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A Comparison of News Frames Used to Depict the Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal

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A Comparison of News Frames Used to Depict the Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal High Profile Infidelities: A Comparison of News Frames Used to Depict the Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal and the General Petraeus Scandal Tracy Widergren, Brian Huonker, & Kristen Kurelo Illinois State University April 25, 2013 Introduction Infidelity. Affair. Sex scandal. In today’s media, coverage of public figures’ private affairs seems to receive as much attention as the more serious economic, political, and social news stories of the moment. Whereas once these stories of scandal were limited to entertainment media, their presence in the news environment has been growing in recent years, leading to what Williams and Carpini (2004) refer to as the erosion of the distinction between news and entertainment. This “erosion” includes an increase in entertainment stories (i.e., celebrities’ private lives) in the more traditional news media, as well as news media covering entertainment­style stories of public and political figures (i.e., infidelities) instead of only stories about their professional lives. What was once only speculated to happen in public office (i.e., the John F. Kennedy/Marilyn Monroe affair), now becomes front page news: Senator John Edward’s affair and “love child” with Reille Hunter; New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution scandal; Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s affair with a city official. But perhaps the most memorable news coverage of a political sex scandal is former President Bill Clinton’s indiscretions with Monica Lewinsky. Coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal dominated the news for nearly one year, from first reports of the scandal to Clinton’s denial of the “relationship” with Lewinsky to his impeachment trial. And while news coverage of these types of political affairs can severely damage the public’s approval of a public figure, Clinton’s affair and its subsequent coverage remains “one of the great political ironies of modern times” (Lawrence & Bennett, 2001, p. 425). Despite the “negative press” Clinton received with regard to his affair, he maintained some of the most impressive public approval ratings of any modern president (Lawrence & Bennett, 2001). As some scholars have found, the way in which the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal was framed by the news media may have, in fact, bolstered his approval ratings rather than damaged them (Kiousis, 2003; Lawrence & Bennett, 2001; Shah, Watt, Domke, & Fan, 2002; Williams & Carpini, 2004; Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). In November of 2012, news of another high profile scandal broke: CIA Director General David Petraeus had an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. While Clinton and Petraeus both admitted to their indiscretions (albeit it took Clinton a bit longer), Petraeus, unlike Clinton, resigned from office the day the scandal broke, and his public approval ratings dropped 15 percentage points in the week following the scandal (Jones, 2012). Could these different outcomes be attributed to the way in which Petraeus’ affair was framed in the media as compared to Clinton? The purpose of this study is to determine the predominant news frames that were used to cover the Petraeus scandal as compared to the predominant frames used to cover the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Literature Review Before exploring what previous researchers have identified as the predominant media frames used in the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, it is first necessary to examine the concept of framing. What is framing? While the concept of “framing” has received much attention in scholarly research, it has yet to receive a universally­agreed upon definition. While some scholars argue for a “general statement of framing theory” (Entman, 1993), others argue against a single paradigm of framing research (D’Angelo, 2002). However, what these scholars do seem to agree upon is the power of framing and its influence on the media creators (i.e., journalists) and the media consumers (i.e., readers). Framing, at its core, involves the way in which a story is presented by the news media/journalists (frame building) and the subsequent influence it has on an audience’s interpretation of that story (frame setting). In essence, journalists build frames by selecting certain aspects of a story to highlight; this selection process can be impacted by pressures placed on a journalist by his/her organization or elites (political leaders, authorities, interest groups), as well as a journalist’s own attitudes and beliefs (Scheufele, 1999). In turn, these media frames then influence how an audience interprets and comes to understand and think about a particular story. Over time, the audience will begin to associate certain stories with certain definitions, causes, or implications (Tewksbury & Scheufele, 2009). While the process of framing may influence the way in which the audience thinks about a topic, framing is not viewed as an overt attempt to persuade an audience. It is the subtle way in which news media influence public thought: “framing influences how audiences think about issues, not by making aspects of the issues more salient, but by invoking interpretive schemas that influence the interpretation of incoming information” (Scheufele, 2000, p. 309). However subtle, the effects media framing has on its audience has been found to be persistent. A recent study by Lecheler & de Vreese (2011) focused on the duration of framing effects, tracing the magnitude of the framing effect immediately after media exposure and then at three delayed time periods (one day, one week and two weeks). Results from the study indicated framing effects are, indeed, persistent and can impact how individuals view a news story long after the story was first encountered (p. 975). Framing is a powerful tool of the media and, therefore, makes even more relevant the need to examine how the “seedier” of stories are framed in the media and the potential framing effects that may result. How are audiences coming to think about and view private affairs in the public domain? Framing the Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal The Clinton/Lewinsky scandal dominated the news media beginning in January 1998 when news of the affair broke on CNN, ABC News, and The Associated Press newswire. According to Williams and Carpini (2004), whereas once news of this type would have been relegated to less serious news sources (entertainment media), this scandal received an explosion of coverage from the major news outlets as well: “whether one started the day by listening to National Public Radio or Howard Stern, by watching Good Morning America or CNN, by reading The New York Times or the Star, the topic was the same” (p. 1221). And, coverage of the scandal never seemed to let up, even as Clinton faced impeachment. However, as scholars have found, this excessive public coverage of Clinton’s private affair never seemed to damage his public approval or job performance ratings, which may be attributed to the way in which the media framed the story. Throughout the entire coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, one frame seemed to dominate across media outlets: a sex frame/Clinton’s behavior frame (Joslyn, 2003; Kiousis, 2003; Shah et al., 2002; Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). In one study, a content analysis of nearly 40 news sources over eight months, including newspapers, television, and newswires, revealed that 78 percent of stories were framed in terms of Clinton’s behavior (sex/sexual acts) and his reactions to accusations of that behavior (Shah et al., 2002). A second content analysis study, which only examined The New York Times and the Washington Post at three specific time periods, revealed that 55 percent of stories were dominated by the sex scandal/adultery frame (Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). While other news frames did exist, including legal and political frames, it is clear that the news media was preoccupied with framing this story only in terms of Clinton’s adulterous behavior. So how did this dominant sex frame impact the public? According to Lawrence & Bennett (2001), the public related the story to a private matter and viewed it as entertainment and a titillating diversion. Public support for Clinton’s performance held in the mid­60 range and surpassed 70 on some polls, even as the House of Representatives voted to impeach him (p. 425). The public did not find the scandal relevant to Clinton’s role as president or his ability to govern; the scandal was only seen as entertainment. While the sex frame/Clinton behavior frame dominated the news, one other frame was found to appear nearly 20 percent of the time in the previously mentioned study conducted by Shah et al. (2002): the conservative attack frame. This frame included conservative criticisms and attacks on the president’s job performance in relation to his affair with Lewinsky. Just as the sex frame did not negatively impact the public’s approval ratings of Clinton, neither did this conservative attack frame. News coverage that focused on the conservative frame “may have helped sustain Clinton, as citizens recoiled against what may have appeared to be self­serving attempts by Republicans to gain political power” (p. 344). Other lesser news frames used in stories about the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal and studied by researchers include: law/legal, Liberal response, lying/perjury, impact on the Office of the Presidency, character/morality, impact on Lewinsky, and impact on Clinton and/or his family (Joslyn, 2003, Shah et al., 2002, Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). These frames appeared infrequently and probably did not contribute much to how the public came to think about the affair. Despite the negative coverage that seemed to dominate the media, Clinton came out of the scandal virtually unscathed. He did not leave office; his public approval and job performance ratings remained high until his term ended; and, according to a GALLUP poll in July 2012, Clinton’s popularity was the highest it had ever been, at 66 percent (Saad, 2012). Although it has been nearly 15 years since the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke, one cannot help but compare recent scandals of high­ranking public figures’ indiscretions to this most famous case.
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