Module 1: Framing Theory

[To see the complete module for Framing, please click here: MODULE 1: FRAMING]

 

As the most powerful tools of communication, the media play a prominent and decisive role in current affairs. The media outlets of the 21st century are very diversified, and include television, radio, films and videos, print media, photography and electronic and digital media.

 

This spread of media in a globalized world has rendered nearly everyone, everywhere, accessible to one another and to the media. People are spending more and more time accessing, consuming and producing media content; companies and parties are using it more effectively; and journalism has expanded into a vast network of online newspapers, publications and blogs. These factors have increased the power and decisiveness of the media in forging people's opinions and defining courses of actions.

With great power comes great responsibility. Modern media is an unprecedented tool of persuasion, of rallying people behind a cause, of provoking action and of influencing public opinion. The stakes are very high: the transparency, integrity and legitimacy of media publications are crucial to a healthy flow of correct information.

A story is determined by the way its information is articulated; by its context and content; and by the images, testimonies and opinions that are expressed within it. These different elements each play an important role in a story's legitimacy and clarity. If these elements are tampered with, consciously or unconsciously, biased reporting and propaganda can result. In effect, these elements make up the frame of the story.

Frames are abstract elements used by communicators to shape and influence the audience's perception of the news. The various framing techniques available to journalists enable them to tell their audiences what and how to think about a story, to lead their audiences to specific conclusions, and possibly to influence the choices that audiences make. Often, the framing of the story is the story. Transparent and honest journalistic reporting is therefore synonymous with accurate and legitimate framing of a story. On the other hand, inaccuracy can mutate stories and twist their meanings, thus completely distorting the truth.

History is rich with examples of population groups and minorities that have been strategically framed and persecuted. When Jews were framed as subhuman thieves and dangerous people by the Nazi regime, the German press published articles loyal to this frame, and an entire population rallied behind an erroneous cause and war that claimed tens of millions of lives.

Former President George W. Bush's "Axis of Evil" frame enabled him to go to war with Iraq and Afghanistan, even when the United Nations and the international community were opposed to it.

 

As Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Paul Waldman, Dan Romer, Kate K. Kenski and Christopher Adasiewicz wrote in 2003 in Capturing Campaign Dynamics: The National Annenberg Election Survey: Design, Method and Data, "One way to assess the press's role at a given moment is the degree to which it accepts the frames offered by the president. ... [By] labelling the attacks of September 11 'an act of war,' President Bush framed them in a way that required a military, not a legal response."

 

A good understanding of framing elements and techniques is, therefore, of the utmost importance to anyone pursuing journalism studies. First, this understanding will encourage future journalists to be transparent and honest at all times. Second, it will arm them against bad framing, and help them to expose framed stories to the general audience. Last, it will enable journalists to create effective frames that will better serve their stories.