Communication Commons^™

Deflection, Disassociation, & Acknowledgement: A Content Analysis Of The 2011-2014 Media Framing Of Hydraulic Fracturing And Oklahoma Earthquakes, Alicia Mason, Catherine Hooey, James Triplett

Faculty Submissions

In June of 2014, geologists reported that, for the first time, more earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0 occurred in Oklahoma than in California [Terry-Cobo, 2014]. In Oklahoma, the frequency of earthquakes that are strong enough to be felt has increased 44 times in recent years and this has been correlated to a dramatic increase in high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (HVHHF) operations [Hume, 2014]. The aims of this study are: (1) to determine how hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, and Oklahoma earthquakes are framed by print-based media at the local, national, and international levels; (2) to understand how the association between …