Framing Science in the Media: Case Study of News on Bolshaya Udina Volcano

Abstract

The article considers the process of transformation of framing of science from a researcher (6 letters, 5 versions of the text with corrections) through the news in corporate mass media (press release, 1 text) to other mass media (8 texts in English, 1 text in German, 59 texts in Russian). Three frames were identified in the original text: “narrative of the progress of the study”, “catastrophizing the results of the study”, and “the need for additional observations for more accurate research results”. The media exploited the “catastrophizing” frame most actively: 6 texts in English, 1 text in German, 42 texts in Russian. Also, journalists implemented one more frame – “verification of results by external experts” (1 time in English and 1 time in Russian). In the texts in Russian has appeared another source of information –  a press-release by the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, which can be singled out in a separate frame “refutation of the results obtained by external experts” (15 texts). There has been a convergence of the format of news and a press release about scientific results since journalists used texts prepared by press services without verification and external comments. As a result, the frames of the original text are duplicated in mass media. If the frame is based on sensation, the emphasis on sensation increases in further replication when information about the research (its methodology, problems, and development) decreases.