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Abstract

Framing theory has experienced a rapid development since the mid-1960s, when it emerged in the field of sociology. Framing has become a multidisciplinary paradigm that allows the holistic study of media effects on individuals and audiences. Far from being exclusively located in the sender of information, framing is located in four elements of the communication process: the sender, the receiver, the (informative) message and culture. This article, in the form of a state of the art review, examines the main developments made in framing theory since the 1950s to this day, as well as the development and current state of framing research in Spain.

Keywords

Framing; frames; Spain; frame building; frame setting.

Contents

1. Framing in communication processes: concept and origins. 1.1. The tenuous border between framing and agenda-setting. 2. Origin and evolution of framing studies. 3. How frames are built: frame building. 4. Typology of frames. 4.1. Media frames and individual frames. 4.2 Strong frames and weak frames. 4.3. Specific and generic frames. 5. Empirical identification of media frames. 5.1. The deductive method. 5.2. The inductive method. 6. Framing, from the media to individuals: frame setting. 7. Framing effects on individuals and the public. 8. Framing research in Spain. 9. Notes. 10. References.

Translation by CA Martínez Arcos, Ph.D. (Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas)

"It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be moulded until they clothe ideas in disguise" (Goebbels, quoted in Pratkanis and Aronson, 1994: 77).

1. Framing in the communication processes: concept and origins

Any communicative text, either informative or persuasive, requires narrative structures to organise its discourse. In the case of the media, news stories appear to be systematised, based on narrative conventions that offer an explanation about who is doing what, and with what purpose. Tuchman (1978) describes news as a window whose frame limits the perception of reality, by limiting the perception of different realities and focusing on a specific piece of it. As a result of these processes, some aspects of the reality perceived through the news will be more prominent than others.

News messages, therefore, are textual and visual structures...

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