Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2004

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Communication

Major Professor

M. Mark Miller

Committee Members

Sherry Cable, Bonnie Riechert, David Sachsman

Abstract

This dissertation examines the effects of news values and media routines on the framing of societal issues, with emphasis on cross-cultural prestige press coverage of the Kyoto Protocol. Media use news values to determine what makes the daily news and how that news is portrayed to the public. Journalists selectively choose news stories based on media routines, which help in gathering and disseminating the news in an efficient manner. Stakeholders attempt to frame the news in a manner worthy of news coverage, but media primarily report on the acceptance of or opposition to master frames. Evidence of this interplay exists when examining contentious issues like that of Kyoto Protocol. To find evidence of these processes, a computerized content analysis using the VBPro suite of programs examined 421 American prestige press articles, 721 British prestige press articles, 112, news releases and 443 opinion pieces appearing from January 1997 to Sept. 11, 2001. The texts were gathered from the Lexis-Nexis and Dow Jones databases. Hierarchical cluster analysis provided visual representations of the frames involved. The focus on prestige press coverage limits the external validity of the findings. The analysis uncovered four master frames supported by 10 stakeholder frames concerning global climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. The news value of prominence affected the master frames, though not in the predicted manner concerning stakeholder support or opposition. However, historical analysis indicates support for previous research that indicated international politics held sway over the issue. The analysis also found evidence of media routines at work, including gatekeeping, balancing competing positions and the spiral of opportunity. Theoretically, this dissertation provides a synthesis of communications and sociological literature, and a cross-cultural comparison of an international environmental issue. Methodologically, VBPro was shown to quantify master frames, which may be the first time this has happened. Practically, the dissertation provides an explanation to journalists and stakeholders in government, science, business, and social movement organizations of how news values and media routines lead to the acceptance or rejection of issue frames, as well as the possible de-legitimization of sources outside the media routine.

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