The study of political communication is an old and diverse field, and the media has
been proven to have an effect on their readers. The narratives that they create in their
reporting can be as damning as they can be auspicious. Therefore, the study of media
and how they frame certain events is as important as it has ever been. The democratic
primaries in 2016 were certainly an interesting event. Hillary Clinton, the apparent
nominee of the party, faced off against Bernie Sanders, who, in America, is something
as unusual as a democratic socialist. How were these two polar opposites framed? To
find out, a framing analysis was made on New York Times and Washington Post, two
of the largest newspapers in the US. The analysis was built around four “events” that
were deemed important in the election. 195 articles were analyzed. The methods that
were used were both quantitative and qualitative, and the theories of framing (how the
media depicts the election) and agenda-setting (what the media deems to be
important) were applied. The results showed that the two newspapers did not
differentiate all that much from each other, except for a few percent in certain aspects.
All in all, the narrative was obvious. Clinton was the candidate that would go on to
win the nomination. She was also the most suitable candidate. Bernie Sanders, on the
other hand, was framed as the loser and as unsuitable. Though he was consistently
framed as having more integrity than his opponent. Clinton was also the candidate
that had the biggest focus on her. This was true for all of the events, and in both
newspapers. The implications of the study are twofold. First, Sanders was consistently
painted in a negative light, which created an undesirable narrative and gave him
negative momentum. Secondly, the virtual duplication of the narratives in New York
Times and Washington Post suggests that there was some kind of consensus. Either
Clinton really was the obvious nominee for the party, or the media hampered Sanders
chances to clinch the nomination by depicting him in a negative manner.
2016. , s. 44
Political communication, Framing, Agenda-setting, Narrative, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, democratic party presidential primaries 2016, New York Times, Washington Post
Politisk kommunikation, Framing, Agenda-setting, Narrativ, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Demokraternas primärval 2016, New York Times, Washington Post