The Employment of Generic and Issue-Specific Frames

Abstract

This study examines the employment of frames by local television channels in their coverage of Lebanon’s October 2019 uprising. It used mixed methods to examine the employment of both generic frames, which are frames that surpass particular events and can be recognized across diverse subjects (de Vreese, 2002), and issue-specific frames, which are frames that are particular to one event or subject (de Vreese, 2005). Through a qualitative media framing analysis (MFA), the first part of this study examined the way television channels interpreted the protests. The second part used a quantitative content analysis to measure induced frames, examine the difference between anti-protests and pro-protests channels in employing issue-specific and generic frames, and test the relationship between the employment of both frames. Results from the MFA indicated that local television channels mainly used the solidarity frame, head-to-head frame, individualization frame, acknowledgment frame, disruption frame, and the peace through violence frame to interpret the protests. Results from the quantitative content analysis indicated that the political alignment of channels impacted their choices of employing some frames. Anti-protests channels were more likely than the pro-protests channels to employ the attribution of responsibility frame, disruption frame, acknowledgment frame, economic consequences frame and the conflict frame. The pro-protests channels were more likely to employ the solidarity frame. Finally, the study also revealed that there was a relationship between the employment of generic frames and issue-specific frames: The solidarity frame was less likely to be used in news stories that employ the attribution of responsibility frame, economic consequences frame, and the conflict frame. The disruption frame and head-to-head frame were more likely to be used in news reports that employ the conflict frame, and less likely to be employed in news stories that employ the economic consequences and morality frames. The acknowledgment frame was less likely to be used in news reports that employed the human-interest frame, and more likely in news reports that used the economic consequences frame. Aside from examining the coverage of Lebanon’s protests systematically and reliably, which has not been done previously, the significance of this study lies in its ability to find the relationship between issue-specific and generic frames and increase our knowledge of frames and the diverse roles they play when used together. Its significance also lies in its ability to present a framework for a typology of issue-specific frames that could be used to examine other social movements and periods of unrest.