Media Framing Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

In the age of disruption and in today’s platform society (Van Dijck et al., 2019), communication between nation states is influenced by the development of technology. The nation state is responding to the new communication environment... more

In the age of disruption and in today’s platform society (Van Dijck et al., 2019), communication between nation states is influenced by the development of technology. The nation state is responding to the new communication environment through “techplomacy” and through the use of Artificial Intelligence as a strategic asset in the global tech race. Artificial Intelligence (AI), including the strategies to come up with viable AI, has a big potential for nation branding, being also a competitive advantage for countries worldwide. In this context, the aim of our research is to investigate technology as a soft power (Nye, 2004) instrument for Romania and to analyze how the nation brand is constructed in relation to technology. In doing so, our research revolves around the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy for Romania, presented at the IT&C Summit on May 8, 2019, and 50 news articles, published in the quality press (Adevărul, Gândul, România Liberă) employing mixed methods such as fra...

The NFL protests are only one of many celebrity-fueled political controversies during the Trump presidency. Why is there such a proliferation of celebrity activism? More importantly, does it amount to anything? What does our knowledge of... more

The NFL protests are only one of many celebrity-fueled political controversies during the Trump presidency. Why is there such a proliferation of celebrity activism? More importantly, does it amount to anything? What does our knowledge of celebrity influence tell us about the recent NFL controversy?

El estudio de los editoriales de la prensa espanola – El Pais , El Mundo y ABC – en un estudio transversal a lo largo de dos decadas revela que estos dedican escasos esfuerzos a la siniestralidad laboral y su prevencion. Tras la... more

El estudio de los editoriales de la prensa espanola – El Pais , El Mundo y ABC – en un estudio transversal a lo largo de dos decadas revela que estos dedican escasos esfuerzos a la siniestralidad laboral y su prevencion. Tras la publicacion en 1995 de la Ley de Prevencion de Riesgos Laborales, la mayor cantidad de editoriales se deriva de graves accidentes en el periodo de maxima siniestralidad en Espana. Desde 2007, con la crisis economica, los editoriales practicamente desaparecen, siendo utilizada la prevencion como excusa para acusar a sindicatos de desvio de fondos. En el presente articulo, utilizando la metodologia del Framing, se determina que, aunque los encuadres principales son coincidentes, el tratamiento es distinto. Mientras ABC y El Mundo acusan a los sindicatos, El Pais pide mas voz para ellos, dando importancia a sectores productivos donde estos son mas fuertes como la mineria y la industria.

Following recent studies using Bourdieusian field theory to examine journalistic freedom and media criticism, we investigated the Turkish press using a comparative perspective focusing on the media’s interaction with the nexus of... more

Following recent studies using Bourdieusian field theory to examine journalistic freedom and media criticism, we investigated the Turkish press using a comparative perspective focusing on the media’s interaction with the nexus of power/government and market mechanisms. Using a snapshot of four Turkish newspapers in 2013, we analyzed their critical content vis-a-vis reporting about the government. To explain differences of criticism across these media outlets, we extended our qualitative and quantitative analyses to three sociopolitically key years with regard to the consolidation of governmental power. Our results indicate that what explains media criticism goes beyond structural factors and should also involve both between- and within-field variations, emphasizing media as a semiautonomous field.

While most previous research on cyberactivism in the Arab Spring, in general, and the Egyptian revolution, in particular, focused on analyzing the role of social media in mobilizing the masses for political action, coordinating protest... more

While most previous research on cyberactivism in the Arab Spring, in general, and the Egyptian revolution, in particular, focused on analyzing the role of social media in mobilizing the masses for political action, coordinating protest movements and rallying support for regime change. Other aspects of social media use for different purposes, such as online campaigning and framing the image of presidential candidates who are running for office and competing in elections after regime change, have been largely understudied. Similarly, most previous research which tackled framing focused on 'news framing', rather than 'image framing', or how different media can be used to create images and conceptions of different individuals or groups. Therefore, this study tries to fill these gaps in prior research through conducting a content analysis of the Facebook pages of the five top runners in the Egyptian presidential race of 2012 to find out how and why they used them to frame their own images online before, during and after the elections. In doing so, it revealed how this process was influenced by several factors, such as emerging events, and how it had distinct functions, such as asserting the unique identity of each candidate, juxtaposing and comparing the 'self' to the 'Others', and launching attacks on other candidates.

En la actualidad, los medios de comunicación de masas, y particularmente la televisión, tienen un papel fundamental en la construcción de la identidad. Más allá del mero entretenimiento, el medio televisivo combina el ocio y la aportación... more

En la actualidad, los medios de comunicación de masas, y particularmente la televisión, tienen un papel fundamental en la construcción de la identidad. Más allá del mero entretenimiento, el medio televisivo combina el ocio y la aportación de mensajes que interpretan la realidad y el entorno. En tales coordenadas, la televisión actúa como hilo conductor del imaginario colectivo, en muchas ocasiones utilizando la Historia y seleccionando, desde la contemporaneidad, aquellos hechos pasados que se consideran más importantes, dejando al margen otros muchos. Es el caso de las series de ficción, que buscan la identificación de los espectadores utilizando mecanismos de evocación cercanos y comprensibles. Pero la ficción también puede ser estimada como un depósito de representaciones y un reflejo del inconsciente social, donde encontramos los miedos, los deseos, los secretos, los sueños y las diferentes tensiones sociales. En Vientos de Agua coinciden todos esos aspectos.

Com o advento tecnológico e a consequente maior difusão de informações na internet, o fenômeno das fake news encontrou na web um meio ideal para sua disseminação. As notícias falsas tratam de diversos assuntos, como o jornalismo político,... more

Com o advento tecnológico e a consequente maior difusão de informações na internet, o fenômeno das fake news encontrou na web um meio ideal para sua disseminação. As notícias falsas tratam de diversos assuntos, como o jornalismo político, o entretenimento e o jornalismo científico - objeto de nosso estudo neste artigo. Dentro do jornalismo científico, a cobertura midiática do vírus do HIV e da AIDS é tema de discussão e debate, sempre em torno do estigma social que o portador carrega. O objetivo do artigo é, então, analisar por meio da análise de enquadramento, como se dão as notícias falsas, pseudo-científicas, sobre assuntos ligados ao HIV em alguns estudos de caso.

Framing studies remain a powerful line of research in political communication. However, in recent years, coinciding with the emergence of social media, theoretical and operational advances have been detected, as well as a significant... more

Framing studies remain a powerful line of research in political communication. However, in recent years, coinciding with the emergence of social media, theoretical and operational advances have been detected, as well as a significant reorientation of its research agenda. The interaction between media and platforms such as Twitter or Facebook has built a clearly hybrid communica- tive environment and profoundly transformed the organization of public debate. This is the case, especially, with processes such as the setting of the public agenda or the construction of interpretive frames. Based on a systematic review of the international reference literature (2011–2021), this article analyses the influence of social media on the evolution of framing studies. Moreover, specifically, the beginning of a new stage of digital development is contextualized, and a triple research impact is explored. The main contributions of the text are that it (1) identifies advances in the theoretical and empirical organization of these studies; (2) explores its reorientation of content towards a greater balance between the analysis of media and political frames; and (3) reviews the recent experimental development of effects studies. Finally, the main challenges for future research in this field are detailed.

In this paper, we are interested in understanding the interrelationships between mainstream and social media in forming public opinion during mass crises, specifically in regards to how events are framed in the mainstream news and on... more

In this paper, we are interested in understanding the interrelationships between mainstream and social media in forming public opinion during mass crises, specifically in regards to how events are framed in the mainstream news and on social networks and to how the language used in those frames may allow to infer political slant and partisanship. We study the lingual choices for political agenda setting in mainstream and social media by analyzing a dataset of more than 40M tweets and more than 4M news articles from the mass protests in Ukraine during 2013-2014 known as "Euromaidan" and the post-Euromaidan conflict between Russian, pro-Russian and Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. We design a natural language processing algorithm to analyze at scale the linguistic markers which point to a particular political leaning in online media and show that political slant in news articles and Twitter posts can be inferred with a high level of accuracy. These findings allow us to better understand the dynamics of partisan opinion formation during mass crises and the interplay between mainstream and social media in such circumstances.

The Iraq War’s enduring conflict has proven resilient in its on-and-off relationship with the US and international forces occupying. Streamlining a more sustainable counterinsurgency plan remains a critical link to securing stability... more

The Iraq War’s enduring conflict has proven resilient in its on-and-off relationship with the US and international forces occupying. Streamlining a more sustainable counterinsurgency plan remains a critical link to securing stability designed to promote Iraqi nation-rebuilding efforts. While the smart power approach to foreign policy has yet to realize its potential full effect, recruitment of younger generations into recurrent violence via Islamist co-optation persists with threat to bleed across the region. Military, diplomatic and politically weighed strategies struggle to contain the violence by advancing innovative methods to counter and disengage while supporting Iraqi democracy, not altogether unlike US operations in Afghanistan. COIN directive requires in-depth analysis of the socialization of teenage youth as they undertake transnational violence into adulthood. Nation building through better concerted and inclusive effort of relief, intelligence, military and policymaking drive is the key to tapping the potential of next generation Iraqis as immediate and future leaders. Youth at risk raised with a history of violence will otherwise require constant intervention. Policy transition moving towards internal stability and an exit strategy has the resources to launch effective social programming for political infrastructure and business strategy to guide better negotiation in resource and conflict management. Media’s role in promoting proactive social networks promises to be a game-changer for ground game where youth are enabled to access it. International support and inter-alia networking then remain to be fully realized if Iraq and the US are to emerge from the war in two pieces.

Abstract. The Spanish Citizen Security Law or Civil Protection Act was reformed throughout the parliamentary period from 2011 to 2014. It was widely known as the " gag law. " Supportive and opposing arguments were presented regarding both... more

Os estudos sobre framing, ou enquadramento, vêm conhecendo um desenvolvimento notável nas últimas décadas. O conceito, ainda em desenvolvimento, logrou subsumir uma série de perspectivas e de práticas muito orientadas numa direcção... more

Os estudos sobre framing, ou enquadramento, vêm conhecendo um desenvolvimento notável nas últimas décadas. O conceito, ainda em desenvolvimento, logrou subsumir uma série de perspectivas e de práticas muito orientadas numa direcção específica, oriundas de disciplinas académicas variadas, gerando o “paradigma fracturado” de que fala Robert Entman para caracterizar estes estudos. A questão persiste ainda hoje, materializada em alguma polissemia recobrindo o conceito – diferentes investigadores falando de framing podem estar a referir-se a coisas distintas –, e há sem dúvida muitos progressos metodológicos a fazer, no sentido em que também neste campo há fragmentação de práticas e ausência de um modelo canónico a seguir. Os contributos da Sociologia, das Ciências da Comunicação, da Semiótica e da Linguística Cognitiva para o estudo do enquadramento no campo do jornalismo são uma ferramenta indispensável para perceber porque as notícias são como são.

This article aims to analyze how the One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR) is framed by the European Italian speaking press. It provides a deductive content analysis on the historical visit of President Xi Jinping in Italy, the first G7... more

This article aims to analyze how the One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR) is framed by the European Italian speaking press. It provides a deductive content analysis on the historical visit of President Xi Jinping in Italy, the first G7 country to sign a memorandum of understating on One Belt and One Road Initiative, on March 2019. The article analyses the reports published on the most popular Italian newspapers on Xi’s visit to Italy. Providing four categories to interpret the news frames, it empirically demonstrates how China is negatively presented and perceived in the Italian press.

Digital Media organizations had a crucial role on the coverage of the Egyptian 'Arab Spring', but until today the outcomes of the news gathering are debatable in the academic society. This study examines the frames of the English-language... more

Digital Media organizations had a crucial role on the coverage of the Egyptian 'Arab Spring', but until today the outcomes of the news gathering are debatable in the academic society. This study examines the frames of the English-language websites of Al Jazeera, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and China Daily from 9 to 13 February 2011 because of the termination of Hosni Mubarak's presidency. The sample consists of 92 website articles, which report the Egyptian 'Arab Spring' without considering any video footage in the examined news stories. The particular article examines the frames of each article and categorizes them according to a Knowledge Extraction (KE) tool named 'Open Calais', which is owned by another media organization, Reuters. In this study, China Daily's coverage differs from the former researchers' results regarding the 'Arab Spring' covering. According to the findings, there was a merited coverage on the case of the Egyptian 'Arab Spring' without relying exclusively on the content of the official press agency of the People's Republic of China, Xinhua News Agency, and acted like a western-type news media.

Major international conflicts tend to receive intensified media coverage, which is often framed differently when compared across distinct news networks. This study compares the framing of the 2014 Gaza War by two news organizations... more

Major international conflicts tend to receive intensified media coverage, which is often framed differently when compared across distinct news networks. This study compares the framing of the 2014 Gaza War by two news organizations operating inside the United States at the time, CNN and Al Jazeera America (AJAM). A content analysis of 74 online news articles during the 50-day war was conducted to examine the type and nature of sources, the reporting on the death toll, the length of the articles and the use of multimedia. The study revealed that AJAM cited only Palestinian citizens in its articles and always differentiated between militants and civilians when reporting on the Palestinian death toll, while nearly 15 per cent of CNN articles did not clarify whether it had been a militant or a civilian who had died. AJAM and CNN would reference Haaretz newspaper in some articles, yet CNN would also reference other Israeli news outlets. In the meantime, unlike its sister channels Al Jazeera Arabic (AJA) and Al Jazeera English (AJE), AJAM seemed to be shifting to American journalistic practices with regard to the use of routine sources and social media in its coverage of the 2014 Gaza War.

For many contemporary media celebrities, the environment—and in particular, climate change—is the new black. One cursory gaze across the global media-scape confirms this: Leonardo DiCaprio has produced and starred in Before the Flood... more

For many contemporary media celebrities, the environment—and in particular, climate change—is the new black. One cursory gaze across the global media-scape confirms this: Leonardo DiCaprio has produced and starred in Before the Flood (2016) which tells the tales of his journey as the UN Ambassador of Peace to engage powerful leaders about climate change. This, of course, was preceded by his widely publicised Best Actor speech at the Oscars where he made an impassioned plea for the audience to be concerned about climate change, public procrastination and inequality. Olivia Munn, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessica Alba witness and ‘emote’ for audiences about the impacts of climate change across the world on ordinary people and ecologies in the television programme Years of Living Dangerously (2014). Mark Ruffalo writes a series of prominent columns about fracking, solar power and clear air and water in the Huffington Post, the Millennial ‘newspaper’ of record. Even ‘public intellectual’ celebrities such as Naomi Klein are getting in the act: She has starred in—along with her six-year old son—an online short film put together by the UK’s Guardian newspaper entitled Under the Surface that shows the impacts of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. For her, discussing her emotional responses to climate change and introducing her son in the film, worked as a way for her to ‘communicate in a visceral way, the intergenerational theft at the heart of this crisis’ (Klein, 2016). Environmental politics, with this celebritization and media-isation of climate change and other ecological issues, has gone spectacular. Celebrities, as our witnesses and muses, now speak very loudly for and about the environment in increasingly important ways that have impacts on what we know about Nature, how we feel about it and what we should do to ‘save’ it. In this era of global environmental change, environmental celebrities have positioned themselves as increasingly powerful and politicised meditators of our increasingly fraught human-environment relationship.

This article aims to expand peace journalism scholarship by proposing a new peace journalism model for analyzing media representations of immigration. By employing framing and content analysis, the paper takes a closer look at the ways in... more

This article aims to expand peace journalism scholarship by proposing a new peace journalism model for analyzing media representations of immigration. By employing framing and content analysis, the paper takes a closer look at the ways in which four Greek newspapers portrayed immigration in crisis-stricken Greece between 2011 and 2014. Results indicate that a conflict frame prevailed in the majority of all newspaper articles analyzed. In this context, immigration was portrayed (1) as an issue that generated conflict among different political and social groups, (2) through stereotypical portrayals of immigrants as a threat to public health and security, (3) as a mass of people in extreme conditions of exception, and (4) as a problem to almost every aspect of the Greek society: for tourism, trade, the economy or even Greece’s relationship with the EU. A peace frame, conversely, was identified in around one fourth of all news stories. At the same time, findings lead us to conclusions that transcend the peace and conflict journalism dualism revealing five distinct subframes that provide a more nuanced understanding of the peace journalism concept; (1) a ‘direct conflict subframe’ enhancing division and dispute over immigration, (2) a ‘journalism of conventions subframe’ following well-established journalistic conventions with important consequences on the quality of information, (3) a ‘journalism of values subframe’ being closer to the traditional values of journalism, (4) a ‘diversity journalism subframe’, including all elements referring to a pro-immigrant approach, and (5) a ‘positive peace subframe’, closer to Galtung’s notion of positive peace.

Guided by framing theory, a quantitative content analysis was conducted on news programming from five transnational satellite news channels that broadcast to/from the Arab world-Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Al Arabiya, Alhurra, and BBC... more

Guided by framing theory, a quantitative content analysis was conducted on news programming from five transnational satellite news channels that broadcast to/from the Arab world-Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Al Arabiya, Alhurra, and BBC Arabic. The project examined if differences exist between the networks, and between two dimensions of a network taxonomy-western and liberal commercial-in how Arab Spring news selection and content was visually framed. A systematic comparative analysis was conducted on visual coverage of the civil unrest in Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. Three entire newscasts from each network airing between December, 2010 and June, 2011, were analyzed. The data from 1,951 shots reveal both similarities and differences in how the networks utilized the human interest and political frames in their Arab Spring coverage. Results revealed no difference in the application of the human interest frame between western and liberal networks. However, the comparison between the individual networks revealed that Alhurra invoked the political frame more often than Al Jazeera and BBC Arabic.

How do mainstream Canadian newspapers portray contemporary terrorism? Inspired by framing theory, the following study develops a simple model for understanding and evaluating media coverage of terrorism. The model is then applied to a... more

How do mainstream Canadian newspapers portray contemporary terrorism? Inspired by framing theory, the following study develops a simple model for understanding and evaluating media coverage of terrorism. The model is then applied to a sample of 379 articles drawn from three Canadian newspapers in two periods of time—June 2006-June 2007 and June 2012-June 2013.

Previous studies have suggested that media reify frames that subtly enforce sex differences in a manner that detracts from women athletes' athleticism. This phenomenon is referred to as ambivalence. To analyze ambivalence, this study... more

Previous studies have suggested that media reify frames that subtly enforce sex differences in a manner that detracts from women athletes' athleticism. This phenomenon is referred to as ambivalence. To analyze ambivalence, this study introduces a theoretically and empirically supported coding scheme that was used to conduct a quantitative frame analysis of 157 images featured in ESPN's The Body Issue. These images were coded for frames that de-emphasize athleti-cism, sexualize athletes, or deny a sporting context. Results suggest that athlete sex is associated with de-emphasized athleticism and sexualized frames, and sport gender is associated with context frames. Results also support longitudinal trends in The Body Issue series, which suggest that the series has become more sexualized and removed from a sports context but has decreased the use of frames that de-emphasize athleticism. In general, The Body Issue continues to reinforce established media trends that trivialize female athletes, despite claiming to do the opposite.

This chapter focuses on the role of social media in galvanizing street protests, demonstrations, and other forms of democratic participation associated with the Iranian Green Movement, and examines how Iranian activists framed relevant... more

This chapter focuses on the role of social media in galvanizing street protests, demonstrations, and other forms of democratic participation associated with the Iranian Green Movement, and examines how Iranian activists framed relevant events, norms, values, ideologies, issues, narratives, and symbols on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other websites. The political, social, economic, and technological circumstances in Iran that triggered the Green Revolution and eventually contributed to its apparent demise are investigated. In particular, the chapter explores how movement activists utilized social media to enunciate their political demands and mobilize supporters – both within Iran and around the world. Attempts by activists to achieve a frame alignment between the Green Movement and relevant indigenous (national) and transnational discursive concepts are examined. The chapter proposes that the use of collective action frames in social media was instrumental initially in mobilizing the Green Movement and contesting the dominant frames of the regime, but ultimately proved to be insufficient and even counterproductive at times in sustaining the necessary levels of popular support to topple the regime from power.

For decades (perhaps, centuries) global media outlets have framed and represented Africa in a negative light. These media representations have tended to overlook the diverse political, economic, social and cultural experiences of... more

For decades (perhaps, centuries) global media outlets have framed and represented Africa in a negative
light. These media representations have tended to overlook the diverse political, economic, social and cultural
experiences of individual African countries – a situation that has led to the uncritical lumping together of African
nations under the appellation of ‘Africa’. When this happens, the specific and unique conditions of her 55
nations are squeezed into a one-size-fits-all media frame. Historical and ideological forces, both from within
and outside the continent, have conspired to impose this fate on Africa. The philosophies of negritude and
the Organisation of African Unity were among the complicit internal forces helping to sustain such views. To
evaluate this phenomenon, this essay examines the underpinnings of the framing and representation of ‘Africa’
in global media through a review of the literature, and seeks to answer the question of whether the continent
can speak for itself, using four country-specific examples. Current media practices within the African continent,
enabled by local media policies and infrastructure, have tended to rhetorically position countries primarily in
accordance with their national identities, while attributing the African appellation as a secondary frame of
representation.

Aaron Swartz has been one of the pivotal characters in the recent history of the Internet. As an American activist, programmer, hacker, and open access advocate, Swartz was involved in the launch of now established Web standards and... more

Aaron Swartz has been one of the pivotal characters in the recent history of the Internet. As an American activist, programmer, hacker, and open access advocate, Swartz was involved in the launch of now established Web standards and services and has been vocal in some of the recent debates about digital rights, copyright, and free access to the Web. Beginning in 2011, Swartz was involved in a legal battle for copyright infringement, having allegedly downloaded thousands of academic papers from the JSTOR archive. In 2013, at age 26, Swartz committed suicide. This article, based on a content analysis of 272 articles, sheds light on how eight news outlets (mainstream newspapers from Italy, UK, U.S., and two online-only technology websites) portrayed Swartz over the course of a three-year time frame, from July 2011 to December 2014.

Human rights organizations often rely on individuals for support, and outcomes of human rights campaigns often include numerous individual actions as a core determinant of their success. Furthermore, some of our most prominent theories... more

Human rights organizations often rely on individuals for support, and outcomes of human rights campaigns often include numerous individual actions as a core determinant of their success. Furthermore, some of our most prominent theories regarding the effects of human rights in international relations emphasize the importance of average citizens in placing pressure on states to improve their human rights practices. Despite these realities, we know little about how individuals develop policy views on human rights, including the ways in which individual differences may systematically affect this process. In this paper, I argue that ideological differences along a left-right spectrum have considerable implications for the ways in which human rights issues are understood and processed by individuals. Bringing together research from three survey experiments, I theorize that political liberals prioritize the suffering experienced by the victims of human rights abuse but are skeptical of the use of force in their defense. Political conservatives, by contrast, respond more positively to images depicting graphic bodily harm, particularly when such abuses are inflicted towards members of the in-group. These observations provide a possible foundation for the building of new theories regarding political ideology and international human rights.

For several years, child welfare advocates have claimed that the U.S. news media misrepresent child abuse and fail to highlight its societal dimensions. To investigate the accuracy of this diagnosis, the following study examines findings... more

For several years, child welfare advocates have claimed that the U.S. news media misrepresent child abuse and fail to highlight its societal dimensions. To investigate the accuracy of this diagnosis, the following study examines findings of a content analysis of child abuse coverage in major national and urban U.S. newspapers from 2000 to 2008. First, we determine how frequently newspapers covered the different types of child abuse. Second, we analyze whether child abuse has been framed as either an isolated phenomenon (episodic and individual frames) or a broadly systemic and public problem (thematic and societal frames). Third, we look for changes in coverage frequency and media frames over time. Findings are mixed: On one hand, different types of child abuse receive varying degrees of coverage, with sexual abuse receiving a disproportionately large amount; on the other hand, the topic of child abuse in general has predominantly been framed thematically as a problem that has societal causes and solutions. However, there was no clear pattern in the way these causes and solutions have been framed over the years. Based on these findings, we suggest that child welfare advocates should focus on communication goals other than influencing media frames.

The public develops interpretations of physical and mental disabilities through a variety of resources, most notably representations presented by the news media. While disability scholars have long lamented negative portrayals of... more

The public develops interpretations of physical and mental disabilities through a variety of resources, most notably representations presented by the news media. While disability scholars have long lamented negative portrayals of disabilities in the mass media (e.g., movies, fictional television programs, songs) as dehumanizing and devaluing, studies of news media depictions have been scant. The present study focuses on a salient mental disability—autism—to advance current scholarship about representations of disabilities in the news. Stigmatizing cues and framing techniques from news coverage of autism over a period of approximately 15 years suggest that journalists may be creating a threatening space for autism, particularly through the perpetuation of stigmatic cues in more than two-thirds of news coverage of autism, coupled with the selection of certain news frames. Implications for media and disabilities practice and scholarship are discussed.

Starting from the observation that the COVID-19 pandemic is a socio-cultural and health phenomenon, in this paper we analyse the tabloid news framing of the pandemic in Serbia. Our study examines a month-long period following the first... more

Starting from the observation that the COVID-19 pandemic is a socio-cultural and health phenomenon, in this paper we analyse the tabloid news framing of the pandemic in Serbia. Our study examines a month-long period following the first identified case, during which the government introduced preventative measures deemed to be some of the strictest in the world. Applying a news framing analysis to front page news of the three tabloid newspapers Alo, Informer, and Kurir (N = 387), our study identifies nine frames employed in the media reporting about the pandemic. Supplementing the framing analysis with an examination of the narrative roles of heroes, victims and villains in which different social actors are placed, we add to the nuanced understanding of the socio-cultural frames of reference in pandemic reporting. Our analysis establishes that the most prominent frames in the tabloid news stories on COVID-19 in Serbia are prevention and human-interest frames. It shows that the attribution of responsibility frame is used to present citizens as villains who undermine successful state measures, while China and Russia are portrayed as the heroes in the fight against are virus.

Evangelical Protestants are more supportive of the Iraq War than other major religious groups in the United States, such as Mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics. I argue this trend occurs due to demographic factors that lead... more

Evangelical Protestants are more supportive of the Iraq War than other major religious groups in the United States, such as Mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics. I argue this trend occurs due to demographic factors that lead Evangelical Protestants to rely more heavily on TV news over print news. TV news often employed more positive frames of the Iraq War than print news, leading to a skew in opinion and information presented. I present demographic statistical evidence and public opinion research and conclude with the implications of this study on public opinion and media framing.

Responsibility frames shape the public perception of health issues such as obesity, diabetes, or cancer, specifically regarding responsibility attributions for their causes and treatment. They may not only affect individual health... more

Responsibility frames shape the public perception of health issues such as obesity, diabetes, or cancer, specifically regarding responsibility attributions for their causes and treatment. They may not only affect individual health behaviors, but also social judgements and health policy support. This systematic review on health responsibility frames in the media includes studies published 2004-2019 (N = 69). Content analyses (n = 56) show that the media attribute health responsibility most frequently, but not exclusively to individuals. Experimental studies (n = 13) indicate that the focus on individual responsibility affects the conceptions and attitudes of the audience: While the effects on attributions of responsibility were inconsistent, individual responsibility frames effectively reduced health policy support. Finally, the conceptual focus on individual vs. societal health responsibility is deemed problematic for neglecting a third, essential and relevant health determinant – the social network.

Foreign domestic workers from industrializing economies migrate to Singapore to feed its labor market, meeting the growing need for performing feminized labor. Although foreign domestic workers have been an integral part of Singaporean... more

Foreign domestic workers from industrializing economies migrate to Singapore to feed its labor market, meeting the growing need for performing feminized labor. Although foreign domestic workers have been an integral part of Singaporean households since the 1970s, the presence of foreign domestic workers in contemporary public discourse remains eclipsed. However, the civil society landscape has witnessed increasing articulations and mobilization of civil society actors on the rights of foreign domestic workers, framing the problems experienced by foreign domestic workers in the language of rights. Given the role of mainstream media as a developmental structure in carrying out the information dissemination function of the state in predominantly economic terms that serve the pragmatic ideology of the state, how are foreign domestic workers constructed in mainstream media discourse? What do we learn from these constructions about the interplays of feminized labor, media discourse, civil society, and the state? The article examines the kinds of media frames present in the discussion and portrayal of foreign domestic workers using a mixed-methods approach.

The murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi took place inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate, Istanbul, in October 2018. This brutal political assassination, whose strategic, political and legal ramifications... more

The murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi took place inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate, Istanbul, in October 2018. This brutal political assassination, whose strategic, political and legal ramifications are still ongoing, provoked an international outcry, remaining prominent in the global news agenda for several months. This article will compare and contrast the information and analysis conveyed by Turkey’s state news agency, the Anadolu Agency, with the Saudi Press Agency. The framing, rhetoric and discursive structures used by both sides while covering this incident will be thoroughly evaluated. The research purpose is threefold: First, this article seeks to examine the political and social dynamics underpinning the ensuing contest of media narratives in the region. Second, it aims to analyse the communication strategies employed by the two states, namely Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Not only are these two countries diametrically opposed in regard t...