Media Framing of a Civil Liberties Conflict and Its Effect on Tolerance

• Published in: The American political science review Vol. 91; no. 3; pp. 567 - 583
• Main Authors: Nelson, Thomas E., Clawson, Rosalee A., Oxley, Zoe M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01-09-1997; American Political Science Association
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavior Patterns; Civil liberties; Civil Rights; CIVIL RIGHTS, CIVIL LIBERTIES, CONTEMPORARY CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS; Communication; Communications industry; CONCERNED WITH FREEDOMS GRANTED IN THE FIRST AMENDMENT, U.S. CONSTITUTION; Conflict; Error of Measurement; Experiments; Framing effects; FREEDOM OF SPEECH; KU KLUX KLAN; Mass Media; MASS MEDIA (NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, TV, RADIO, ETC.); Media; Media coverage; News; News content; News media; Political Issues; Political protests; Political science; Poverty; Press and politics; Psychological aspects; Psychological Patterns; Public opinion; School campuses; Social aspects; Social Problems; Social psychology; SOCIAL, POLITICAL TOLERANCE OR INTOLERANCE; Sociocultural Patterns; Speech; Television; Television news; Television viewers; Tolerance; TOLERANCE OR INTOLERANCE; U.S.A; United States; Visual Aids; White supremacy
• ISSN: 0003-0554; 1537-5943
• DOI: 10.2307/2952075

Framing is the process by which a communication source, such as a news organization, defines and constructs a political issue or public controversy. Two experiments examined the effect of news frames on tolerance for the Ku Klux Klan. The first presented research participants with one of two local news stories about a Klan rally that varied by frame: One framed the rally as a free speech issue, and the other framed it as a disruption of public order. Participants who viewed the free speech story expressed more tolerance for the Klan than participants who watched the public order story. Additional data indicate that frames affect tolerance by altering the perceived importance of public order values. The relative accessibility of free speech and public order concepts did not respond to framing. A second experiment used a simulated electronic news service to present different frames and replicated these findings.