MAGISTERARBEIT Titel der Magisterarbeit „Framing and Journalistic Quality: An Analysis of European Newspaper Coverage of the UN Millennium Development Goals“ Verfasser Abungwo Clovis Atatah, B.Sc. angestrebter akademischer Grad Magister der Philosophie (Mag. phil.) Wien, Juni 2014 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 066 841 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft Betreuer: Univ. Prof. Dr. Hannes Haas Eidesstattliche Erklärung Ich erkläre hiermit an Eides Statt, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und ohne Benutzung anderer als der angegebenen Hilfsmittel angefertigt habe. Die aus fremden Quellen direkt oder indirekt übernommenen Gedanken sind als solche kenntlich gemacht. Die Arbeit wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt und auch noch nicht veröffentlicht. Wien, 16. Juni 2014 Abungwo Clovis Atatah Acknowledgments Many people played various roles, sometimes unbeknownst to them, towards the realization of this work. Because of space constraints, I am not able to name all these good persons here; however, my gratitude to each and every one of them is boundless. Special gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Hannes Haas (RIP), whose tutorship in a master’s seminar inspired this work and whose patient guidance led me to the finish line. I am also highly indebted to Prof. Klaus Lojka who accepted to take the relay when fate dealt us a wicked blow and snatched Prof. Haas from our midst. My deep gratitude equally goes to Prof. Thomas A. Bauer for furnishing me with the practical skills to undertake this project. The last few years have been full of academic discovery and I greatly appreciate all the inspirational professors from whose fountains of knowledge I eagerly drank. To all of them I say thank you. I will like to especially mention Prof. Katherine Sarikakis, Dr. Joan-Ramon Rodriguez-Amat, Prof. Jörg Matthes, Prof. Martin Kusch, Dr. Velislava Mitova, Dr. Beatriz De Abreu Fialho Gomes and Prof. Augustine Asaah, who helped me hone my skills in research and analysis. Without my parents Joel (RIP) and Maurine Abungwo, this journey would not have been possible. To them, I will always be grateful for the steadfast and unconditional love and support. To my sister Oghai, who pulled me out of the depths of despair, my heart is overflowing with gratitude. Special appreciation also goes to my siblings, Faith, Odette, Adii, Mbom, and Franklin, for their love, encouragement and support. My deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Claudia, for helping me surmount many language hurdles in the course of my studies and for her encouragement and support. Let me also use this opportunity to give a tight hug of gratitude to my two little angels Benni and Mona for being my inspiration. To my friends and colleagues Victoria Tatzreiter, Dr. Monica Njozing, Dr. Franziska Günther, Faustin Tafou, and Philipp Krojj, I want to say thanks for contributing in various ways to the successful realization of this project. My appreciation also goes to Francis Wache, Charlie Ndi Chia and Dr. Boniface Forbin for their professional mentorship. Finally, I want to thank Prof. Enoh Tanjong and Dr. George Ngwa for introducing me to the field of communication many years ago. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 PART ONE: CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS ............................................................ 3 2. Research Background ...................................................................................................................... 3 3. Conceptualization and Research Questions .................................................................................... 7 3.1 Problem ......................................................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Rationale of Study ......................................................................................................................... 9 3.3 Research questions........................................................................................................................ 9 4. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................. 10 4.1 Framing as a Research Framework.............................................................................................. 10 4.2 Framing as a Paradigm ................................................................................................................ 10 4.3 Accessing Quality through the Framing Paradigm ...................................................................... 12 5. Framing Research Literature ......................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Contours of Framing and Framing Research ............................................................................... 14 5.2 Framing Mechanism and Functions ............................................................................................ 19 5.3 Framing, Priming and Agenda-setting ......................................................................................... 22 5.4 Framing and Journalism .............................................................................................................. 24 5.5 Framing Effects: Normative and Political Implications ............................................................... 30 5.6 Typology of Frames ..................................................................................................................... 34 6. Quality Research Literature ........................................................................................................... 41 6.1 Justification for Journalistic Quality Assessment ........................................................................ 41 6.2 Ethics and Journalism .................................................................................................................. 43 6.3 Evolution of Journalism Ethics ..................................................................................................... 46 6.4 Ethics and Journalistic Quality ..................................................................................................... 48 6.5 Journalistic Quality: Definition and Core Principles .................................................................... 50 6.5.1 Definition .............................................................................................................................. 50 6.5.2 Core Guiding Principles ........................................................................................................ 53 6.6 Quality Criteria ............................................................................................................................ 55 6.7 Evolution of Quality Research ..................................................................................................... 59 6.8 New Challenges for Newspapers ................................................................................................. 65 7. Description of Coverage Topic: the MDGs .................................................................................... 70 8. Synthesis of Framing and Journalistic Quality ............................................................................... 73 8.1 Points of Convergence ................................................................................................................. 73 8.2 Frame Elements and Journalistic Quality .................................................................................... 75 v PART TWO: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 77 9. Content Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 77 9.1 Content Analysis in Framing Research ........................................................................................ 79 10. Sample and Sampling Techniques ............................................................................................. 82 10.1 Press Landscapes ....................................................................................................................... 85 10.2 Analyzed Newspapers ............................................................................................................... 90 11. Measurements and Identification of Frames ............................................................................ 94 11.1 Frame Measurement with Question-Based Variables .............................................................. 94 11.2 Measurement of Other Variables ............................................................................................ 103 11.3 Measurement of Journalistic Quality ...................................................................................... 106 PART THREE: RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS................................................................ 109 12. Results ..................................................................................................................................... 109 12.1 Types of Articles and Topics ................................................................................................ 109 12.2 Visibility