Media Strategies in Policy Advocacy: Tracing the Justifications for Indiana’s School Choice Reforms

Abstract

This study treats Indiana (2010-2018) as a case in which to examine media-based coverage, deliberation, and ethical and empirical framings as school choice reforms were being taken up and as they evolved and accelerated. Within this timeframe, Indiana transformed into a leading state in school choice reforms. Both repetitive and shifting justifications were noted, with these patterning roughly into three main phases. Arguments were much more frequently ideological than empirical in nature, and advocates generally (and especially in the first two phases) were observed as holding the upper hand, successfully using the media to frame the debate using their terms.