SHANDONG UNIVERSITY

山东大学

School of Political Science and Public Administration

MASTERS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

TERM PAPER

Reading between the Lines: Framing and Priming in the Media Coverage of the Ukraine

Crisis

Presented By

Bright Mhango (M2013071)

Presented To

杨丽华

Yang Lihua, Professor

(Comparative Politics)

February 2014

1

Reading between the lines: Framing and Priming in the Ukraine Crisis Media coverage

The media are so powerful in today’s life that some people have labeled them on an equal

footing as Parliament, Judiciary and the Executive arm of government. But with power comes

great controversy and as such, the question of media is listed as one of the most controversial

topic in political science.

There are competing ideas as to what the role of the media is in a democracy or in the

international system and this paper will not try to join that debate, nor will it try to pick how true

and real media effects are. The paper will however support the idea that media set the agenda and

use language and other tricks to try to influence the way people interpret the world.

It will consider the case of priming and framing and use the currently ongoing Ukraine Crisis as

case study to show how different media houses hold different ideologies and try to influence

their audiences to think along their lines. As it is famously said: ‘‘the media may not be

successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but is stunningly successful in telling

its readers what to think about’’ (Cohen, 1963, p. 13,).

Framing and Priming

Liberal Pluralists see society as a complex of competing groups and interests, none of them

predominant all of the time. Media organizations are seen as bounded organizational systems,

enjoying an important degree of autonomy from the state, political parties and institutionalized

pressure groups. Control of the media is said to be in the hands of an autonomous managerial

elite who allow a considerable degree of flexibility to media professionals1.

Marxists view capitalist society as being one of class domination; the media are seen as part of

an ideological arena in which various class views are fought out, although within the context of

the dominance of certain classes; ultimate control is increasingly concentrated in monopoly

capital; media professionals, while enjoying the illusion of autonomy, are socialized into and

internalize the norms of the dominant culture; the media taken as a whole, relay interpretive

frameworks consonant with the interests of the dominant classes, and media audiences, while

1 Chandler, Daniel (1994) Marxist Media Theory retrieved on 20/02/14 from URL: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism.html

2

sometimes negotiating and contesting these frameworks, lack ready access to alternative

meaning systems that would enable them to reject the definitions offered by the media in favour

of consistently oppositional definitions. (Gurevitch et al. in Chandler 1994)

This paper roots for the Marxist Media Theory.

The mass media are, in classical Marxist terms, a 'means of production' which in capitalist

society are in the ownership of the ruling class. According to the classical Marxist position, the

mass media simply disseminate the ideas and world views of the ruling class, and deny or defuse

alternative ideas. This is very much in accord with Marx's argument that:

The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time

over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who

lack the means of mental production are subject to it. (Marx & Engels: The German Ideology,

cited in Curran et al. 1982: 22 and quoted in Chandler, 1994).

The media, according to various Marxists, have ideological power and the messages they send to

audiences are laden with it.

For Example, the media showing violence has been argued by scholars like Stuart Hall as being a

way ‘to legitimize the forces of law and order, build consent for the extension of coercive state

regulation and de-legitimate outsiders and dissidents'.

The coverage of elections has been shown as being a way of socializing the masses to believe

that they live in a representative democracy.

Elites presumably care about what people think because they want them to behave in certain

ways, supporting or at least tolerating elite activities. Given limitations of time, attention, and

rationality, getting people to think (and behave) in a certain way requires selecting some things

to tell them about and efficiently cueing them on how these elements mesh with their own

schema systems.

“Because the best succinct definition of power is the ability to get others to do what one wants

(Nagel, 1975), ‘‘telling people what to think about’’ is how one exerts political influence in

noncoercive political systems (and to a lesser extent in coercive ones). And it is through framing

3

that political actors shape the texts that influence or prime the agendas and considerations that

people think about2.”

Framing has been defined as the process of culling a few elements of perceived reality and

assembling a narrative that highlights connections among them to promote a particular

interpretation. (Entman, 2007)

Framing works to shape and alter audience members’ interpretations and preferences through

priming.

And Priming is when media provide a context for public discussion of an issue, setting the stage

for audience understanding.

The amount of time and space that media devote to an issue make an audience receptive and alert

to particular themes. Likewise, audience perceptions of events are impacted by historical context

with which they are familiar (through experience or through media).

Grounded in cognitive psychology, the theory of media priming is derived from the associative

network model of human memory, in which an idea or concept is stored as a node in the network

and is related to other ideas or concepts by semantic paths. Priming refers to the activation of a

node in this network, which may serve as a filter, an interpretive frame, or a premise for further

information processing or judgment formation.

As an example media reporting may be very strong leading up to an event such as the Olympics,

or World Cup, making it almost impossible for audiences to ignore the event. Such aggressive

reporting thus creates an audience of people at least temporarily interested in the sport, even

though prior to the reporting many (perhaps most) members of the audience were not sports fans.

Rather, they are people who get caught up in the moment. (Ron Smith, 2011)

In framing media provide a focus and environment for reporting a story, influencing how

audiences will understand or evaluate it. Framing theory deals with social construction on two

levels: Perception of a social phenomenon by journalists presenting news and interpretation of

that phenomenon by audience.

2 Robert M. Entman (2007) Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power in Journal of Communication Volume 57 , Issue 1 , pages 163–173, March 2007

4

Framing involves the use of metaphor, spin, storytelling, jargon, word choice, and other narrative

elements.

As an example, through initial reporting, the media may present the facts of a story in such as

way that the audience is given a particular point of view or frame of reference and interpretation.

The media may report that a political candidate has extreme views on an issue, that a budget

proposal is harmful to a particular group, that a new medicine is of questionable safety, and so

on. By such reporting, the media thus have presented a frame through which the story is

interpreted by audiences. It also sets the baseline for future reporting on the issue.

That is, frames introduce or raise the salience or apparent importance of certain ideas, activating

schemas that encourage target audiences to think, feel, and decide in a particular way.

Entman (2004) argues that frames typically perform four functions: problem definition, causal

analysis, moral judgment, and remedy promotion.

Framing essentially involves selection and salience. To frame is to select some aspects of

perceived reality and make them more salient in the communicating text, in such a way as to

promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation and/or treatment

recommendation for the item described. Frames, then, define problems—determine what a causal

agent is doing and costs and benefits, usually measured in terms of cultural values; diagnose

causes—identify the forces creating the problem; make moral judgments—evaluate causal agents

and their effects; and suggest remedies—offer and justify treat

As a property of a message, a frame limits or defines the message’s meaning by shaping the

inferences that individuals make about the message. Frames reflect judgments made by message

creators or framers. Some frames represent alternative valencing of information (i.e., putting

information in either a positive or negative light, or valence framing). Other frames involve the

simple alternative phrasing of terms (semantic framing).

The most complex form of framing is storytelling (story framing). Story framing involves (a)

selecting key themes or ideas that are the focus of the message and (b) incorporating a variety of

storytelling or narrative.

5

Hallahan’s Seven Models of Framing 3

Frame Description

Situations Relationships between individuals in situations

found in everyday living and literature.

Framing of situations provides structure for

examining communication. Applies to

discourse analysis, negotiation, and other

interactions.

Attributes Characteristics of objects and people are

accentuated, whereas others are ignored, thus

biasing processing of information in terms of

focal attributes

Choices Posing alternative decisions in either negative

(loss) or positive (gain) terms can bias choices

in situations involving uncertainty. Prospect

theory suggests people will take greater risks to

avoid losses than to obtain gains.

Actions In persuasive contexts, the probability that a

person will act to attain a desired goal is

influenced by whether alternatives are stated in

positive or negative terms.

Issue Social problems and disputes can be explained

in alternative terms by different parties who vie

for their preferred definition a problem or

situation to prevail.

Responsibility Individuals tend to attribute cause of events to

either internal or external factors, based on 3 Adapted from Kirk Hallahan (1999) Seven Models of Framing: Implications for Public Relations in Journal of Public Relations Research, 11(3), 205–242

6

levels of stability and control. People portray

their role in events consistent with their self-

image in ways that maximize benefits and

minimize culpability. People attribute causes to

personal actions rather than systemic problems

in society.

News Media reports use familiar, culturally

resonating themes to relay information about

events. Sources vie for their preferred framing

to be featured through frame enterprise and

frame sponsorship

While covering conflict that involves multiple nations Zendberg and Neiger (2005) found that

journalists are caught between being professional and patriotism and usually, argued the authors,

the journalists try to be patriotic4.

Ukraine

Ukraine is Europe’s second largest country seated on top or Romania and the Black Sea and half

wedged into Russia. With a population of 45 million people, Ukraine only got independence in

1991 after the Soviet Union fell apart.

Demonstrations broke out in Ukraine on the night of 21 November 2013, when protests erupted

in the capital, Kiev, after the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for

signing an Association Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, in

favour of closer economic relations with Russia.  On 24 November 2013 first clashes between

protesters and police began. Protesters strived to break cordon.

Police used tear gas and batons, protesters also used tear gas and some fire crackers (according to

police protesters were first to use them). After a few days of demonstrations an increasing

4 Zendberg, E i Neiger, M 2005, ‘Between the nation and profession: journalists as members of contradicting communities’, Media, Culture and Society, vol. 23, no. 1,str. 131—141.

7

number of university students joined the protests. Despite so far unmet demands to renew

Ukraine-EU integration, the Euromaidan has been repeatedly characterized as an event of major

political symbolism for the European Union itself, particularly as "the largest ever pro-European

rally in history".

Ukraine has since been described as a battleground for old enemies; Russia and the West.

With this hypothesis in mind, this paper will highlight a few news stories from The Voice of

Russia (The official Russian Broadcasting Station), RT (a Russian and publicly funded television

station), The British Broadcasting Corporation and The Huffington Post a US independent news

website.

The analogy is simply to illustrate theory and is in no way scientific.

RT on February 25 ran a story with a headline:

“Alarming trend in Ukraine: Historic monuments toppled, Nazi symbols spread

(PHOTOS, VIDEO)5”

The headline was followed by this lead:

‘After a fortnight of violent clashes in the name of democracy, Ukraine seems to be falling into a

totally different trend. Symbols of victories over Hitler and Napoleon are being torn down, while

those glorifying Nazi rule are multiplying.’

Voice of Russia writing n the same went with the headline:

“Clashes in Ukraine: historical statues destroyed while Nazi symbols remain6”

The lead that followed ran as follows:

“Straight after violent clashes in Ukraine, finally it seems that the country is on a better path.

After months of struggle, it can be seen that the symbols of victories have been torn down while

Nazi symbols are being put up.”

5 RT (2014) retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL: http://rt.com/news/ukraine-monuments-nazi-symbols-645/6 Voice of Russia (2014) Clashes in Ukraine: historical statues destroyed while Nazi symbols remain retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_27/Clashes-in-Ukraine-historical-statues-destroyed-while-Nazi-symbols-remain-9620/

8

On the Western front

The Huffington Post ran with:

“Leninopad, Ukraine's Falling Lenin Statues, Celebrated As Soviet Symbols Toppled

Nationwide (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)7”

The lead for the Huffington Post ran:

“Last week, as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tried to hang on to power, opposition

protesters tore down statues of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin across the country, according to

the BBC. The symbolic gesture signaled the protesters' desire to tear away from Ukraine's Soviet

history and the country's ongoing dependence on modern Russia.”

The BBC went with:

“Ukraine crisis: Lenin statues toppled in protest8”

Following with:

“Protesters have toppled statues of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin in various

Ukrainian cities.”

In the South of the country in the offshoot of Crimea, a group of people who had guns stormed

the parliament ad installed a Russian flag atop the building…

For Voice of Russia the groups were described as ‘self-defense units9,’ Huffington Post called

them ‘armed protesters10,’ and RT termed them “Self-defense Squads11.”

7Huffington Post (2014) Leninopad, Ukraine's Falling Lenin Statues, Celebrated As Soviet Symbols Toppled Nationwide (VIDEOS, PHOTOS) retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/24/leninopad-falling-lenins-statues-ukraine_n_4847364.html?utm_hp_ref=ukraine8BBC (2014) Ukraine crisis: Lenin statues toppled in protest retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-263067379 http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_27/Crimea-Parliament-seized-by-unidentified-armed-men-tensions-grow-in-Ukraine-4512/?slide-110 http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/27/ukraine-crimea_n_4864020.html?utm_hp_ref=uk&just_reloaded=111 http://rt.com/news/crimea-parliament-building-capture-987/

9

The Voice or Russia did not mention that a Russian flag was installed on the seized building; RT

used the very Russian flag in its headline and picture as did the Huffington Post.

The BBC showed the picture of the flag but said the ‘unidentified’ men ‘were cheered by a

handful of pro-Russian demonstrators who gathered round the building12.’

Having considered the Marxist theory and defined framing and priming, it is easy to see the wall

in the media on the opposite sides of Ukraine.

The BBC goes on to use phrases such as “Western nations have warned Russia…,” for example

which to an unsuspecting media consumer will trigger his brain to see Ukraine as a wall between

Russia and the West.

The Russia media calling the armed protestors self-defense units/squads is also another ploy to

make audiences think that the men who actually stormed parliament and threw a flash grenade at

journalists are just people defending themselves.

And the BBC can also not explain why it uses the word handful to describe a group of people

without admitting that it meant to convey a sense that the numbers around the Crimean

parliament were very decimal.

The fact that the Voice of Russia omits the picture of a Russian flag on the Crimean parliament

or the mention of it shows that it is trying to make unavailable certain facts that audiences might

use in making an interpretation about the situation.

And the leads used by RT and Voice of Russia are also laden with ideology and are primed and

framed to tilt the Ukrainian story in favour of Russia.

RT has done more than three stories and all talk about how the statue destroyed in town so and

so signified the freeing of the Ukrainians from Napoleon…all while not mentioning that it is a

Russian statue and therefore possibly seen as a symbol of Russian colonialism in Ukraine.

Instead the two highlight, with both pictures and video zooming into swastikas painted on some

walls. The idea behind this priming is to emphasize and draw attention to the neo-Nazi elements

12 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26366700

10

in the Ukrainian protest movements and ultimately to discredit them in the minds of the

audiences.

But neo-Nazi units have always been part of European cities including Russia itself and so far

the majority of the protest movement has not been vocal and active in championing racial hatred.

With this said, the Huffington post and the BBC lack of significant mention of the Nazi units in

the Ukrainian protest movement might be a deliberate omission to sanitize the protestors as

genuine clean European loving common people.

And the description in the western media that the Ukrainian protests were the biggest pro-

European rallies in history are for example attempts to appeal to audiences as a gallant play by

Ukrainians, and nobody wants to highlight the fact that the protest grew because people

particularly wanted to oust the president for championing anti-protest laws.

In summary, the media have been shown to be a powerful element in everyday life and listed as

agenda-setters; it is because of their focus on Ukraine that a similar crisis in Venezuela got little

mention all throughout February.

The media have been, using the Marxist inspired theories of priming and framing, shown to be

crafty and intent at influencing the conclusions audiences draw from events they cover. In the

Ukraine Crisis, the media from Russia have been shown to be purveyors of Russian ideology and

thus keen at making audiences sympathize with the Russian stand in Ukraine.

The media from Europe and America have also been championing their ideology. Both sides

have used language and omission and highlighting of certain issues to try to get their goals.

Bibliography

BBC (2014) West warns Russia amid rising tensions in Crimea Retrieved on 28/02/14 from

URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26366700

11

BBC (2014) Ukraine crisis: Lenin statues toppled in protest retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26306737

Chandler, Daniel (1994) Marxist Media Theory retrieved on 20/02/14 from URL:

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism.html

Huffington Post UK (2014) Ukraine Crisis: Crimean Protesters Raise Russian Flag Over

Parliament Building retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/27/ukraine-crimea_n_4864020.html?

utm_hp_ref=uk&just_reloaded=1

Huffington Post (2014) Leninopad, Ukraine's Falling Lenin Statues, Celebrated As Soviet

Symbols Toppled Nationwide (VIDEOS, PHOTOS) retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/24/leninopad-falling-lenins-statues-

ukraine_n_4847364.html?utm_hp_ref=ukraine

Kirk Hallahan (1999) Seven Models of Framing: Implications for Public Relations in Journal

of Public Relations Research, 11(3), 205–242

Robert M. Entman (2007) Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power in Journal of

Communication Volume 57 ,   Issue 1 ,   pages 163–173, March 2007

RT (2014) retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL: http://rt.com/news/ukraine-monuments-nazi-

symbols-645/

RT (2014) Russian flag over Crimea's parliament as people barricaded inside Retrieved on

28/02/14 from URL: http://rt.com/news/crimea-parliament-building-capture-987/

Voice of Russia (2014) Clashes in Ukraine: historical statues destroyed while Nazi symbols

remain retrieved on 28/02/14 from URL: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_27/Clashes-

in-Ukraine-historical-statues-destroyed-while-Nazi-symbols-remain-9620/

Voice of Russia (2014) Crimea Parliament seized by unidentified armed men, tensions grow

in Ukraine retrieved on 27/02/14 from URL:

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_27/Crimea-Parliament-seized-by-unidentified-armed-

men-tensions-grow-in-Ukraine-4512/?slide-1

12

Zendberg, E i Neiger, M 2005, ‘Between the nation and profession: journalists as members

of contradicting communities’, Media, Culture and Society, vol. 23, no. 1,str. 131—141.

13