Framing Europe Sigurd Allern Trends in international journalism

Framing Europe Sigurd Allern, ”Trends in international journalism”, February 20 th

Defining framing n “Frames are organizing principles that are socially shared and persistent over time, that work symbolically to meaningfully structure the social world” (Stephen D. Reese (2001: 11) in Reese, Gandy & Grant (eds. ): Framing Public Life, L. Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey/London) n “To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text” (Robert Entman 1993: 52) n “The frame suggests what the controversy is about, the essence of the issue” (Gamson & Modigliani 1989, in Vreese: 27)

Frame-building n Frame-building are factors internal and external to journalism that determine how journalists and news organizations frame issues. Internal factors are to an example journalistic news values, market strategies and organizational constraints. The frame building process takes place in a continuous interaction between journalists and elites and social movements. The outcomes of the framebuilding process are the frames manifest in the text (Vreese 2003: 24, 43)

Frame-setting n Frame-setting refers to the interaction between media frames and individual’s prior knowledge and predispositions. Frames in the news may affect interpretation, learning, and evaluation of issues and events. The consequences of framesetting can be considered both on the individual and societal level (Vreese 2003: 24 -25)

Generic news frames n Generic news frames are general and not confined to a specific issue. Examples: n ‘Horse race frame’ (Politics as a ‘game’ with winners and losers) ‘Episodic’ and ‘thematic’ news frames (Iyengar 1991) Conflict frame Economic consequence frame Responsibility frame Morality frame n n n

Issue-specific news frames n Media frames in specific news stories: n The war in Iraq (‘occupation frame’ versus ‘war against terrorism-frame’) Closing of industrial plants (like Union, Årdal): ‘economic necessity frame’ versus ‘social responsibility/employment frame’ Predator policy: ‘Environmental protect the wolf & bear frame’ versus ‘protect the farm animals frame’ n n

The EU is ”difficult to sell” n ”Is is difficult to ’sell’ an EU story. It must either contain an exceptional scandal about the EU and how they once again exceed limits on spending, or it must be events that have an impact such as summits, and Finance and Foreign Minister meetings (Editor-in Chief, in Vreese: 53). n “There is always constraints of resources, money and time. One eye is on the audience all the time and you don’t want to do anything people find boring. The European stories are quite difficult to explain and illustrate in television terms…If you ask someone who watches the 9 o’clock news whether they wanted a piece on how the euro goes down in Bavaria, they would say ‘no thank you very much, can we please get some football instead. ’ (Editor in Chief of BBC 9 o’clock News, in Vreese: 67))

The domestic angle n ”Two things are important: First, what does this mean for ordinary Danes? That is to say, what are the consequences, financially, politically, personally? Second, who are the domestic political stakeholders? Do the EU countries agree? Is there unanimity? Any vetoes, why and how? (Bulletin editor I Danmarks Radio, in Vreese: 71)

Europe in the news (Vreese) n The analysis of the news coverage of European affairs included four distinct periods and more than 10 000 television news stories in Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The result suggests important differences in the news coverage of European affairs between an election campaign, regularly occurring events (such as the EU summits), unique events (such as the introduction of the euro) and ‘routine’ news periods sampled throughout a 15 month period. (Vreese: 165)

Routine EU news hardly visible n ”EU news can be characterized as hardly visible during routine periods and modestly visible during key events. The EU story is a primarily economic and technocratic news story, framed heavily in terms of conflict, more often domestically rather tan EU focused, with a predominance of domestic political actors that are treated either neutrally or evaluated negatively. This summarizes some of the main features of the news coverage based on more than ten thousand news stories sampled from three countries over two years” (Vreese: 116)

A strong emphasis on conflict n The study shows that when European issues are covered in the news this often happens with a strong emphasis on conflict. This presence of the conflict frame suggests that the considerations made by journalists when choosing events and issues for the news are translated into how these are presented in the news. Emphasizing the conflict may justify the publication of a news story above and beyond its news value and at the same time provides journalists with a clear conception of how to package and present the news. (Vreese: 164)

EU news in Norwegian media (AIMproject) n n A majority of the EU stories are treated as foreign/international news by the Norwegian media organisations in this study. The correspondents in Brussels normally report to the foreign news editors. Most of the journalists with special knowledge of the EU are foreign affairs journalists or have had such positions earlier. There are two important exceptions to this rule. Stories about Norwegian membership in the EU and political discussions about the implementation of EU regulations through the EEA agreement are usually covered by political news journalists, and Norwegian export interests and trade conflicts within the EEA are generally covered by economic affairs journalists.

How important is EU news? n Asked about the relative importance of EU news, the general answer was that EU news is relatively important, compared with other international news. However, it becomes even more important during periods of active discussion about Norwegian membership. At the same time, there are some important nuances between some news organisations concerning their views of the priority of EU news. n The chief director of the news department of TV 2, Kjell Øvre Helland, said that EU news “are not given any special priority. ” However, he added, “From time to time, the EU can be top news if there is a conflict or crisis going on. ” He argued that lack of audience interest in reporting political processes in Brussels is the main reason for limiting regular coverage to reports from a stringer.

National framing n n n Before the interviews, we gave the interviewees a list of 12 different criteria/news factors for the selection of EU-news. ‘Relevance for national policy’ made the top of the list, ‘conflicts and crises’ came second. Geographical proximity and the possibility of a local angle were also rated relatively high. This corresponds with a well known ‘truth’: if a news story can be framed in a national or regional context it is much likelier that it will be given priority because of the audience and market orientation of the media organisation. In addition, conflicts are news, consensus is not. ‘Compatibility with the news organisation’s ideological orientation’ lies at the bottom of our priority list. We think that this evaluation must be interpreted as a professional ideological statement: “We are not mixing news with views. ”

”What is the Norwegian interest in this” n During our days of observation at the NRK Dagsrevyen the political news editor, Kyrre Nakkim, said, “When working with EU topics we often follow the reports from the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation (SVT), and ask ourselves: what is the Norwegian interest in this? ” n The standard requirement of framing EU issues in a national context is also looked upon by some interviewees as a limitation. The most important professional challenge is “to combine a focus on Norwegian cases and Norwegian special interests with an understanding of the broader picture and the longer trajectories of development in Europe, ” said the foreign news editor at Aftenposten, Per Kristian Haugen.

Different news priorities n An important factor conditioning the news priority of the EU is the space given to international news in general, which is often very limited, especially in television newscasts. n Newspapers traditionally have more space for diverse news than television. In our study, this goes even more for the dailies that are mainly distributed through subscription than for the two popular tabloids, which depend on newsstand sales of single copies. Therefore, a popular tabloid usually does not grant much space to international affairs apart from the most spectacular and dramatic stories. Per Olav Ødegaard, foreign news journalist at VG, the popular tabloid with the highest circulation of all newspapers in Norway, said, “We have at least two pages of international news every day in the general news section of the newspaper. We do not carry minor news stories about the EU. It’s either our major story of the day or nothing. ”

Table 2: Frequency of EU articles n News organisation Type of news organisation Number of EU articles NTB Aftenposten Bergens Tidende Verdens Gang (VG) TV 2 NRK Dagsrevyen Sum News agency Regional paper National, popular paper Television channel, commercial Television channel, public service n n n n 89 66 32 21 8 3 219

News actors n A cross-tabulation for the recorded actors (news sources) in the news items show that 46 % of them were national actors, mostly politicians, 18 % were various EU actors and 36 % foreign actors outside the EU. The prominence of national actors confirms the importance of a national framing and a local angle in the news. A small part of the EU stories was based on initiatives or news releases from the EU institutions.

”Dull talking heads” n n In television news, the demand for live images is of course an extra and dominant news factor that can be difficult to satisfy. The story must be told in dynamic and interesting footage. During our days of observation at the NRK Dagsrevyen, one of the senior journalists complained that EU news often comes in “static pictures of elderly men in dark suits. Such news does not contribute to making the reportage interesting for the viewers. ” The same journalist said that, whenever material available through the Eurovision Broadcast Union (EBU) could be described as “dull talking heads on a podium, ” the pictures would have little interest for most viewers and no chance to be selected by the desk editor.

National or European Identity? n n Asked if journalists can or should play an important role in “creating a European identity, ” 14 of our 15 interviewees unanimously agreed that the answer should be a “No. ” Some examples of the answers were: “It’s not a duty of the news media to influence their audiences in such a direction. ” (Øystein Bogen, TV 2) “No, our role is to create engagement and interest, not to influence identity. ” (Grethe. G. Johnsen, NRK Dagsrevyen) “NO! The EU now tries to create a European identity based on the member states, but Europe also includes those outside. There are not two Europes, there is one, and the EU should keep that in mind. Journalists should not be active in this field. ” (Atle Skjærstad, Bergens Tidende)

Why? n We think that two factors are particularly important. One is the strong desire among news journalists and news editors to present themselves as reporters, not ideologists or political commentators who try to influence the audience in this or that direction. The old journalistic norms of objectivity, balance, and impartiality, especially strong in the news agencies and the public service channels, is still deeply entrenched in the culture and thinking of Norwegian news reporters. n A second factor is that to strengthen a European identity could easily be interpreted as something more ideological than news based on a national framework, a framing that is embedded in the existing news values, audience orientation, markets strategies, and daily routines of Norwegian news organisations. A national framing is evident, something taken for granted.

Another voice n n However, one interviewee, Frank Rossavik (Bergens Tidende), did say that his answer was a “Yes, ” that journalists should play an important role in creating a European identity: “This is of importance for a continent as little as Europe. We need understanding and conversation across borders. Journalism should play a role in such matters. ” In his opinion, the media should contribute to a European public sphere, an exchange of arguments across borders about common problems. He saw this as one of the conditions both for a European democracy and a European identity. However, he also emphasised that he did not think it should be a task of the news media to support the political campaigns or “identity projects” instigated by the Commission.

The importance of a national angle n n The importance of a national angle can be interpreted in more ideological terms as a type of traditional nationalism. However, we think the most important element here is the market and audience orientations of the news organisations, a trait common to most news media all over the world. “How does this affect us, what are the consequences for our area and our daily lives? ” are standard questions that the news media try to answer. Geographical, cultural and political proximity represent an informal, standard ‘market contract’ between news organisations and both their audiences and their advertisers.

An European framing? n n A broader, pan-European perspective of course also exists, but only as a supplement to the dominant national framing. A constructed ‘European framing’ will, in our opinion, only be typical for European news media that either have an international audience or are newspapers read by elite groups participating in some of the more exclusive ‘public spheres’ of the EU. The news organisations are of course independent actors that in different ways influence the political and cultural developments in their countries. At the same time they are mediators, channels of communication and arenas for debate, normally communicating in a language specific to one or more nation states. Their role as part of a ‘European public sphere’ will always have this limitation.