With this being an election year, there have already been multiple advertisements from candidates framing themselves and their opponents. When framing and priming are used effectively, they focus the audiences attention on the aspects of reality that the frames sender considers desirable and by drawing their attention away from other aspects that are less desirable (Entman, 1993) Research has shown that candidates who maintain a constant image, or frame, of themselves and their opponent fare better than those candidates who produce multiple images of themselves. You can think of priming as a way politicians use your own memories as a persuasive weapon. Political advertisements work best when they use priming to transfer a viewers pleasant or unpleasant feelings to a candidate (Richardson, 2008) In the case of political advertisements, some of the images used to frame a candidate can prime viewers to have pleasant or unpleasant feelings about their personality/politics based on the shared cultural subtext of the image. The first minute of this video explain priming: This article provides more information of framing and introduces our next topic priming… Schema (mental maps): general guidelines for how people understand and interpret information they receive from the media (Graber 1984)įrames must compete with an individual’s schema. Receivers frames will place the most importance on information in political ads that match their existing schemata/personal frame (Parmelee) Commonly Invoked Frames: These are the memories shared by society that affect a persons interpretation of a frame.These can be unique to each individual or shared by a society They do this through memories and associations they have within them. Receivers: When the people receiving the message try to make sense of the frames they have been exposed to.Through the Text: Frames that are constructed from key words/phrases, stereotypical images and sources of information.Communicator: Writers/producers of advertisements consciously or unconsciously construct frame.“The power of framing comes from its ability to define the terms of a debate without the audience realizing it is taking place” (Tankard, 2001)įraming happens in four ways in the communication process: When framing is used in political advertising is helps political campaigns organize their issue, image, visual and verbal elements around a central theme. This provides an efficient “package” for voters to interpret. This story line can include visual and verbal elements and is often constructed by those in mass media Chapter 27 of the Liberman textbook addresses framing/priming and how political candidates use these techniques to manipulate voters’ understanding of the candidates and of the race.įraming Theory: People organize information around a “story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events” (Gamson & Modigliani, 1987)