Framing Referendum Campaigns in the News

An in-depth look into how the news media frame referendum campaigns, based on the coverage of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. An analysis of the factors at play in journalistic coverage of complex and highly contested political campaigns This book is about the media framing of referendum campaigns. It explores how mainstream print and broadcast media framed the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, through a content analysis of coverage and through in-depth interviews with broadcasters, political communicators and civil society actors. It uses this evidence to explain the frame building process in the context of a highly contested referendum and it proposes an original frame building model, using insights from this and from previous case studies in other countries. The book makes an original contribution to the study of frame building and political communication in the context of direct democratic campaigns, by identifying common ground between different cases and proposing a theoretical framework to help understand how media construct frames in this type of political event. Its topic is significant for the study of politics, as referendums are increasingly used to decide crucial national issues in Western countries – from European nations’ relationship with the European Union to national separation and independence. The book is essential reading for students and scholars, as well as media practitioners and anyone interested in the processes of political mediation in the mainstream media at the start of the twenty-first century. This book discusses the framing of referendum campaigns in the news media, focusing particularly on the case of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Using a comprehensive content analysis of print and broadcast coverage as well as in-depth interviews with broadcast journalists and their sources during this campaign, it provides an account of how journalists construct the frames that define their coverage of contested political campaigns. It views the mediation process from the perspective of those who participate directly in it, namely journalists and political communicators. It puts forward an original theoretical model to account for frame building in the context of referendums in Western media systems, using insights from this and from other cases. The book makes an original contribution to the study of media frames during referendums and is key reading for scholars and students interested in journalism, the processes of political communication and the mediation of politics.

This book discusses the framing of referendum campaigns in the news media, focusing particularly on the case of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Using a comprehensive content analysis of print and broadcast coverage as well as in-depth interviews with broadcast journalists and their sources during this campaign, it provides an account of how journalists construct the frames that define their coverage of contested political campaigns. It views the mediation process from the perspective of those who participate directly in it, namely journalists and political communicators. It puts forward an original theoretical model to account for frame building in the context of referendums in Western media systems, using insights from this and from other cases. The book makes an original contribution to the study of media frames during referendums and is key reading for scholars and students interested in journalism, the processes of political communication and the mediation of politics.