Framing explained. Pictures shows beautiful city on one, destroyed city on the other side.

Spinning Sunday – episode 2: Framing

Spinning Sunday

Framing: The Invisible Power of Interpretive Frameworks

Recognizing and exposing propaganda techniques. A media studies blog by Dr. Christian Hardinghaus.

Author’s General Introduction

Propaganda is the manipulation of masses through media. In this series, we dive deep into the mechanisms of influence to understand how our perception is shaped and how we can protect ourselves from it. Each post examines a specific technique, its functionality, and practical ways to expose it.

Propaganda Technique

Framing belongs to the most subtle and effective propaganda techniques in the modern media landscape. The term originates from cognitive science and describes how the choice of certain words, images, and contexts creates an “interpretive framework” that guides our perception and evaluation of events, people, or issues. Unlike obvious propaganda, framing usually works unconsciously and appears to the recipient as objective reporting.

The power of framing lies in its ability to make the same facts appear completely different without lying. By selecting certain aspects, emphasizing specific details, and using emotionally charged terms, a cognitive framework is created that channels our thinking. Media use framing through headlines, image selection, source selection, and the order of information presentation. This technique is particularly effective because it connects to existing mental models and prejudices and reinforces them.

Framing: The targeted embedding of information in a specific interpretive framework through word choice, context, and presentation to influence perception and evaluation without changing the facts.

The psychological mechanisms of framing are based on how our brain processes information. People automatically categorize new information into existing mental schemas. Through skillful framing, media can determine which schema is activated. An event can be framed as a “crisis” or “challenge,” a person as a “fighter” or “extremist,” a policy as “reform” or “attack.” Each frame activates different associations and emotions and leads to different conclusions, even though the underlying facts are identical.

To recognize framing, it is important to pay attention to the language used, seek alternative representations of the same events, and become aware of which aspects are emphasized or omitted. Critical media literacy requires the ability to read between the lines and recognize the implicit messages conveyed through the manner of presentation.

Application Examples

The following examples are deliberately fictional to illustrate the mechanisms without discrediting real persons or events:

Example 1 – Economic Reporting: The same unemployment statistics are framed differently: “Unemployment rises to alarming 8%” versus “Employment reaches stable level of 92%.” Both statements are factually correct but create completely different impressions about the economic situation. The first frame activates concern and crisis mood, the second conveys stability and optimism.

Example 2 – Political Reporting: A fictional politician announces tax increases. Frame A: “Politician burdens hard-working families with new taxes.” Frame B: “Government invests in future through fair contributions.” The same issue is presented once as a burden, once as an investment, leading to fundamentally different evaluations.

Example 3 – Social Issues: A demonstration is framed differently: “Concerned citizens take to the streets for their rights” versus “Radical groups disrupt public order.” The choice between “concerned citizens” and “radical groups” as well as between “standing up for rights” and “disrupting order” creates completely different narratives about the same event.

Example 4 – International Reporting: A military operation is framed as “peace mission for stabilization” or as “invasion for resource security.” Both frames can refer to the same actions but create completely different moral evaluations and emotional reactions in the audience.

Example 5 – Health Topics: A new treatment method is presented either as “revolutionary breakthrough with 70% success rate” or as “risky experiment with 30% failure rate.” Mathematically identical, emotionally and perceptually fundamentally different.

Further Reading

War Propaganda and Media Manipulation

Hardinghaus, Christian: “War Propaganda and Media Manipulation: What You Should Know to Avoid Being Deceived” (German Edition. English Edition coming soon)

Further Information

  • Lakoff, George (2014): Don’t Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate. Chelsea Green Publishing.
  • Entman, Robert M. (1993): Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51-58.
  • Wehling, Elisabeth (2016): Political Framing: How a Nation Talks Itself into Thinking – and Makes Politics from It. Herbert von Halem Verlag.
  • Kahneman, Daniel & Tversky, Amos (1984): Choices, values, and frames. American Psychologist, 39(4), 341-350.
  • Scheufele, Dietram A. (1999): Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 103-122.
  • Matthes, Jörg (2014): Framing. Nomos Verlag.

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