Abstract

This article draws on narrative theory and the notion of framing, the latter as developed in the literature on social movements, to explore various ways in which translators and interpreters accentuate, undermine or modify contested aspects of the narrative(s) encoded in the source text or utterance. Starting with an outline of the assumptions and strengths of a narrative framework compared to existing theories of translation, the article goes on to define the concept of framing in the context of activist discourse. It then outlines some of the sites – or points in and around the text – at which (re)framing may be achieved and offers various examples of framing strategies used in written and screen translation. The examples are drawn from translations between English and Arabic in the context of the Middle East conflict and the so-called War on Terror, but the theoretical issues outlined are not language- or context-specific.

Abstract

This study compares the frames presented by four printed and online newspapers (El país, El mundo, Elconfidencial.com, and Eldiario.es) in their headlines with those adopted by the four largest political parties (PP, PSOE, Podemos and Ciudadanos) in the news releases published on their websites during the 2015 Spanish electoral campaign. Findings show that strategy and game frames clearly dominated not only news media discourse, but also the pieces published by the political parties, whereas prognostic and issue frames were more infrequent. This reveals the contagion of the media logic to the parties’ informative action and evidences their co-responsibility in the political disaffection. Meanwhile, the importance of game and strategy frames feeds media commercial dynamics and allows media to intervene in the political sphere practicing a speculative journalism.

Abstract

The digitization and storage of news in databases facilitates the research of large amounts of text when using computer assisted content analysis techniques. Several authors point out the advantages of using computer programs in framing studies. The aim of this paper is to analyze the presence in the media of frames used by participants in the electoral debate televised on December 7, 2015 on the occasion of the Spanish general elections of 2015. In our study we implemented an automated analysis content with WordStat software to extract the frames of the texts analyzed, through a method that combines quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results of the study show that, in spite of a noticeable increase in the number of news articles about the candidates after the debate, the press coverage does not report on all the topics covered in the debate and presents politicians as if they participated in a horse race.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the main communication policies carried out by various public institutions, in accordance with national and European food safety control systems, in order to manage the growing number and severity of food crises. To this end, the outbreak of listeriosis in La Mechá tufted meat company registered in the summer of 2019 in Spain has been selected as one of the cases, together with the crisis caused by the bacteria E. coli in 2011, in which the communication policy of institutions has caused more controversy. Given the commitment of national and European authorities to strengthen the systems of alerts and health and food control, the study of this case aims to put on the table the suitability of the crisis communication management and to underline its importance as the main tool for managing food crises, so that conflicts can be controlled and alarmism caused by certain information can be reduced. In the face of a food crisis, the only instrument available to the final consumer to protect his health is information. If the competent authorities issue discrepant, ambiguous, speculative or contradictory messages, the feeling of lack of control and misinformation will increase. On the other hand, the complexity of the area in which these crises develop, food safety, requires that public authorities and those responsible for developing these communication policies know how national and European safety controls work, including the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), which allows the responsible national and European bodies to exchange information quickly and efficiently, and the relevant legislation.

Abstract

International literature demonstrates the influence of news media on the political attitudes and behaviors of citizens, stemming from the coverage and framing of politics. In the context of election campaigns, this news framing effect has usually been analyzed based on experimental designs, mainly through the manipulation of strategic game and issue frames. However, the need to conduct studies with greater realism has recently been raised, to increase the external validity and generalization of the findings. This approach, called experimental realism, seeks to link media content with opinion measurements to generate consumption indicators of certain types of news frames. Taking this procedure as a reference, this paper presents results on the impact of informative content consumption, focused on either the electoral strategy or programmatic proposals, in the development of the political engagement of citizens during the 2018 Mexican presidential campaign. The findings reveal an important effect of issue frame consumption on citizen political engagement according to all the measured indicators.

Abstract

This study proposes alternative measures of infotainment’s effects on audience perception and reception of news on social media, focusing on infotainment coverage of North Korea. We determine the elements of framing strategies and narrative styles in facilitating public attention, positive and negative responses, and engagement in news content. We used the YouTube application programming interface to collect data from VideoMug, Korea’s most popular YouTube channel, run by the Seoul Broadcasting System. We examined 23,774 replies commenting on North Korea-related video clips from July 1, 2018, to May 17, 2019. The findings show that entertainment and human interest frames were effective in drawing public attention to news coverage about North Korea. Using humor and colloquial language facilitated public attention (both positive and negative) and public engagement. Over half (59.55%) of the comments generated positive emotions; less than one-third generated negative emotions (31.41%); and a few generated neutral ones (9.03%). The infotainment approach helped make South Koreans’ attitudes toward North Korea and inter-Korean relations more positive. A small number of users who served as top authorities were extremely partisan and conducted intense debates about infotainment practices. This study’s hybrid analytical framework using computerized text mining techniques offers both theoretical and methodological insights into the function of infotainment in the context of social media.

Abstract

According to the sociology of public problems, the construction, visibility, and stabilization of a public problem require the mobilization of collectives of citizens interested in the issue, which act as an active entity in demanding actions and policies. One such issue is the depopulation of rural areas in Spain, which has shifted from a geographically localized problem to a matter of state policy. This article investigates the influence of framing in this process, analyzing a corpus of 5,980 headlines from newspapers in the Aragon, Castile-La Mancha, and Castile and Leon regions of Spain as well as from two national media outlets, corresponding to the period 2012–2021. Through the application of statistical analyses of lexical frequency in stages, the most significant terms in the evolution of the media’s coverage of the issue have been identified, which has made it possible to observe the appearance and displacement of concepts and their relationship to the most important milestones of social and political mobilization. In addition, its power to stir up sentiment in socio-political discourse has been explored. The consolidation of depopulation as a stable element in the Spanish media agenda, going beyond the regional sphere and having a presence dissociated from specific events through time, in contrast to what occurred some years ago, stands out. Finding a media-friendly frame -empty Spain [España vacía] and emptied Spain [España vaciada]- may have been a key element in this. 

Abstract

This article presents the results of a quantitative analysis of two Romanian Facebook communities' self-presentations during the online and offline anti-fracking protests in Romania. In 2013 Romanians started to protest against the gas exploration of the US giant Chevron in the village of Punge?ti. The online and offline Punge?ti Resistance Movement turned within one month from a rural to a national mobilization tool meant to help the Romanian peasants affected by the proposed shale gas exploration operations of Chevron. Since the online engagement desired to finally turn into an offline participation is highly dependent on the informing practice, we consider that a framing analysis of the Facebook posts will reflect whether they are culturally compatible and relevant for the protesters. Using the framing theory in social movements as our theoretical background, we provided a comparative content analysis of two Romanian Facebook communities' postings (October, 2013 - February, 2014). We focused on identifying the verbal and visual framing devices and the main collective action frames used for the shaping of the online communities' collective identity. The findings revealed a dominance of «land struggle» as a collective action frame followed by «conflict» and «solidarity» and a salience of photos and video files used as framing devices of cultural relevance for Romanian protesters and of evidence of offline anti-fracking activism in Romania.

Abstract