Frame mapping and analysis of news coverage of contentious issues

Abstract

This article outlines a rigorous method for studying the ways that news media frame contentious issues. The method is based on the VBPro family of computer programs for content analysis. Output from the VBPro mapping program for multidimensional scaling based on co-occurence of key terms is cluster analyzed to discern the frames or points of view in texts that can unambiguously be attributed to competing stakeholders. These frames can be used to investigate propositions about news stories. An example is presented from a study of 1,465 Associated Press articles on wetlands dispatched across an 11-year period beginning in 1982. The results demonstrate that the method provides an objective means of investigating stakeholder influence on news and patterns of change in frames across time. © 1997 Sage Publications, Inc.