The Life and Death of Frames: Dynamics of Media Frame Duration

Abstract

Media framing scholars have long examined why journalists select certain frames over others at a given point. However, we know much less about why certain frames persist over time in the media while others fade away and still others disappear very quickly. In this study, we bring attention to the study of frame duration and offer an approach based in event-history methodologies that can assess the causes of repeated frame deployment over both long and short periods of time. As an illustration, we examine the British coverage of the 2006 Danish Muhammad cartoon controversy, demonstrating a rigorous and analytically sound approach to the longitudinal analysis of media framing dynamics.