1st Edition

Framing Public Life Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World

    416 Pages
    by Routledge

    416 Pages
    by Routledge

    This distinctive volume offers a thorough examination of the ways in which meaning comes to be shaped. Editors Stephen Reese, Oscar Gandy, and August Grant employ an interdisciplinary approach to the study of conceptualizing and examining media. They illustrate how texts and those who provide them powerfully shape, or "frame," our social worlds and thus affect our public life. Embracing qualitative and quantitative, visual and verbal, and psychological and sociological perspectives, this book helps media consumers develop a multi-faceted understanding of media power, especially in the realm of news and public affairs.

    Contents: W.A. Gamson, Foreword. Preface. S.D. Reese, O.H. Gandy, Jr., A.E. Grant, Introduction. S.D. Reese, Prologue--Framing Public Life: A Bridging Model for Media Research. Part I:Theoretical and Measurement Approaches. Z. Pan, G. Kosicki, Framing as a Strategic Action in Public Deliberation. M. McCombs, S.I. Ghanem, The Convergence of Agenda Setting and Framing. T.M. Maher, Framing: An Emerging Paradigm or a Phase of Agenda Setting? J.W. Tankard, Jr., The Empirical Approach to the Study of Media Framing. M.M. Miller, B.P. Riechert, The Spiral of Opportunity and Frame Resonance: Mapping the Issue Cycle in News and Public Discourse. F.D. Durham, Breaching Powerful Boundaries: A Postmodern Critique of Framing. Part II:Cases--Observations From the Field. J.K. Hertog, D.M. McLeod, A Multiperspectival Approach to Framing Analysis: A Field Guide. D.L. Dickerson, Framing "Political Correctness": The New York Times' Tale of Two Professors. P. Bantimaroudis, H. Ban, Covering the Crisis in Somalia: Framing Choices by The New York Times and The Manchester Guardian. R.S. Fuglsang, Framing the Motorcycle Outlaw. L.M. ZochWhat's Really Important Here? Media Self-Coverage in the Susan Smith Murder Trial. E.L. Wiggins, Frames of Conviction: The Intersection of Social Frameworks and Standards of Appraisal in Letters to the Editor Regarding a Lesbian Commitment Ceremony. P. Messaris, L. Abraham, The Role of Images in Framing News Stories. D.V. Shah, D. Domke, D.B. Wackman, The Effects of Value-Framing on Political Judgment and Reasoning. T.E. Nelson, E.A. Willey, Issue Frames That Strike a Value Balance: A Political Psychology Perspective. Part III:The New Media Landscape. E.S. Fredin, Frame Breaking and Creativity: A Frame Database for Hypermedia News. E.P. Engel, Connectivity and Continuity: Influences of the Digital Realm on the Visual Information Structures of Print. J.V. Pavlik, News Framing and New Media: Digital Tools to Re-engage an Alienated Citizenry. E.A. Mabry, Textual Framing as a Communication Climate Factor in Online Groups. C.A. Paterson, The Transference of Frames in Global Television. O.H. Gandy, Jr., Epilogue--Framing at the Horizon: A Retrospective Assessment.

    Biography

    Reese, Stephen D.; Gandy, Jr., Oscar H.; Grant, August E.

    "Reese, Gandy, and Grant have done a wonderful job of putting together a selection of chapters that fit nicely into three basic themes: theoretical and methodological issues, concerning framing, case studies of framing, and framing within new media....I clearly think this is a book worth reading if you are interested in framing effects in the media....very strong on sociological approaches to framing."
    Journal of Communication

    "The case-study section is particularly rich in topics and approaches...and its studies would serve as a fruitful point of departure for many theoretical and methodological discussions....a much-needed compilation of the current state of communication's thought regarding framing.....The book would be an excellent addition to graduate theory-building courses, and it should be on the bookshelf of anyone who considers him- or herself a framing scholar."
    Public Opinion Quarterly

    "Reese's wide-ranging and provocative introductory overview offers a definition of framing that emphasizes the organizing and structuring functions and the shared, persistent, and symbolic character of frames....has much to offer scholars and graduate students in political and mass communication, and in other fields as well."
    Political Communication