Linguistic Analysis of News Title Strategies in Media Frame—A Case Study of “The Mueller Investigation” in the News Titles of The New York Times and Fox News
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Basics of Framing Theory
2.1. Framing Theory
2.2. Function and Purpose of Framing
2.3. Foundation of Framing
2.4. Conditions of Framing
2.5. Linguistic Strategy of Framing
3. Research Methods
4. Analysis and Findings
4.1. Common News Frames of the Two Media Outlets
4.1.1. Frame of Law
I. Social Consensus Basis for this Frame
II. Analysis of Frequency
III. Case Study
IV. Language Polishing Strategy
4.1.2. Frame of Rights
I. Social Consensus Basis for the Frame
II. Analysis of Frequency
- Judgment
- Judgment
- B.
- Appreciation
III. Case Study
IV. Language Polishing Strategy of “Speaking through Others’ Mouths”
4.1.3. Frame of Political Parties
I. Social Consensus Basis for the Frame
II. Analysis of Frequency
III. Case Study
4.1.4. Frame of Authority
I. Social Consensus Basis for the Frame
II. Analysis of Frequency
III. Case Study
IV. Language Polishing Strategy—“Objective” Polishing
4.2. Respective News Frames of the Two Media
4.2.1. Frames of The New York Times
- The New York Times—the Frame of Humor
- B.
- Guilt Frame
4.2.2. Frames of Fox News
- “Conspiracy” Framework
- B.
- “Fake News” Framework
5. Conclusions
5.1. Research Question 1: What Frames Did The New York Times and Fox News Construct in Their Coverage of the Mueller Investigation?
5.2. Research Question 2: What Linguistic Strategies Did The New York Times and Fox News Use Respectively to Construct Their Frames?
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
1 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Counsel_investigation_(2017%E2%80%932019) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mueller_Report (accessed on 18 August 2019). |
2 | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/us/politics/mueller-testimony-takeaways.html (accessed on 1 August 2019). |
3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times (accessed on 18 August 2019). |
4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News (accessed on 18 August 2019). |
5 | This study analyzes the core relations of clauses. In the meantime, noun phrases, a smaller form than clauses, appear in news titles with a high proportion. Therefore, the noun phrases are listed as a separate type. In the core relations within the clause, the core participant in the process is the Medium, “without which there would be no process” (Martin and Rose 2014, p. 91; Halliday 2008, p. 284). Therefore, the most fundamental and core process is “Medium-Process”. Different types of Process show the different strategies in the frames of the media. Meanwhile, other participants may be involved in the process, including the Agent that instigates the process. The process can also be extended to a third participant, known as a Beneficiary (Martin and Rose 2014, pp. 91–92). Beneficiary is not a focus of this study while Agent appears frequently. Therefore, they are studied together in the type of “Agent-Medium-Process”. Moreover, a process may be initiated by the Medium and extended to a second participant that is not affected by the process, known as a Range (Martin and Rose 2014, p. 94). In this specific study, the mode “Medium-Process-Range” appears most frequently and thus listed as one same action process. Associated with a process are various kinds of circumstances, including time, place, cause, role, means, matter, range, and accompaniment. The Circumstance is in a relatively marginal place of the core relations and could appear in any process. |
6 | Appraisal (attitude negotiated) is a system of interpersonal meanings. We use the resources of appraisal for negotiating our social relationships, by telling our listeners how we feel about things and people. There are three aspects of appraisal, including attitudes, how they are amplified, and their sources. Three main attitudes are affect, judgment, and appreciation (Martin and Rose 2014, pp. 25–26). Affect is to evaluate the narrator’s feelings towards others. Affect can be expressed directly or implied and can be positive or negative. It can also be personal or moral (Martin and Rose 2014, pp. 32–36). Appreciation is mainly people’s attitudes toward things, which can be positive or negative (Martin and Rose 2014, pp. 37–42). Appreciation can be regarded as the “institutionalization” of affect and its distinction from affect should be made according to co-text. |
7 | Projection means explicitly quotes someone’s opinions. |
8 | If multiple key words simultaneously appear, it is still regarded as one title, because some news pieces contain multiple action processes. |
9 | Same as the above. If measured by action processes, the Fox News has 432 pieces of such news report. |
10 | The data of CNN here is only used for the purpose of comparison. |
11 | The scope of news beyond the headlines examined in this article. |
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Mueller participating in the “action” | Mueller not participating in the “action” | |
New York Times | 119 (45%) | 146 (55%) |
Fox News | 121 (32%) | 256 (68%) |
Fox News | Agent | Process | Medium | Circumstance | |
Did | Bob Mueller | Kill | The Institution Of The Special Counsel | For Good |
Medium | Process | Range | |
The New York Times | Mueller | Is | Admirably Apolitical |
Appraisal | Type | Amount | Example |
Judgment | Personal (positive) | 6 | warrior, admirably apolitical, cautious, calm |
Personal (negative) | 18 | wimp, frantic, fixation, shameless, botched | |
Moral (positive) | 4 | by the rule, protect, integrity | |
Moral (negative) | 31 | whitewash, committed a crime, obstruction of justice, conspired | |
Appreciation | 66 | underlying, greatest memory, thorny, aftermath |
Appraisal | Type | Amount | Example |
Judgment | Personal (positive) | 8 | pundits, credibility, transparent, fields |
Personal (negative) | 52 | threatening, desperate, hysteria, contradict | |
Moral (positive) | 2 | integrity, pleaded not guilty | |
Moral (negative) | 88 | witch hunt, obstruction of justice, double standards, collusion | |
Appreciation | 209 | one-sided, unprecendented assault, unredacted, meltdown |
Republican Party | Democratic Party | |
New York Times | 17 | 23 |
Fox News | 62 | 91 |
Medium | Process | Range | |
New York Times | Hillary Clinton | Blasts | Trump, Barr and Parts of Mueller Report |
Trump | President | Barr | A.G./Attorney General | |
New York Times | 53 | 4 | 31 | 5 |
Fox News | 66 | 32 | 53 | 45 |
CNN10 | 584 | 115 |
Agent | Process | Beneficiary |
Mueller Results | Were Previewed | For White House |
Medium | Process | Range |
White House | Wants | to See Mueller Report Before Release |
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Wang, H. Linguistic Analysis of News Title Strategies in Media Frame—A Case Study of “The Mueller Investigation” in the News Titles of The New York Times and Fox News. Journal. Media 2024, 5, 342-358. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5010023
Wang H. Linguistic Analysis of News Title Strategies in Media Frame—A Case Study of “The Mueller Investigation” in the News Titles of The New York Times and Fox News. Journalism and Media. 2024; 5(1):342-358. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5010023
Chicago/Turabian StyleWang, Hairuo. 2024. "Linguistic Analysis of News Title Strategies in Media Frame—A Case Study of “The Mueller Investigation” in the News Titles of The New York Times and Fox News" Journalism and Media 5, no. 1: 342-358. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5010023
APA StyleWang, H. (2024). Linguistic Analysis of News Title Strategies in Media Frame—A Case Study of “The Mueller Investigation” in the News Titles of The New York Times and Fox News. Journalism and Media, 5(1), 342-358. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5010023