Power to the frame: Bringing sociology back to frame analysis

Abstract

This article critically reviews current frame and framing research in media and communication studies. It is first argued that most authors fail to distinguish between ‘frame’ and ‘framing’ and therewith produce a conceptual confusion and imprecision that is not conducive to the field. Second, it is argued that current frame and framing research ignore sociological research about news production and news audiences that reached its zenith in the 1980s and is still conceptually and methodologically relevant to much current frame and framing research. As a result, a notion of power is absent from most current frame and framing research. By discussing — on the basis of key literature — what a news ‘frame’ is, how it comes about and how it is of consequence successively, these claims are substantiated and research directions for improving the field are indicated.

Framing the EU in a Time of Crisis: Media Reflections from EU Strategic Partners in Asia-Pacific

“…Following the argument by Vliegenthart and van Zoonen (2011), particular news frames are tied to the 'way news is socially constructed, as a routinised production in which newsworthiness is dependent on how a particular event or story fits the time and space requirements of the news organization'. The observed national dailies from these three 'nonWestern' media systems relied heavily on local correspondents and agencies for their news about the EU.…”

Employment, Disabled People and Robots: What Is the Narrative in the Academic Literature and Canadian Newspapers?

“…The analytical framework of this paper is a framing analysis, which is typically used to investigate differing interpretations of a topic or an issue [29]. According to Entman, the basis of framing is to "select some aspects of perceived reality, and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described" [30].…”

A Hidden Theory in Financial Crisis Journalism?

“…In recent years, such theories and methods have achieved considerable popularity as a useful concept in the analysis of journalistic writing and journalistic practices throughout the Western world (Entman 1993, Matthes 2009, Vliegenthart and van Zoonen 2011.…”