Curmudgeonly Advice

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Curmudgeonly AdviceDonald R. Kinder

2012

Lippman (1925: 24) addressed the swarming confusion of problems that constitutes public life

In modern society, people must rely on others for news of national affairs Reports inevitably privilege particular points of view

Frames make the world beyonddirect experience look natural (Gitlin, 1980, 6)

bring order to events by making hem something that can be told about; they have power because

they make the world make sense (Manoff, 1986, 228)

Supply a central, organising idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of

events, weaving a connection among them (Gamson and Modigliani, 1987, 143)

By defining what the essential issue is and suggesting how to think about it, frames imply what,

if anything, should be done (157)

Frames include:

Rhetorical tools fashioned by political elites to advance their ideas and the oftenarticulated rules of selection, emphasis, presentation that govern the work of

journalism (155)

Popkin (1993: 8) framing arises whenever there is more than oneway to think about a subject

Frames are constructed with the tastes of the audience very much in mindIs constrained by the anticipated reaction of the audience or by what the American political

culture finds permissible

If frames wander too far afield, they will be rejected (156)

Frames are not all-powerful, then, but they seem powerful enough to engage our attention (157)

ADVICE ON FRAMING

Experimenting

A lot of work on framing comes from experiments

Provides clear glimpse of cause and effect relations Enables complex phenomena to be decomposed Accelerates interdisciplinary conversations


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More likely to produce factsBUT

Can be questioned on generalisatbility typically obliterate the distinction between the supply of information, on the one

hand,and its consumption, on the other. That is, experiments are normally carried out

in such a way that virtually everyone receives the message (157)

Typical experiment ignores the possibility of an inattentive audience A more balanced reading offrame effects requires methodological diversification,

experiments and studies oriented o the world outside (157)

we stille are waiting for compelling demonstrations of framing effects in naturalsettings (158)

Real Frames

158

Framing is a conceptually diverse concept

The empirical literature on framing, especially the experimental literature, typically

operationalizes frame in an emaciated way

This is fine, but such experiments do not speak v convincingly to the presentation of frames in

everyday life

Such presentations are characterized by repeated exposure through multiple venues over long

periods of time

Frames are more than mere justification

Every package has a signature a set of elements that suggest its core frame and position in

shorthand fashion (Gamson & Lasch, 1983, 399)

Includes metaphors, exemplars catchphrases, visual images, rhetorical flourishes,justifications through appeals to principle

Core Effects

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The literature makes a good case that frames can affect how (and whether) people evaluate

various matters of politics, BUT, skips over:

how people make sense of these maters in the first place

In all the studies of frames and framing, understanding itself is almost never directly addressed

or measured

This is unfortunate because cognitive psychology has generated theories of comprehension that

lend themselves to politics


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Pennington and Hastie (1988. 1992, 1993)- work on jury decision making could be applicable to

political frames


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Capella & Jamieson (1997) Spiral of Cynicism: The Press & The Public Good

Chong, D (1996). Creating common frames of reference on political issues.

In Political Persuasion and attitude change (eds) Sniderman & Brody

Converse, P.E (1970). Attitude and non-attitudes: continuation of a

dialogue. In The quantitative analysis of social problems.

Druckman (2001) On the limits of framing effects: who can frame?

Journal

Druckman (2004) Political preference formation: Competition, deliberation

and the (ir)relevance of framing effects

journal

Gamson, W.A. (1992). Talking Politics.

Gamson (2993) Media images an d the social construction

Framing American Politics (eds) Kinder, D.R. & Nelson, T. E.

Lippman, W. (1925). The Phantom Public.

Manoff, R.K. (1986). Writing the news (by telling the story)

Penningon, N. & Hastie, R. (1988). Explanation-based decision-making:

effects of memory structure on judgement. Journal of experimental

psychology.

(1992) Examining the evidence: tests of the story model for juror decision

making

(1993) Reasining in explanation-based decision-making

Pollock, P.H. (1994) Issues, values and critical moments: did Magic Johnson

transform public opinion on AIDS


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Popkin (1993) Information shortcuts and the reasoning voter. In Grofman

(ed) Information, participation and choice: an economic theory of democracy

in perspective

Sniderman, P.M. & Theriault, S.M. (2004). The structure of political

argument and the logic of issue framing. In Studies in public opinion.

Snow & Benford (1992) Master Frames and Cycles of Protest. In Morris &

Mueller. Frontiers in Social Movement Theory.

Tversky & Kahneman (1981) The framing of decisions and the psychology of

choice


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The Constructionist Approach to Framing: Bringing Culture Back InBaldwin Van Gorp

Journal of Communication 57 (2007) 60-78 29/05/2012 6:34:00 AMFraming has taken over from agenda-setting and cultivation theory as the most commonly

applied research approach in communication science

Framing concept does not belong exclusively to communication- roots like inCOGNITVIVE PSYCHOLOGY &ANTHROPOLOGY

then adopted by

Sociology, Economic, Linguistics, Social Movements Research, Policy Research,

Communication Science, Political Communication, Public Relations Research, Health Comm,

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Multidisciplinary nature of the concept has resulted in framing being plagued by vagueness

Multiple meanings of frame, framing are to blame for the absence of an unequivocal

conceptualization

Frame analyses: research approaches that analyse message content to ascertain HOW MEDIA

REPRESENT A CERTAIN TOPIC

Frames are usually conceived as subtle changes in phrasingIn recent framing research the attention shifts to ISSUE-SPECIFIC frames that are only

applicable to the topic at hand

ORBroadly defined, generic frames that seem to be ubiquitous

Some authors (eg Entman, 2004) argue that frame can be replaced with script, representation,

argument, genre.

PURPOSE OF THIS ESSAY:

Define characteristics of frames in the context of the production and interpretation of news (61)

to give concept a more distinctive meaning

Incorporate linkage between frames in the news process and frames on he side of the receiver as

Because culture is seen as a primary base to constitute knowledge, meaning and comprehension

of the world outside, it will be argued that a shared repertoire of frames in culture provides the

linkage between news production and news consumption

Framing refers, on the one hand, to the typical manner in which journalists shape news content

within a familiar frame of reference and according to some latent structure of meaning and, on


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the other hand, to the audience who adopts these frames and sees the world in a similar way as

the journalists do

the usefulness of framing as a bridging concept between cognition and culture

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Frames as a part of culture

Framing literature generally implies that frames can be encountered on several locations in the

comm process

In minds of media makers and audiences, in media content and in culture (Entman1993)

Frames are everywhere but where do they begin?Goffman considers frames as independently as possible from the individual and emphasises

instead their connection with culture- a single person cannot invent

Individuals make use of these cultural phenomena

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Six premises:

1. Alternative frames are available that can lead to different definitions of topics, issues and

persons Thus one must transcend the currently applied frames and to distinguish them from

other, alternative frames.

Therefore, in a frame analysis it can be useful to identify the frames that aredominantly applied in other social, political or historical contexts and periods

2. Because frames are part of culture- THE FRAME IS NOT ENCOMPASSED IN MEDIA

CONTENT

The text and the frame must be seen as independent from one another Attribution of meaning to media content and the connection with certain frames are

part of reading process

Reading side of framing model suggests that reader connects framing devices in newswith cultural phenomena because they are already familiar with them

By implicitly suggesting a cultural theme, the frames can determine which meaningthe receiver attaches to an issue


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3. The relationship between frames and cultural phenomena makes their use seem so natural that

process of social construction is invisible

Frames may be regarded as power mechanism themselves Whether or not fraes actually bring about individual effects depends on factors-

receivers degree of attention, interests, attitudes, beliefs, values

A frame is an invitation or an incentive to read a news story in aparticular way4. Cultural approach incorporates the impact of a macrostructure in the framing process

The way individuals interpret media content is not solely internally motivated butalso guided by cultural processes

Frames are part of culture, thus not the same as a personal mental structure Mental schemata vs. Frames

o Schemata= collections of organised knowledge, develop gradually, related toperson experience and associated feelings (Wicks, 2001)

Help individuals deal with flood of new info/ retrieve stored info from

memory

o Frames= more stable (part of culture), constitute broader interpretivedefinitions of social reality , highly interactive

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5. Frames change very little over time

Not to say that the framing process should be regarded as static- is DYNAMIC The application of frames is subject to negotiation; frames are contested by

journalists and the audience, new ones are selected and others may disappear without

the frames themselves undergoing change

6. The essence of framing is in social interaction

Framing involves the interplay that occurs between the textual level (frames appliedin the media), the cognitive level (schemata among he audience and media makers),

the extramedial level (the discourse offrame sponsors), and, finally, the stock of

frames that is available in a given culture

The constituent elements of a frame package

Each frame applied by a journalist in a text can be seen as a frame package

A cluster of logical, organised devices that function as an idenitity kit for a frame


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A major part of frame analysis is the reconstruction of these frame packagesFrame package composed of three parts:

1. The manifest framing devicesi. All the conceivable framing devices that point at the same core idea constitute

the manifest part of a frame (64)

2. The manifest or latent reasoning deviceso Explicit and implicit statements that deal with justifications, causes, and

consequences in a temporal order, and which complete the frame package

o Related to the four framing functions (Entman, 1993)1. Promotion of a particular problem definition2. Causal interpretation3. Moral Evaluation4. Treatment Reccomendation

3. An implicit cultural phenomenon that displays the package as a wholeFrame manifests itself in media content through framing devices

Eg. Word choice, metaphors, exemplars, descriptions, arguments, visual imageso (Gamson & Lasch 1993, Pan & Kosicki, 1993)

Devices held together by a central organising theme- the actual frame65

How Frames Work

Reduce complex events to a graspable, plausible whole

The frame package suggests a definition, an explanation, a problematization, and an evaluation

of the event and ultimately results in a number of logical conclusions

the media provide the public not only with information n the event itself but also on how it

should be interpreted

framing is a form of metacommunication

The frame specifies the relationship between a number of connected elements in atext on the bais of which an issue of topic may be defined and understood

Such communication on communication helps the receiver to structure and definereality

The meaning readers assign to a text is not determined merely by the concreteinformation that it contains but also by implicit information between the lines

(Gurevitch & Levy, 1986)

Framing provides a context within which the news message can be interpreted


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Frames are tied in with shared cultural phenomena- because of cultural resonances and narrative

fidelity

The notion of framing presupposes that the frameprevents the receiver from using schemata

that are contrary to the frame in their interpretation of the message (66)

Some framing devices are v. powerful- single reference to them can activate a schema

Possible for a frame not to occupy a central place in text but appear briefly through a number of

devices

On the whole, the framing devices will be given prominent place in articleMedia message invariably contains elements that do not fit within dominant frame

BUT

Frame has effect of making congruent elements more salient so the reader is more likely to

notice them

Frames are characterised by some level of abstraction so that they can be applied to entirely

different issues

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So issue-specific frames are generally linked to another master frame

An encompassing framing model

Reporters can only perceive part of reality- cannot be truly objective

Therefore selection and ordering is inevitable

The main function of the framing device is to trigger the schema so SALIENCE is crucial

Reasoning devices and cultural phenomena (carry the weight of the frame package & framing

process) need not even be present within content

SELECTION OF A FRAME- important decision on part of journalist.

BUT

The frame that is embedded in the content is not necessarily determined by the situation or item

reported upon


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There is interaction between the journalists (un)conscious selection of a frame out of the

cultural stock of framesas the result of the individual belief system, and the influence of

additional factors inside and outside the media organisations.

Shoemaker and Reese (1996) identified three levels of influence which all influence frames and

content production:

1. The influence of media routines

2. The organisational level

3. The extramedia level

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Gitlin (1980)- journalistic routines cause some frames to be selected more than others

Ownership and structures of government create more potential souces of conflict/ influence

Key events and the intraction with frame sponsors

A key event can lead to activation of alternative frames in media if events become part of

collective memory

Eg. Chernobyl disaster triggered shift from progress to fatalistic-runaway and Faustian devils

bargain (Gamson and Modigliani, 1989)

Frame sponsors concerned with directing the frame selection of journalists. (producing advocate

frames)

Because media rely on the same information sources, and serve as information sources for one

another, identifcal frames may appear in diff media

Important distinction:

Framing BY the media vs Framing THROUGH the media

By:

Journalists arrive at a particular frame in their representation of an event

Through:

Framing concerned with frames that have been processed in communication utterances by frame

sponsors and other actors

Eg. by politicians when answering questions from journalists


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Main focus should be framing BY the media (even representing a statement made during an

interview implies choices by the journalist)

Interplay btw media content and receivers

When cultural themes constitute the central framing idea, there is probably a stronger basis for

resonance between the media text and the schema of the receivers

The framing process in interactive and vulnerable to counterframing

Sometimes, a kind of shock is required for a receiver to break through a persistent frame

Framing, agenda setting and priming

All contribute to understanding of media & its impact

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Argument that framing is just an extension of agenda setting is at odds with sociological roots of

framing

Within a cultural/ constructionist approach, framing can be distinguished from agenda setting in

2 respects:

Emphasises the interactive process by which social reality is constructed (agenda setting &

priming are causal)

From a constructionist perspective, media content is both a dependent and independent ariable.

It is the result of journalistic routine and extramedia pressures, actively processed by the

audience

The framing concept uniquely combines elements that can generate strong media effects with

factors that limit its impact

Frames tied up with culture as macrosocietal structure.

Framing incorporates a widerrange of factors than priming and agenda setting that are both

cognitive concepts)

Agenda Setting and Priming concerned with ISSUES

Framing distinguishes between issues and frames .

Attention can be paid to the alternative hypothesis Media can take up issue from political agenda but use opposite frame to cover it

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Methodological Implications

Even if the question is how the audience interacts with media content it is still necessary to

reconstruct the frames that are embedded in the stimuli

First step- frame packages can be reconstructed on the basis of framing devices in texts with a

cultural phenomenon as a central idea and, as the case may be, reasoning devices that are

demonstrably part of media content and discourse

QUALITATIVE or QUANTITATIVE approaches can be taken.

Discourse analysis (Pan & Kosicki, 1993)

Traditional content analysis (Tankard, 2001)

Other quant (Semeto & Valkenburg 2000)

Are frame analysis and trad content analysis really compatible?

Frames also find expression in latent meaning structures that are not perceiveddirectly how can one properly address these elements while fulfilling the criteria

of reliability, reproducibility and validity

Must accept a heuristic principle: that a series of manifest variables can represent alatent concept

Respective framing devices all refer to the frame as a latent meaning structure Causal statements (reasoning devices) and properties that together constitute the

discursive domain of the media text (framing devices) are identified

Reasoning devices can be found in text BUT may also be implicit statements whenprevious fact and consequence are places side by side without the causal relationship

between the two being specified

Does striving for scientific accuracy stand in the way of possible insight that framing perspective

has to offer?

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Tankard (2001) suggests that one should take no more than two frames as a starting point in

order to achieve an acceptable level of intercoder reliability

BUT

By restricting a more extensive list of frames, the subtlety of the messages that framing analysis

tries to consider may be lost.


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ifone only takes into account the frames that can be counted, the actual frame may not be

determined

Strongly abstract nature of frames suggests that quant methods should be combined with

interpretative prospects of qual methods

eg.

One could inductively drawing up an inventory of frames on basis of:

Media content

Public discourse

Literature Review

In this manner the framing devices most relevant to these frames are identified

Then determine through deduction the extent to which these devices are present in the data set

Inductive phase recommended to reconstruct the frames by representing frame packages in a

matrix in which row entries represent frames and column entries describe FRAMNING and

REASONING devices

This is fraught with difficulty as coming up with the names for frames itself involves a kind of

framing (Tankard, 2001, 89)

Conclusion

the purpose of a frame analysis is to assess not so much the impact of loose elements in a text

but the impact of the implicitly present cultural phenomena conveyed by all these elements as a

whole and to relate them to the dynamic processes in which social reality is constructed

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benefits- provides insight into news reporting, its sources and role of the receiver

costs- labour intensive, no guaranteed yield

By locating frames in culture, the framing process is directed by larger culture rather than

individual cognition

Constructionist view suggests that the potency of frames to influence the ublic lies in their

connection to familiar cultural frames

Micro-macro linkages suit journalists and audiences in a dynamic social process


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Frame packages with a cultural phenomenon as a central theme influence the schema of

journalist and audience because frames are part of their shared collective memory


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5/29/2012 6:34:00 AM

Caragee & Roefs (2004) The neglect of power in recent framing research

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