Framing

Framing

-          essentially involves selection and salience

-          is to select some aspects of perceived reality and make them more salient in the communicating text

Selection

media choose certain aspects of reality to highlight while ignoring or downplaying others.

Salience

Making a piece of information more noticeable, meaningful or memorable to audiences (the emphasis on this)

How frames manifest

-          key words

-          Stock phrases

-          Stereotypes images

-          Sources of information

-          They provide thematically reinforcing clusters of facts or judgements

approaches to how frames work

1.      Alternative valancing/ valence framing:

2.      Sematic framing:

3.      Story framing:

1.      Alternative valancing/ valence framing:

putting information in either a positive or negative light

2.      Sematic framing:

alternative phrasing of terms

3.      Story framing:

selecting key themes or ideas that are the focus of the message and using storytelling or narrative techniques that support those themes/ideas

Nodal network

Framing uses constructs in an associative network of nodes

• One node gets stimulated, messages lead to related nodes

Activation depends on

•  Availability: do you have a memory of this

• Applicability: does this message connect to your memory

• Temporary accessibility: is it fresh in your memory

• Chronic accessibility: do you remember this often

Availability:

• do you have a memory of this

Applicability:

does this message connect to your memory

Temporary accessibility:

is it fresh in your memory

Chronic accessibility

do you remember this often

Four parts to a frame and Applying to news content

• syntactical

• script

• thematic

• rhetoric

Syntactical

§  Patterns of the arrangement of words or phrases into sentences/stories

§  i.e. inverted pyramid, headline, leads, story order to convey meaning about importance

Script

§  An established and stable sequence of activities and components of an event

§  i.e. common elements in telling stories (5 w and h)

thematic

§  Zoomed out picture

§  The takeaway/deeper concept interpreted from the text

rhetorical

§  Stylistic choices made by journalists

§  Metaphors, exemplars, catchphrases, depictions, and visual images

§  Terms and phrases, word choices that convey meaning