| Abstract: |
Millions of curious citizens turn to the mass media daily to feed their inquisitive minds about current events. It is an established fact that the news media not only provide one of the major means of perceiving reality, but they have become the arena for the battle of ideas in the society (Agee, Ault & Emery, 2002; Devito, 2001; Baran & Davies, 2007). One influential way that the media may shape public opinion is by framing occurrences and issues in particular ways. Frames in the news may affect learning, interpretation and evaluation of affairs and happenings (Entman, 1991). Accordingly, framing has a significant impact on news content and the perception and understanding of matters by readers, viewers and listeners. Consequently, it has important implications for the balance of public opinion. Additionally, the subtle, often non-conscious nature of frames to direct for many citizens what set of beliefs or information is cued for subsequent evaluations is an immense power. Thus, frames are fundamental aspects of human consciousness and shape people’s attitudes towards the world and each other. Therefore, taking into cognizance the definitional and descriptive roles of framing on political, economic and social issues, it is necessary to give an incisive and insightful analysis of the concept, as it cannot be ignored in the practice of Journalism. |
