalists and elites and social movements. The
outcomes of the frame-building process are the
frames manifest in the text (Vreese 2003: 24, 43)

Frame-setting

Frame-setting refers to the interaction between

media frames and individuals prior knowledge
and predispositions. Frames in the news may
affect interpretation, learning, and evaluation of
issues and events. The consequences of framesetting can be considered both on the individual
and societal level (Vreese 2003: 24-25)

Generic news frames

Generic news frames are general and not

confined to a specific issue. Examples:

Horse race frame (Politics as a game with winners and

losers)
Episodic and thematic news frames (Iyengar 1991)
Conflict frame
Economic consequence frame
Responsibility frame
Morality frame

Issue-specific news frames

Media frames in specific news stories:

The war in Iraq (occupation frame versus war against

terrorism-frame)
Closing of industrial plants : economic necessity frame
versus social responsibility/employment frame
Predator policy: Environmental protect the wolf & bear
frame versus protect the farm animals frame

Framing contests

If political actors are to succeed in getting their frames

wholly or partly presented in the media, they have to adhere
to certain news conventions and genre demands from news
organisations giving priority to conflicts, power struggles
and drama which can be personalized. Often politicians will
try to avoid negative news.

When factions in a political party are competing for the

leadership, it will be of vital importance to influence how this
power struggle is presented and commented in the news.
News frames (like focusing on the elements of conflict) are
therefore supplemented by more political frames (defining
the problems and proposing solutions) which are negotiated
between political actors and news organisations.

A strong emphasis on conflict

The study shows that when European issues are

covered in the news this often happens with a strong
emphasis on conflict. This presence of the conflict frame
suggests that the considerations made by journalists
when choosing events and issues for the news are
translated into how these are presented in the news.
Emphasizing the conflict may justify the publication of a
news story above and beyond its news value and at the
same time provides journalists with a clear conception of
how to package and present the news. (Vreese: 164)

What is the Norwegian interest in this

During our days of observation at the NRK Dagsrevyen the

political news editor, Kyrre Nakkim, said, When working with
EU topics we often follow the reports from the Swedish
Broadcasting Corporation (SVT), and ask ourselves: what is
the Norwegian interest in this?

The standard requirement of framing EU issues in a national

context is also looked upon by some interviewees as a
limitation. The most important professional challenge is to
combine a focus on Norwegian cases and Norwegian special
interests with an understanding of the broader picture and
the longer trajectories of development in Europe, said the
foreign news editor at Aftenposten, Per Kristian Haugen.

The importance of a national angle

The importance of a national angle can be interpreted in

more ideological terms as a type of traditional
nationalism. However, we think the most important
element here is the market and audience orientations of
the news organisations, a trait common to most news
media all over the world. How does this affect us, what
are the consequences for our area and our daily lives?
are standard questions that the news media try to
answer.
Geographical, cultural and political proximity represent
an informal, standard market contract between news
organisations and both their audiences and their
advertisers.

An European framing?

A broader, pan-European perspective of course also exists,

but only as a supplement to the dominant national framing. A
constructed European framing will, in our opinion, only be
typical for European news media that either have an
international audience or are newspapers read by elite
groups participating in some of the more exclusive public
spheres of the EU.
The news organisations are of course independent actors
that in different ways influence the political and cultural
developments in their countries. At the same time they are
mediators, channels of communication and arenas for
debate, normally communicating in a language specific to
one or more nation states. Their role as part of a European
public sphere will always have this limitation.