Framing
Every headline picks which true thing to put first.
The researcher Robert Entman wrote that to frame is to “select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient”, in a way that suggests what the problem is, what caused it, how to judge it and what to do about it.
A protest can be a traffic jam, a clash with police, a demand for jobs or a show of political strength. Each is a frame: it takes one part of the event and makes it the story.
Frames are not lies. A headline has about a dozen words, so it has to choose. Framing is about which true things come first and which are left out.
Look at three things. Who is the subject of the sentence, the one who acts? What is the verb? What isn’t there? “Police fire tear gas at protesters” and “Protesters clash with police” describe the same moment with different people in charge of it.
On Huduku
On a story page, press Compare coverage. Words only one outlet used are highlighted, and a line lists the words most outlets shared. The highlighted words are where outlets chose differently.
Questions for you
- What does each headline put first? What does it leave out?
- If you wrote this headline, what would you put first, and why?