How do the news media frame crises? A content analysis of crisis news coverage

The present study is a content analysis of crisis news frames found in 2006 crisis news coverage. A total of 247 news stories were analyzed to examine which of five news frames (attribution of responsibility, human interest, conflict, morality, and economic) and level of responsibility (individual and organizational level) were used by the media according to crisis type. While the attribution of responsibility frame was the most predominantly used in crisis news coverage, the use of each of the five frames depended on crisis type. The use of level of responsibility also varied by crisis type and was related to the five frames; individual level of responsibility was used more with morality, human interest, and attribution of responsibility frames. Implications and suggestions based on the results were discussed.