Media Framing and Discourse Analysis
Summary
Media framing refers to the selective presentation and emphasis of particular aspects of news and communication to shape audience interpretation. By foregrounding some facts, metaphors or themes while downplaying others, frames guide how events and issues are understood and discussed. Discourse analysis complements framing studies by examining the structures, patterns and power relations inherent in language use across media, political speeches and social platforms. Together, these approaches reveal how meaning is produced, contested and negotiated in public debate, from health crises to electoral politics. Advances in computational methods have enabled large-scale detection of frames in text and visual media, while critical discourse perspectives continue to unpack how ideological positions and institutional interests are embedded in everyday language. The global reach of digital platforms has further transformed framing dynamics, creating hybrid environments in which user-generated content interacts with legacy media, thereby influencing public agendas, policy decisions and social mobilisation.
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Media Framing and Discourse Analysis publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in media framing and discourse analysis across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Frame: an organising principle that selects and highlights particular aspects of reality to shape perception.
Media Framing: the practice by which news outlets and communicators emphasise certain elements of a story to influence audience interpretation.
Thematic Framing: a focus on broader contexts, trends or systemic factors when presenting an issue.
Episodic Framing: a focus on individual events, cases or personal stories to illustrate an issue.
Discourse Analysis: the study of how language and communication practices construct social reality and reflect power relations.
References
- Framing is Mightier than the Sword: Detection of Episodic and Thematic Framing in News Media. Human Computation (2024).
- Framing of and Attention to COVID-19 on Twitter: Thematic Analysis of Hashtags. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2021).
- Framing Studies Evolution in the Social Media Era. Digital Advancement and Reorientation of the Research Agenda. Social Sciences (2021).
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