Much research is devoted to determining how news media frame
information so that it affects audiences' understanding and
interpretation of issues. A number of studies also look at media
functions under various situations. On September 11, 2001, continuous
television coverage of the most aggressive terrorist attack on America
to date began within seconds of the initial plane crash into the World
Trade Center. This provided a unique opportunity to understand how
television media cover a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. This study
looks at how television outlets framed 9/11 during the first 24 hours,
the functions they performed in the national crisis, and how the stages
of the crisis affected coverage frames and media functions as unfolding
events brought attention to new issues.
Literature Review
When the social order is seriously disrupted, people usually want
more information than the media can provide (Neal, 1998). During crises,
the public becomes almost totally dependent on the media for news that
may be vital for survival and for important messages from public and
private authorities. They look to the media for information,
explanations, and interpretations (Graber, 1980, p. 228). For example,
after President Kennedy's assassination, public uncertainty about
the future of the U.S. government resulted in greater need for
interpretation, explanation, and consolation (Schramm, 1965).
Media Functions in a Crisis
The National Research Council Committee on Disasters and the Mass
Media (1980, p. 10) postulated that the press performed six functions
during a crisis: 1) warning of predicted or impending disasters; 2)
conveying information to officials, relief agencies, and the public; 3)
charting the progress of relief and recovery; 4) dramatizing lessons
learned for the purpose of future preparedness; 5) taking part in
long-term public education programs; and 6) defining slow-onset problems
as crises or disasters.
Researchers say the media have many functions depending on the
audience's needs. For example, in addition to transmitting
information, the media perform a "social utility function"
(Dominick, 1996, p. 47) by providing companionship and emotional support
in the absence of other human beings. Others (Entman, 1991 ; Hertog,
2000; Iyengar & Simon, 1993; Ungar, 1998) found the media performed
different functions within different crisis situations. The selection of
issues and the emphasis they receive tend to differ among media, but all
forms of media include information on the primary issues (Lowery &
DeFleur, 1995, p. 341). When dealing with breaking news, such as a
crisis, the change in reporting routines affects the type of information
that journalists disseminate. Journalists who covered the breaking news
of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were found to assume multiple roles in
delivering information. The content of breaking news reported live was
fundamentally different from the content of news stories that were
produced with more time to check for violations of journalistic
standards (Reynolds & Barnett, 2003).
Graber's notion that there are three stages of media coverage
of a crisis seems to reaffirm the media functions listed (1980, p. 229).
During the first stage, media are the primary information source not
only for the general public, but also for public officials involved with
the crisis. Media's key roles are to describe what has happened and
help coordinate the relief work. Their top priority is to get accurate
information, which relieves uncertainty and calms people (pp. 233-234).
In the second stage, media coverage focuses on making sense out of the
situation. Plans are formulated and implemented to address the needs of
the victims and repair the damage. Graber says the third stage overlaps
with the first two. In an effort to provide context, the role of media
is to place the crisis in a larger, longer-term perspective.
Studies found between-media difference in U.S. media coverage of
various issues including presidential campaigns (G. H. Stempel &
Windhauser, 1989) and Canadian elections (Husselbee & Stempel,
1997). However, studies also showed similarity in selection of stories
among newspapers (Riffe, Ellis, Rogers, Van Ommeren, & Woodman,
1986). Competing media will conform under certain circumstances (Bigman,
1948). These findings suggest between-media difference in coverage on
issues of social significance. But to what degree television media
differ in functions they perform in a crisis situation remains
unanswered.
Frame Analysis and Sources' Role in Framing
Frame analysis is the most common approach to examining media
content. It is based on the assumption that journalists filter
information in ways that affect an audience's understanding or
interpretation of issues, stories, or events (Lowery & DeFleur,
1995, p. 327). By selecting certain facts from a continuous flow of
information, emphasizing specific issues or events over others, and
presenting issues or events in specific orders, journalists have the
ability to influence attitudes, beliefs, and behavior in a number of
ways.
Researchers have looked at media frames from various perspectives.
"To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make
them more salient in a 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." (Entman,
1993, p. 52) Framing, then, can be described as a "story angle or
hook"; it is "the central organizing idea or story line that
provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events and weaves a connection
among them" (Gamson & Modigliani, 1987, p. 143). Media use
"certain perspective and frames" in news coverage to help
people organize and understand news information (King, 1997, p. 29).
News is often presented from a point of view that changes the
viewer's understanding or interpretation of events and evokes
emotions (Nimmo & Combs, 1985, pp. 17-18; Norris, 1995, p. 359).
A number of studies have focused on news content and how it is
framed (Entman, 1993; Fico & Freedman, 2001; Iyengar, 1991; Iyengar
& Simon, 1993; Larson, 1984; Nacos, 1994; Norris, 1995; Pan &
Kosicki, 1993; Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000; Tewksbury, Jones, Peske,
Raymond, & Vig, 2000; Ungar, 1998). Framing research shows that four
frames are more common than others: conflict, human interest,
responsibility, and economic consequences (Valkenburg & Semetko,
1999, p. 551). The responsibility frame is the most frequently used,
followed by the conflict frame. Economic and human interest frames were
significantly lower in use (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). However, in
a crisis involving a large number of casualties, human interest could
emerge as a dominant frame. Media functions suggested by The National
Research Council Committee on Disasters (1980, p. 10) and the social
utility function (Dominick, 1996, p. 47) concurred in pointing to the
attention that media paid to human interest in the coverage of
disasters, which could lead to human interest frames overshadowing
others.
Sources play an important role in media framing. Studies found
source use is related to media frames (Liebler & Bendix, 1996).
Other studies found unusual source selection in a crisis and its effect
on framing (Andsager & Powers, 1999; Colby & Cook, 1991; Entman,
1991; Lasorsa & Reese, 1990; Nacos, 1994). Media used a wider
variety of sources when covering an anti-American terrorist act than
when covering other foreign policy issues (Nacos, 1994). In the coverage
of AIDS, the typical AIDS story tended less to sensationalize than to
reassure because government officials and high-ranking doctors were
major sources (Colby & Cook, 1991). Under the crisis situation of
9/11, a wider range of sources was used and such source reliance is
likely to affect media frames.
Frame Dynamics and Stage of Crisis
The studies reviewed here indicate that various factors affect
media frames. Whereas the findings of these studies offer insight into
the coverage pattern of important issues in a crisis, there is still
much to be understood. For example, in a rapidly developing national
crisis, do news frames emerge with patterns similar to those in other
crisis situations? What sources played the most important roles in
framing the news? To what degree do new events bring about changes in
media frames? One of the major flaws in frame analysis of news coverage
is that most of the studies examined media frames from a static
perspective; that is, the media frames were considered constant
throughout the process. In fact, when covering a rapidly changing
crisis, media are likely to follow the changes and present varying
frames as events unfold. This study seeks to specify the changing
construction of media frames during a rapidly evolving crisis.
Several studies have touched on frame dynamics in media coverage of
various issues including welfare (Gilens, 1999), the Clinton health care
package (Jacobs & Shapiro, 2000) and police brutality (Lawrence,
2000). Media could shift framing strategies from presenting frightening
information to a containment or calming approach when
"dread-inspiring events are developing in unpredictable and
potentially threatening ways" (Ungar, 1998, p. 36). None of these
studies specifically focused on frame dynamics in media coverage of a
national crisis or offered an elaborate view on frame dynamics. Chyi and
McCombs (2004) proposed "frame-changing" in their study of the
coverage of the Columbine school shooting, arguing that during any news
event's life span, media often reframe the event by emphasizing
different attributes. Muschert and Carr (2006) extended the study of
frame-changing across similar events and between more and less salient
events. Although both studies examined frame dynamics and offered useful
ideas of sequence-related frame changes associated with time, neither of
them examined frame-changing in news coverage as events evolved through
stages.
Unlike previous studies of media frames in breaking news, this
study introduces stage of crisis as a key factor affecting the frame of
coverage, and attempts to reveal the frame dynamics through analysis of
television coverage of 9/11. This study proposes that media frames are
dynamic rather than static. Previous studies basically considered frames
as unitary properties of news content and few studies examined media
frames according to their nature and sophistication. Frames are not
identical in their modes of formation and in their properties,
especially in situations where events change rapidly. Two dimensions of
frame properties were identified: frame nature and frame sophistication,
which change over the stages of crisis.
Frame nature refers to the degree to which a frame probes into
issues concerned when certain facts and issues are presented to form the
frame. According to Reynolds and Barnett's (2003) study of the
first 5 hours of television coverage of 9/11, the journalists worked in
a situation drastically different from traditional reporting routines.
As the pace of coverage slowed in the later stages, journalists gathered
more information about the events and had more time to think through the
facts. They gradually resumed reporting routines, which would result in
substantial media frame changes. There are three types of frame nature
associated with the stages in a crisis. The descriptive frame
corresponds to the news media's function of informing and relieving
uncertainty during the first stage of a crisis, mainly through
explaining what has happened. The attributive frame corresponds to the
news media's function of making sense out of the situation during
the second stage. The affective frame relates to the news media's
function of understanding the event from a long-term view and the impact
of the incident during the third stage of crisis. Media frames change
from descriptive to attributive to affective during different stages of
crisis.
Frame sophistication refers to the level of complexity of a story
angle or salience. For example, the disaster frame in the coverage of a
crisis is easily identifiable, whereas frames of human interest and
economic impact are relatively more difficult to identify because they
are on higher levels of frame sophistication. Informed by Reynolds and
Barnett's (2003) findings on news content produced under stressful
situations, journalists are likely to report what they observe directly
and will produce stories with lower frame sophistication during the
earlier stages of a crisis. As the coverage of a crisis extends in scope
and depth, media frames will go from relatively simple to more
sophisticated. Examination of frame sophistication will reveal frame
dynamics in addition to substantial frame changes through the stages of
a crisis.
The literature suggests that news media are used mainly as a source
of information in a crisis situation. According to the social utility
function, media also fulfill needs other than the need for information.
In the early stages of a crisis, aside from providing information, media
could also serve as a source of consolation and guidance. As the events
unfold, media may perform their social utility function differently
during different stages of a crisis.
According to the literature on the influence of government sources
on news content, government sources play a major role in the coverage of
a national crisis. However, with the magnitude of a disaster like 9/11,
which involved more parties and issues than typical political events,
government officials were not able to get as much information as they
would under less stressful situations and were also searching for
information in order to take appropriate actions. Television outlets had
to rely on a wider range of sources to cover the rapidly changing
events. This could translate to a diminished role of government sources
in the early stage of a crisis situation like 9/11.
Previous studies showed between-media differences as well as
similarities in news coverage. During a national crisis, media coverage
will vary due to organizational and other societal factors. Media also
try to get accurate information, relieve uncertainty and calm people
(Graber, 1980) rather than sensationalize events and scoop each other.
The key issues involved in the crisis were politics, public safety, and
antiterrorism. No television outlet could afford to deviate considerably
from others at such critical times in informing the public. The crisis
situation is likely to put rivals into conformity with each other
(Bigman, 1948). It is proposed television media will vary slightly in
coverage frames and media functions performed, but not drastically.
Rapid changes of news events during the first 24 hours and
observable stages of the coverage provided a unique opportunity to
examine how television media framed the news events, what functions they
performed in this unprecedented situation, and to what degree stages of
the crisis affected coverage frames and media functions in a national
crisis situation.
Based on the literature and previous research, the following
hypotheses are proposed:
[H.sub.1]: Television media frames change from descriptive to
attributive to affective during different stages of a crisis.
[H.sub.2]. Television media frame sophistication rises as coverage
moves through the stages of a crisis.
[H.sub.3]: Television coverage emphasizes human interest more than
political and economic factors in a crisis situation involving tragedy.
[H.sub.4]: Television media's use of a wider range of sources
in a crisis leads to a diminished role of government sources under
rapidly changing situations.
[H.sub.5]: Television media in a crisis situation serve as a source
of consolation and guidance in addition to an information source.
[H.sub.6]: Television media vary, but not extensively, in coverage
frames and media functions performed in a national crisis.
Method
This study used content analysis to examine the first 24 hours of
television coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Television was chosen because it had
been the dominant medium for informing Americans about the terrorist
attacks and the war on terrorism that followed (G. Stempel &
Hargrove, 2002). The news coverage of five television outlets, ABC, CBS,
NBC, CNN, and FOX News, was selected for content analysis. These outlets
were selected because of their dominant status in television news
coverage in the United States. They also include three different types
of television outlets: the established broadcast networks, a relatively
established cable channel (CNN), and a relatively new cable channel
(FOX). The first 24 hours were chosen because the time period contained
the most critical stages and the most intensive coverage of the
incident, and reflected changes in media coverage due to rapid
development.
The news content of the five television outlets during the first 24
hours was acquired through Vanderbilt University's video library. A
total of 2,647 stories were identified from the first 24 hours of
coverage, including 745 stories from ABC, 612 from CBS, 427 from NSC,
657 from CNN, and 206 from FOX News.
The study unit was a news story, defined as a group of studio and
field shots that specifically address one topic or issue and run
consecutively. The stories were identified according to the basic
building blocks: anchor reader, voice-overs, voice-overs with sound
bites and packages. Due to the unusual situation, news coverage
sometimes ran without clear building blocks. The following cues were
then used to identify a story: when the anchor or reporter changed the
topic and started reporting on a different aspect of the event instead
of merely mentioning something briefly, and the coverage of the topic
ran for a significant amount of time (at least 30 seconds). The stories
identified ran from 30 seconds to 12 minutes.
The following key variables were coded:
Stage of Coverage. The first 24 hours of television coverage were
divided into three stages: the first stage, 8:48 a.m. to 11 a.m., when
the disaster struck; the second stage, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the media
tried to make sense out of the situation; and the third stage, 3 p.m. to
7 p.m., when the media started to observe the event from a long-term
perspective. The three stages were consistent with Graber's (1980)
definition of the stages of crisis coverage. The later three periods, 7
p.m. to 12 a.m., 12 a.m. to 6 a.m., and 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. were an
extension of the third stage. The unequal lengths of the later three
periods conform to the intervals of normal TV programming. According to
Graber (1980), fewer changes in coverage will occur during the last
three periods. The inclusion of the later three periods extends
understanding of the frame dynamics and media functions during the later
stage of this crisis of unprecedented magnitude.
Coverage Frame. Following Entman's (1993) definition, the
coverage frame is defined as the aspects of a perceived reality
identified through a story that makes these aspects more salient in the
news coverage. One frame was selected from a story through the story
angle or focus identified in the lead. If the story angle or focus could
not be identified from the lead, the rest of the story was consulted
until the salience of the story was identified. Coverage frame contained
a total of nine categories. The coding decisions were made based on
whether the story angle or focus identified fell into the defining realm
of one of the nine categories, which included 1) Political: national
security, government policy, or international relations; 2) Economic:
economic impact brought by 9/11; 3) Criminal: criminal acts and
investigation; 4) Environment: environmental hazard, threat to public
health; 5) Safety: public and personal safety, and the ways to survive;
6) Human interest: human well-being, human feeling, family, and love; 7)
Religion: religious faith and act, Islam, Muslim, and other religions;
8) Disaster: damage and casualty; and 9) Other: all other framing
aspects that do not fit into above categories.
Frame Nature. The frames were categorized into three types
according to the degree to which a frame probed into issues concerned
when certain facts and issues were presented to form the frame: 1)
descriptive; 2) attributive; and 3) affective. The descriptive frame
corresponds to news media's function of informing and relieving
uncertainty during the first stage of a crisis, mainly explaining what
has happened. Disaster is a descriptive frame. The attributive frame
corresponds to news media's function of making sense out of the
situation during the second stage. Political, criminal, and religious
are attributive frames. The affective frame relates to news media's
function of understanding the event from a long-term view and the impact
of the incident during the third stage of crisis. Economic, environment,
safety, and human interest are affective frames.
Frame Sophistication. The frames were categorized according to
their level of complexity when certain facts and issues were selected
and presented to form a frame. Three levels were identified. Disaster as
a low-level frame does not require much work in perceiving the facts
involved and selecting certain facts and issues. Political and criminal
as medium-level frames involve more investigations and fact-filtering
processes. Human interest, economic and environment frames, all
high-level frames, go beyond the observable facts and issues and entail
more thought-provoking processes.
Content Orientation. Content orientation is used to identify main
functions that news media perform when covering a crisis. It contains
four categories, 1) fact; 2) analysis; 3) consolation; and 4) guidance.
Content orientation was identified through the lead of a story. If it
could not be identified from the lead, the whole story was consulted.
The coding decisions were made by identifying whether a story primarily
focused on 1) describing facts about what was happening; 2) analyzing
information, facts, or events; 3) consoling or comforting the audience
to make them feel safe and secure; or 4) providing guidance to the
audience on what to do. A story could perform more than one function.
But only the main focus was considered as content orientation.
Source. A source was defined as a name of a person or an
organization associated with direct or indirect quotes in a story. The
types of sources coded include government officials, the President,
experts, witnesses, business, airline officials, international,
relatives of victims, and other sources such as tourists.
Seven coders were trained using a coding protocol and by following
the procedures for coding news content prescribed by Rifle, Lacy, and
Fico (2005). Ten percent of the coding content of ABC and CNN, which
contained about 1 hour of the news coverage from the two outlets, was
used for an intercoder reliability check. Although a random sample from
each of the five outlets for the intercoder reliability test could
generate more reliable results, ABC and CNN, one broadcast network and
one cable channel, were found to be sufficient for the following
reasons: 1) A preliminary check showed the nature of 9/11 produced
homogeneity of coverage across all outlets; 2) Coding categories were
constructed by extensive review of the news content of all five outlets;
3) Coder training used news stories from all five outlets. Working with
the sample from the two outlets also made this project more manageable
as it produced a huge number of television stories. Scott's Pi was
used to test the intercoder reliability for nominal variables. The
intercoder reliability test results were: 1) Stage of coverage .96; 2)
Coverage frame .80; 3) Frame nature .80; 4) Frame sophistication .80; 5)
Content orientation .94; and 6) Source .84.
Results
[H.sub.1], that television media frames change from descriptive to
attributive to affective during different stages of a crisis, was
supported. During the first stage, from 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m., the
coverage was framed primarily with the descriptive frame disaster
(56.8%). Other types of frame, political (14.8%), criminal (12.5%), and
safety concerns (8.95%) were less noticeable. During the second stage of
the coverage, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the descriptive frame disaster
(37.5%) declined dramatically whereas the attributive frames rose
significantly. The political frame increased from 14.8% at 11 a.m. to
28.5% at 3 p.m., although the criminal frame remained constant (11.6%).
The affective frame emerged in the later hours of the coverage. The
economic frame rose from 0.9% at 11 a.m. to 4.1% after midnight. The
safety frame increased significantly from 8.9% in the earlier stages to
19% the next morning. The human interest frame rose from 1.3% during the
first stage to 8.8% by midnight. (Figure 1).
Fewer striking events occurred at night although the coverage of
9/11 continued throughout the night, which resulted in less systematic
differences in coverage frames. Coverage after 7 p.m. varied less but
presented its own unique pattern. The attributive political frame
decreased continuously (from 17% to 12.2%). The affective economic frame
became evident (from 2.9% to 4.1%). The other two affective frames,
safety and human interest, rose respectively from 11.3% to 19% and from
8.8% to 12.9% the next morning.
[H.sub.2], that television media frame sophistication rises as
coverage moves through stages of a crisis, was supported. The frames
identified during the first 24 hours were found to be different in their
levels of sophistication. Frames associated with stages of a crisis in
the coverage of 9/11 went from relatively simple to more sophisticated.
During the first stage, disaster stories dominated, which involved more
unified work in selecting facts and framing the stories, whereas stories
with political and criminal frames were still evolving. As the coverage
proceeded, the disaster frame declined and political and criminal frames
increased, and more sophisticated work was required in framing the
stories. During the third stage, stories framed as human interest
increased significantly, and issues concerning the environment and
economy also began to surface. These high-level frames involved more
thought-provoking processes from journalists.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
[H.sub.3], that television coverage emphasizes human interest more
than political and economic factors in crisis situations involving
tragedy, was not supported. About 6.6% of the stories were framed as
human interest. The three major frames of coverage were political
(17.9%), criminal (11.9%), and safety (11.8%). Approximately 40% of the
stories were framed as stories of a disaster. Although these stories
might be associated with the well-being of people, human interest was
not found as a major frame of stories during the first 24-hour coverage.
Overall, the political frame was more evident than human interest in the
coverage of the first 24 hours. However, as the event unfolded and the
coverage moved to later stages, human interest frames increased
dramatically from the earlier stages to become as prevalent as political
frames. Although the economic frame also rose in the later stages of the
coverage, human interest was emphasized more than the economics frame
through the coverage of the first 24 hours. (Figure 1)
[H.sub.4], that television media's use of a wider range of
sources in a crisis leads to a diminished role of government sources
under rapidly changing situations, was supported. The four most
frequently used sources were government officials (19.3%), witnesses
(10.8%), the President (6.7%), and experts (5.8%). Government officials
were the dominant sources among all sources used. However, their
relatively small percentage (19.3%) showed that government officials
were not as powerful as in the coverage of other crises or political
events. When examining the relationship between specific sources used in
the coverage of 9/11 and media frames, the diminished role of government
sources was even clearer. Government officials (33.7%) were associated
most with the political frame. The stories framed as disaster used
witnesses (22.4%) as the major source, with government officials (16.8%)
the second. Criminal frames used more experts (25.7%) than government
officials (21.3%) as the major sources. The stories framed as economic
cited more business sources (11.9%) than government officials (4.5%).
The stories framed as human interest were dominated by witnesses (13.2%)
and victims' relatives (18.4%) compared to government sources
(5.2%). (Table 1)
[H.sub.5], that television media in a crisis situation serve as a
source of consolation and guidance in addition to an information source,
was not supported. The television outlets served primarily as an
information source rather than a consoling and guiding source during
their coverage of the first 24 hours. More than 80% of the stories were
identified as primarily presenting facts, whereas only 14.8% of the
stories offered analysis. In terms of coverage time, 68% was devoted to
presentation of facts, whereas 17% was devoted to analysis. The coverage
devoted to consoling or easing stress and anxiety of the audience (2.0%)
and to guiding the audience in a crisis situation (1.2%) was negligible.
When looking at the changes of media functions by stages of crisis, no
changes were found in the stories primarily presenting facts. An average
of 81% of the stories was devoted to presenting facts across the three
stages of the crisis. Analysis news items decreased gradually.
Differences were found in the coverage devoted to consolation; there
were almost no stories devoted to consolation during the first stage of
the crisis. As the coverage continued, stories of consolation increased
from 2.8% in the second stage to 3.5% in the third stage. Consolation
decreased after 12 a.m. the next day (Table 2).
[H.sub.6], that television media vary, but not extensively, in
coverage frames and media functions performed in a national crisis, was
supported. There was a difference in coverage frames among the
television outlets ([chi square] = 72.04, df = 32, p < .01). But the
relationship between coverage frame and television outlets is relatively
weak (Cramer's V = .08, p < .01), which means coverage frames
did not vary substantially across the outlets. As for the four major
coverage frames identified, disaster, political, criminal, and safety,
some outlets deviated from other outlets in one or two of the frames.
CNN and FOX had more stories framed as political than ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Whereas three networks (ABC, CNN, and FOX) had a similar number of
stories framed as criminal, CBS had the most stories (13.6%) with the
criminal frame, and NBC had the fewest (9.6%). ABC, CBS, and NBC devoted
more attention to the safety frame than CNN and FOX did. Whereas stories
with the human interest frame did not receive much space from all the
outlets, ABC (7.5%) and CBS (7.8%) had more stories with the human
interest frame than the other three outlets (Table 3).
There was a slight difference in media functions performed among
the television outlets in the crisis situation. The television outlets
were similar in performing the primary function, presenting facts in
their news coverage (around 82% on average), whereas FOX deviated from
other outlets in presenting fewer facts in its coverage (65.4%). FOX
provided much more analysis (25.7%) in its coverage than other outlets
(around 14%). FOX also led the television outlets in providing
consolation (3.9%) and guidance (2.9%) whereas other outlets provided
much less consolation and negligible guidance in their coverage (Table
4).
Discussion and Conclusions
The findings from the five television outlets' coverage of
9/11 offer fresh insights about how U.S. media covered a rapidly
changing national crisis. The findings confirm the functions of
television media during a crisis (Graber, 1980; National Research
Council Committee on Disasters and the Mass Media, 1980), and suggest
that media frames of crisis in television coverage are dynamic rather
than static, especially under situations where events change rapidly.
The results also suggest the stage of crisis has an effect on media
function. The television coverage shifted focus as events brought
attention to issues that had not been at stake during the earlier
stages.
Support of [H.sub.1] and [H.sub.2] is the most important finding of
this study, which reveals how frame nature and frame sophistication
changed during the stages of a crisis. The stage of the crisis was found
to be an important factor associated with frame nature and frame
sophistication. The findings confirm Graber's (1980) theory of
three stages of crisis covered by news media and go beyond Graber's
observation by revealing the dynamic nature of media frames.
One noticeable finding was that the less systematic difference in
coverage frame occurred at midnight compared to earlier stages of the
crisis. Structural factors in newsrooms could be responsible for the
differences. There were more journalists working during the day than in
the middle of the night, and events were thus followed closely and
promptly. Media shifted their focus of coverage due to less breaking
news and less access to sources at midnight, which could lead to
coverage topics being contained in a relatively narrow range with less
variation.
The findings regarding frame dynamics in the coverage of a crisis
could advance understanding of framing in the following aspects. First,
they offer empirical evidence of the effects of the stage of a national
crisis on media frames in covering the crisis. Coverage of rapidly
developing events is likely to be framed differently as the events
unfold. Lawrence (2000, p. 9) discussed the difference between the
coverage of "routine news" and "event-driven news."
Framing dynamics are more likely to be associated with event-driven
news. The coverage of 9/11 went through a series of events with new
issues brought up continuously. Journalists had to make constant
decisions about what to select and how to present the facts (Mogensen,
Lindsay, Li, Perkins, & Beardsley, 2002). When an event goes through
rapid development, media coverage frames are likely to follow with a
series of frames taking turns in dominance.
Second, the findings shed light on important dimensions of media
framing. The coverage of a crisis with identifiable stages calls for
variable coverage frames corresponding to specific media functions at
each stage. Frame nature changes revealed that media frames correspond
to media functions during the different stages of a crisis. The frame
changes from descriptive to attributive to affective through different
stages of the crisis during the first 24 hours were consistent with
media function at each stage of the crisis (Graber, 1980).
Third, frame changes associated with stages of a crisis in the
coverage of 9/11 underwent a pattern from relatively simple to more
complicated frames. The findings suggest that, in the coverage of a
national crisis, coverage frames not only change substantially in their
nature over the stages of the crisis, but also proceed toward a higher
level of sophistication as journalists learn more about the events and
select facts with more deliberation.
The findings on effects of stages of crisis have important
implications for frame analysis of media content. Although frame
analysis deals mostly with issues that are not changing rapidly, a
dynamic view of frame changes over time allows frame analysis to reflect
the coverage more thoroughly. These frame dynamics apply not only to
television media, as in the case of 9/11 with rapidly changing events,
but also to any other news media that cover ongoing events or issues.
Stages of crisis could turn into stages of development as ongoing events
and issues are covered by any news media. It is important to take into
account the effect of time periods on media frames. Even for
"routine news," when coverage of an issue lasts over a period
of time, coverage frames are likely to vary. A dynamic view in frame
analysis may reveal more insight on how media frame news events and
provide a better understanding of how such frames may eventually
influence the audience.
When a tragedy involves human casualties, human interest is likely
to be a central issue. The failure to find support for [H.sub.3]
indicates another priority in the coverage of a national crisis. Human
interest may give way to issues bearing more weight. In the coverage of
9/11, the human interest frame became evident during the later stages,
when the focus of the coverage shifted and events brought media
attention to issues that had been less noticeable during the earlier
stages. The changes in the framing of human interest during different
stages also suggest a shift in level of human interest in a tragedy of
national magnitude. Human interest normally refers to human feelings,
well-being, and family, or love. As the events of national magnitude
unfolded, the media were not able to focus their attention on
individuals during the early stages of the crisis. When human interest
surfaced as a noticeable frame, human well-being was not attached to
only a small number of people or seen through stories about individuals.
Instead, human interest was presented from a national perspective and
attached to the well-being of all people being affected by the crisis.
The magnitude of the crisis defined the human interest frame on a
national rather than individual level as seen in the coverage of other
human tragedies.
Support of [H.sub.4] revealed the role of government sources in a
crisis situation involving national interest. Government officials were
one of the two major sources used in the coverage of 9/11. However, the
fact that 19.3% of the stories used government officials suggests that
during an unprecedented crisis the capacity of government officials as
sources is limited in certain aspects. Government officials also need to
sort information from all possible sources and may be unable to offer
accurate information at certain points. Media need to rely on a variety
of sources to provide accurate and useful information. The findings
suggest a diminished role of government sources during various stages of
a national crisis. The findings are also consistent with Nacos'
(1994) argument that media use different methods when covering an
anti-American terrorist act than when covering other foreign policy
issues. The variations in source use during different stages of the
crisis indicate that whether a wider range of source will be used in the
coverage depends not only on the nature of the incident but also the
functions media perform during different stages of the coverage.
Graber (1980) noted that media provided guidelines for what to do
in a crisis situation. The findings for [H.sub.5] suggest that in a
crisis of unprecedented magnitude, media's social utility function
is contingent upon the primary need of the audience. The coverage of
9/11 showed a clear order in priorities of media functions, and that the
need for consolation and guidance may be overridden by the need for
accurate and informative facts. Thus, providing facts may be the
fundamental task of media in a crisis of national magnitude, especially
during the early stages. The finding regarding increasing number of
stories of consolation during the later stages confirms media's
social utility function and the effect of stages of crisis on media
functions. Whereas media primarily served as a source of information
during the early stages of the crisis, the media function of consoling
the public became more evident as events unfolded. The finding suggests
that media functions in a crisis also shift during different stages of a
crisis. As the need for critical information is fulfilled during the
initial stage of a crisis, the media social utility function would
resume through the coverage during the later stages of the crisis.
The findings of [H.sub.6] confirmed the between-media difference in
news coverage. They also shed light on rivals in conformity and to what
degree media coverage might be similar in a crisis of national
magnitude. During the early hours of their coverage of 9/11, the three
television networks ABC, CBS, and NBC actually shared news footage. The
issues at stake and the primary functions imperative for media to
perform during the early stages helped reduce difference in coverage
frames and functions media performed and homogenized them to some
degree.
This study examined a total of 2,647 stories. Although all efforts
were made to ensure that the measures of the variables were understood
and the content was coded consistently, extra caution needs to be taken
with the findings and conclusions because intercoder reliability only
used content from two of the five television outlets. Further studies
could look into a longer period of the coverage and the impact of other
important variables on the coverage, such as how reporter-source
relationships and different reporting modes affect coverage frames.
Social utility is one of the major media functions in a crisis. Future
studies could examine how media perform the social utility function
under various crisis situations. Human interest is considered a major
aspect of news value and a key frame of news coverage involving human
activity. Further examination of the factors framing human interest and
the relationship between human interest and other frames in the coverage
may provide more insights on how media perform their functions in a
national crisis.
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Table 1
New Source Associated With Coverage Frame (N = 2647)
Source Political Economic Criminal Environ.
Airline 0.4 0.0 1.6 0.0
Arab Group 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.0
Business 0.0 11.9 0.0 0.0
Expert 5.5 9.0 25.7 0.0
Gov. official 33.8 4.5 21.3 23.1
International 9.1 4.5 5.7 0.0
President 15.0 4.5 3.5 0.0
Relative 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0
Witness 0.6 0.0 3.2 7.7
Other 8.0 11.9 17.5 7.7
Source Safety HumnInt Religion Disaster
Airline 9.3 1.2 0.0 1.0
Arab Group 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
Business 0.3 0.6 0.0 0.2
Expert 3.5 2.3 5.0 1.4
Gov. official 19.5 5.2 5.0 16.8
International 0.6 1.7 30.0 0.6
President 2.9 1.2 0.0 7.4
Relative 1.3 18.4 0.0 0.8
Witness 1.6 13.2 0.0 22.4
Other 23.3 27.0 35.0 12.6
Source Other Total
Airline 3.0 2.1
Arab Group 0.0 0.1
Business 0.9 0.5
Expert 4.4 5.8
Gov. official 13.5 19.3
International 3.0 3.3
President 2.2 6.7
Relative 1.7 1.9
Witness 5.2 10.8
Other 13.9 14.8
Note: * Percentages reflect how each source was used
in the stories where specific frames were identified.
Sources were not identified in some of the stories
and thus total frequency does not add up to 100%.
Table 2
Percentage of Story Primary Orientation by Stages of
Crisis (N = 2647)
Orientation 8-11 am 11-3 pm 3-7 pm 7-12 am
Analysis 17.2 21.3 14.3 12.9
Consolation 0.9 2.8 3.5 2.9
Fact 79.2 73.6 81.3 79.2
Guide 2.2 1.6 0.9 1.0
Other 0.9 0.5 0.0 0.2
Total 100 100 100 100
Orientation 12-6 am 6-9 am Total
Analysis 11.8 10.9 14.8
Consolation 0.8 1.4 2.0
Fact 85.7 85.8 81.4
Guide 0.6 0.7 1.2
Other 1.3