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While The Nation Looked On: A Framing Analysis Of Print News Media Coverage Of Terri Schiavo's Final Days, Aubrey Blankenship

Masters Theses

One of the richest areas of current research in mass communication involves framing theory. Originally developed by Erving Goffman (1974), framing is used by the media to organize content. As such, it has implications for the values, beliefs, and actions of those exposed to that content. This study attempts to apply framing theory to a controversial issue and event profusely covered by American mass media: the case of Terri Schiavo. To accomplish this, coverage of her final month by two print newspapers, The New York Times and the New York Post, was analyzed for prevalence (present or absent), level …