Title: Counterframing Public Dissent: An Analysis of Antiwar Coverage in the U.S. Media
Abstract: Abstract This research sought to determine how the U.S. news media reported on public dissent in the U.S./Iraq War campaign in the months surrounding the Congressional midterm elections of 2006. In total, 89 news stories of antiwar coverage from 11 national news sources were analyzed using mixed research methods. The study found that news on Iraq War dissent was largely vocalized by public antiwar protestors and active military/war veterans. These war critics presented new counterframes to the original war story, which earlier research showed had been framed by the Bush administration. Counterframes collectively characterized the war story as "illegal," "immoral," and "based on lies." These public-driven messages also replaced the elite sourcing (of earlier coverage) with the views of non-elites, that is, ordinary citizens. Such counterframes emerged primarily through journalist-selected news quotes about the Iraq War that amplified themes of White House accountability. Keywords: Antiwar MovementIraq WarNews FramesContent AnalysisPolitical-economy Analysis Notes [1] Midterm elections occur half-way through the four-year presidential terms. [2] We use the words "populace" and "the public" rather than "citizens" to recognize that protesters included many who were not U.S. citizens. Additional informationNotes on contributorsAdam G. Klein Adam Klein is Ph. D. candidate in the Mass Communication and Media Studies Graduate Program, School of Communications, Howard University, Washington, DC Carolyn M. Byerly Carolyn M. Byerly is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism, School of Communications, Howard University, Washington, DC Tony M. McEachern Tony McEachern is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mass Communication and Media Studies Graduate Program, School of Communication, Howard University, Washington, DC
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-09-30
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 25
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