Framing the cuts: An analysis of the BBC’s discursive framing of the ConDem cuts agenda

Abstract

(2014) Framing the cuts: an analysis of the BBC's discursive framing of the ConDem cuts agenda. Journalism, 15 (6). pp. 754-772. ISSN 1464-8849 This version is available from Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/47261/ This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies and may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the URL above for details on accessing the published version. Copyright and reuse:Sussex Research Online is a digital repository of the research output of the University.Copyright and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable, the material made available in SRO has been checked for eligibility before being made available.Copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. AbstractThis study analyses the discursive framing of the British government's economic policies by BBC News Online. Specifically, it focuses on the coverage of the government's Comprehensive Spending Review in 2010, in which the details of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's broader 'austerity' agenda were released. Using frame analysis informed by critical theory, we analyse three online BBC features and compare their framing of the economic crisis -and the range of possible policy responses to it -with that of the government's. In addition, we analyse editorial blogs and training materials associated with the BBC's special 'Spending Review season'; we also situate the analysis in the historical context of the BBC's relationship with previous governments at moments of political and economic crisis.Contrary to dominant ideas that the BBC is biased to the left, our findings suggest that its economic journalism discursively normalises neoliberal economics, not necessarily as desirable, but certainly as inevitable.

Living within our means: The UK news construction of the austerity frame over time

“…The debate around responses was narrowly confined to austerity, with little discussion of alternatives such as tackling tax avoidance or implementing wealth, property or transactions taxes although those were popular in the polls. Kay and Salter (2014) gave a revealing analysis of the BBC news online's treatment of the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. They found that the BBC amplified a limited version of citizen 'choice' when it came to fiscal policy.…”

Financial crisis and austerity: interdisciplinary concerns in critical discourse studies

“…Kay and Salter (2014) analysed the BBC's discursive framing of the government's austerity plan, focusing specifically on BBC coverage of the Comprehensive Spending Review in 2010, in which Osborne's 'austerity' plan was released (see also Fairclough in this issue). By carrying out a framing analysis that applied critical theory, the authors analysed 'three online BBC features and compare their framing of the economic crisis -and the range of possible policy responses to it -with that of the government's', as well as 'editorial blogs and training materials associated with the BBC's special "Spending Review season"' (Kay & Salter, 2014, p. 754).…”

Talous ja politiikka törmäyskurssilla - Talouskurin järki The Economist-lehdessä

“…Valtavirtainen yhdysvaltalaisjournalismi puolestaan käsitteli vuosien 2009 ja 2010 aikana Kreikan kriisiä kreikkalaisten kansallisena epäonnistumisena, johon kuri oli arkijärkinen vastaus (Tracy 2012). Samaan tyyliin Britannian yleisradioyhtiö BBC esitti maan hallituksen leikkaukset tekniseksi ratkaisuksi velkakriisiin (Kay & Salter 2014), ja irlantilaisen uutismedian käsittelyssä maan pankkikriisistä tuli julkisen velan ongelma, joka edellytti leikkauksia julkiseen sektoriin (Preston & Silke 2014). Kaikkiaan euroop palainen sanomalehdistö suosi eurokriisiuutisoinnissaan vuosina 2010-2012 tulkintaa, joka nosti mantereen poliittisen eliitin strategian -leikkaukset ja rakenteelliset uudis tukset -kriisin ensisijaiseksi ratkaisuksi (Ojala & Harjuniemi 2016).…”

“…Artikkelin tulokset tukevat kriittisten journalismin tutkijoiden analyyseja, joiden mukaan journalismi on finanssikriisin jälkeen esittänyt talouskurin kipeänä mutta välttämättömänä reaktiona kriisiin (Tracy 2012;Mylonas 2012;Kay & Salter 2014;Pres ton & Silke 2014;Doudaki ym. 2016;Basu 2017).…”