episodic (a story about an incident happening to one or more individuals) and.makes a valuable distinction between two types of framing in the mass media: It has since influenced theory in politics, communications, linguistics, and cognitive science, among many other fields.įor example, The Center for Communications and Community at U.C.L.A. The discoverers of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), Richard Bandler and John Grindler, made use of it in the 1970’s also. Gregory Bateson first introduced the concept of framing in the 1950’s it was then picked up by Milton Erikson and others interested in psychology, as well as by the sociologist Erving Goffman. The reputation of the communicator is also an important cue in this process. Another way to understand framing is that it’s the way ideas are packaged–words, phrases and visual cues carefully selected to trigger proven responses in their hearers. The first reaction is ‘ouch.’ And if ‘tax relief’ gets repeated often enough, it starts taking up important space in our minds. However, thoughtful people recognize that it is necessary for the common good. This framing metaphor works because no one actually likes to pay taxes it really is painful. The new frame is also a metaphor, since it describes one thing, ‘tax,’ in terms of another, ‘relief, ‘ and suggests a little story– that is, taxes are an unfair pain from which you deserve relief! (This one is also a ‘tweak’ of a slogan familiar to Americans-where have you heard ‘Get relief fast’ before?)
Lakoff’s favorite political example of neocon framing, the sound bite ‘tax relief,’ combines two frames, ‘tax’ and ‘relief,’ to create a new frame.
As Lakoff says in Don’t Think of an Elephant, the elephant frame includes a very large animal, large floppy ears, a trunk etc., and any of those words or phrases may also evoke the elephant frame. For example, the word elephant is a ‘frame’ that evokes the image of an elephant and what one already knows about elephants. For those new to basic framing, or wishing to learn more about the topic, including what distinguishes the MP’s version of it, this section of the MP site includes a general definition and history of framing, a summary of the best known simple ‘how to do it’ checklist, a description of American Framing as a specific version of framing for the American mainstream audience, and a survey of some knotty issues in framing.įirst, some background - What is a frame?Īccording to cognitive scientist George Lakoff and others, a frame is a conceptual structure used in thinking.