For your term paper, you will examine the framing of a major news event or public policy issue (job policy, tax policy, aid for Ukraine, abortion rights, etc.) by exploring media coverage of that theme and how it affects our understanding of the issues and its subsequent effects on policy choices.
Framing and the Media
The paper should first define framing, explain its role in the presentation of news and summarize the particular political issue that you’ve chosen to explore. You should then select at least two different media (newspapers, television, radio, or web based) sources to examine and select at least ten news stories from each source as the “raw input” for your analysis. Select sources so as to maximize potential different approaches to the issue and include at least one conservative and one liberal source. For example, you could pair the more “liberal” New York Times with the more “conservative” Wall Street Journal for an economic issue, and a European and an American newspaper to examine discussions about NATO, the European Union, or the War in Ukraine. It might also be relevant to examine local vs. national coverage of a particular issue, etc. The approaches of the sources should then be summarized and compared. Finally, you should then consider the implications that these frames present. What is gained and what is lost in consideration of the issues by each of the frames, what is considered and what is not and how does this influence the way the public conceives of the issues?
General Outline and Section Specific Guidance
You have some flexibility when it comes to the specifics of this paper. In general, however, papers should follow the following basic structure (note: you don’t have to have these exact section headers, and remember in an APA style paper, you do not provide a header for the introduction; it is implied):
Introduction (5%)
Theory (20%)
Methodology (15%)
Analysis (25%)
Impact/Discussion (20%)
Conclusion (5%)
The percentages in parentheses reflect the relative weight of each major section of your paper. The remaining 10% is dedicated to APA style (e.g., professional language, proper formatting, citations/references). In what follows, I provide a general overview of expectations for each major section of the paper.
I. Introduction.
In this section, you will introduce your topic and its importance, including providing a preview of interesting overall differences/points to be made. Make sure that you describe your topic in detail and use relevant sources to support any arguments or claims. You should include a brief preview of the study, including a brief overview of what you’re analyzing, and how. This is NOT a full description of your methodology; it’s an introduction.
Introduce your topic, with a focus on why it is important.
Outline what your framing analysis aims to show/will show (note, this is typically written near the end; after you’ve finished the analysis). In doing so, provide a preview of the theories that will inform your analysis, and the types of content you will be analyzing (broad strokes; you’ll be more specific in the methodology section).
Roadmap! Provide a brief preview of the rest of the paper.
II. Theory.
In this section, you will discuss (and define) framing, explain its role in the presentation (and, if relevant, construction) of news, and summarize the topic / issue / ‘story’ you’ve chosen to explore. You should also introduce relevant additional theories, concepts, and especially previous research findings relevant to your analysis. Things you discuss could include liberal vs. conservative bias, thematic/episodic presentation of information, international versus domestic coverage, conglomerates, homogenization, etc. How do these elements relate to each other; how could they relate to the issue you are writing about; etc.? You should also consider integrating additional theories or concepts introduced in this class that are relevant to your topic / analysis.
Note. Although you are describing the theories and concepts informing your methods, and their likely relation to the issue/topic you are writing about, you are not actually describing your methods here. That’s in the next section.
What are the main components of the theories/concepts you are using to analyze the stories you’ve selected? (Select relevant theories and concepts. Cite sources.)
Why are these theories/concepts relevant to your topic/issue? Provide evidence to support your arguments. (Cite sources.)
Note. At a minimum, you will discuss framing, but framing analyses almost always invoke additional theories. You could discuss selective exposure, various models of information processing, two-step flows, etc. With whatever theories or concepts you decide to include, how do these elements relate, or how could they relate to the issue you are writing about?
What are your research questions? That is, what are you hoping you will be able to say or what questions will you be able to answer based on your framing analysis?
III. Methodology.
How will you be using the theories/concepts described previously to conduct your analysis? What will you be looking for? Have you already identified what frames you will be looking for based on previous research (in which case, what are they, and how will you be able to identify them; you’ll also want to discuss these in the theory section as well), or (far more likely) will you be inductively identifying them (and if so, how will you do so). In addition, you should outline here how/why you selected the specific media sources you selected.
Describe (with justification) what you will be analyzing, and how they were selected (e.g., media sources used, dates, search terms, total numbers, etc.).
Describe what aspects of the media stories you will be analyzing, that is, your unit of analysis.
Describe your analytical framework (e.g., what are you looking for, and how will you know when you find it?). There are many ways of identifying frames; how will you know what the frames being used are?
IV. Analysis.
This is your ‘results’ section. You laid out your study aims. You laid out your methods. Apply your methods, and make relevant comparisons and arguments. In other words, tell me what you found!
Describe what you found in your framing analysis, with a focus on addressing your study aims/goals; your research questions.
Make comparisons between sources / media.
Provide evidence from your stories you analyzed.
V. Impact/Discussion.
Opinion time! You’ve outlined what framing is and explained its role in the presentation and interpretation of news content, developed methods aimed at addressing your research questions, and laid out what you found. So… what does it mean? Why would an outlet choose one frame over another? What are the potential impacts on readers/viewers/listeners of adopting a given frame for the issue under consideration? How do those potential impacts change based on audience? What are the broader implications of your findings?
Discuss the impact of your findings as they apply to:
The sources
The audiences
Broader impacts (e.g., cultural; politics; public health; society)
VI. Conclusion.
Sum it all up. Make some interesting broad points about your findings. You should also mention some interesting further research that this study suggests.
Provide a general summary of what you did, why, and what you found.
Discuss the most interesting findings and implications; key takeaways.
Discuss potential future research suggested by your current analysis.
Submission Checklist
Your paper should conform to APA 7 style, in regards to formatting, citations/references, and writing style. You do not need to provide an abstract, nor do you need a running head, but you do need to provide an APA style student cover page (see Figure 2.2. on p. 32 of the APA 7 Publication Manual).
To help in formatting, I have provided an APA 7 Student Paper Template as a Word (.docx) document. I strongly encourage you to use it. You can find said template in the “course resources” module on Canvas (or by clicking here
Actions
).
Your paper must be submitted as a Word (.docx) document. I will not accept any other file types.
I further encourage you to write your paper using Word, as opposed to Pages or Google Docs. It will make formatting your paper properly SOOO much easier. (Also, then you can use the template I provided.)
The paper should be between 3,000–4,000 words (roughly 12–16 double spaced pages, depending on font), not counting your cover page, references, and any other end materials you optionally provide (e.g., tables, figures, appendices; where applicable).
These are general length guidelines. Shorter papers may be acceptable, if all components are addressed. Longer papers may similarly be acceptable. However, papers under 3,000 words likely have not covered everything that needs to be covered, and papers over 4,000 words typically need a good edit.
Use academic/professional language and writing style. This includes following the APA 7 guidance on writing style and grammar, bias-free language, and mechanics (see Chs. 4–6 of the APA 7 Publication manual).
Cite appropriately, following the APA 7 conventions (see Chs. 8–11 of the APA 7 Publication manual); academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Use outside sources to provide evidence to support your claims. Arguments should be justified and supported by outside sources rather than personal opinions and/or assumptions.
Avoid direct quotes except where absolutely necessary. Sources should be paraphrased to show an understanding of the material.
This applies equally to the academic sources you cite and the media content you are analyzing (and similarly should be citing). You likely should quote directly from the content, however, such quotes should be as short as possible while still illustrating the point you are trying to get across.
Note. When paraphrasing, you are relying on the ideas of someone else, and so must provide an appropriate citation.
Avoid using class discussion as source/evidence. Course readings may be used, but you should only do so sparingly.
This applies especially for chapters, as opposed to journal articles. However, the recommended readings and the sources cited in chapters tend to be great sources.
Course concepts, theories, etc. should be described accurately. Inaccuracies / errors will result in grade deductions.
You need to select a minimum of 20 news stories to analyze, according to the methodology that you develop, grounded in the theories and concepts you learned about in this course, as supplemented by additional (secondary) research.
You need to select 10 news stories from each source, and need to have at least one “liberal” and one “conservative” source. You are strongly encouraged to go beyond the required liberal/conservative dichotomy (e.g., English vs. non-English news; foreign vs. domestic; etc.). When doing so, you will still need to ensure there are at least 10 news stories analyzed from each source
