Patrolling Whiteness: Framing the Minuteman Project on the Evening News
This study explores how Whiteness was framed in network television news coverage of the Minutemen, a group of volunteers who stationed themselves along the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent immigrants from illegally entering the country. In a visual-textual analysis, I examined stories about the group that aired on the evening news broadcasts. I found that, through a series of frames enacted by the Minutemen and reinforced by the news stories, Whiteness remained invisible while the threat toward Whiteness became pronounced. The Minutemen embraced Whiteness and literally policed its border, controlling the dialogue, and historically editing what did not fit with the established hegemonic narrative.
Source Influences on Framing the Intelligent Design Debate
“Teach the controversy:” The relationship between sources and frames in reporting the intelligent design debate
This study examined sources and frames in the debate over whether to teach evolution or intelligent design in public schools. A content analysis of 12 newspapers from Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania was conducted to see how geography and sourcing affected the framing of the controversial science issue. Established patterns of reporting science were repeated in the news coverage, but location and sources played an important role in how the issue was framed. The frames varied by region, suggesting a new direction for future research of framing.
Mirror, Mirror: Hegemonic Framing of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the New York Times
This study explores how Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., were framed by the New York Times from 1960 through 1965.
Drawing on concepts of hegemony and racism, a textual analysis was used to examine 136 articles mentioning King and 44 articles mentioning Malcolm X.
Coverage of each man was compared with the other for evidence of framing.
The study found four recurring themes surrounding the coverage of these two men: the diminishment of Malcolm X as a leader, a mistrust and skepticism of Malcolm X and the Black Muslims, a deep fear of racial violence, and the stigmatization of Malcolm X.
Through this framing, Malcolm X was labeled as a deviant while Martin Luther King, Jr., was embraced as a righteous leader. These characterizations reinforced hegemonic power structures while also supporting ideological notions of accepted racial norms in the United States.
Framing Private Lynch: Establishment and tenacity of the hero frame during war
Following the rescue of Jessica Lynch, a soldier captured during the invasion of Iraq, media outlets incorrectly sensationalized events surrounding her capture, imprisonment, and rescue.
Using Lule’s components of a hero, newspaper articles and news transcripts were analyzed for these attributes, and a Web forum was studied to gauge reaction.
A hero frame was present in the press and, for at least a portion of the population, the frame was a stubborn one.