Framing Collective Action: Media Influence on Public Support for Environmental and Health Policies
Short description
The project examines how news media influence efforts to solve large-scale collective action problems, such as environmental protection and public health. While previous research has identified factors shaping attitudes toward policy instruments, little is known about why people perceive certain policies as fair or assign responsibility to particular actors. We address this gap by studying how journalistic framing - whether episodic, focusing on single cases, or thematic, emphasizing societal contexts - shapes perceptions and policy attitudes. Using media content analysis, event-driven natural experiments, and framing experiments in Sweden, the project advances understanding of media effects and collective action, offering insights crucial for tackling major societal challenges.
Research question
The project tackles a critical question: how the news media influence opportunities for solving large-scale collective action problems, such as environmental protection and public health provision, which requires interventions from the state to coordinate action.
While research has identified factors shaping attitudes toward such policy instruments; (1) how citizens perceive societal problems, (2) how they attribute of responsibility for these problems, as well as (3) how they understand the effectiveness and fairness of various solutions, research has not explored why individuals perceive policy instruments as fair, or attribute responsibility to certain actors.
We fill this gap by studying how news coverage and journalistic framing practices shape such perceptions and, ultimately, policy attitudes. Framing problems episodically, focusing on single cases and instances, or thematically, focusing on the societal level, have been shown to impact individuals' problem perceptions – alongside citizens’ political predispositions. Hence, focusing on media effects theory as a point of departure, the project fills crucial gaps in the collective action literature.
Method
This is done through media content analysis, event- driven natural experiments, and framing experiments in Sweden. The project provides novel insights into both scientific debates on media framing theory and policy attitude formation, which is essential for our societies to address these large-scale collective challenges.
Project members
Niklas Harring, Associate Professor, The Department of Political 91̽»¨. Principal Investigator.
Adam Shehata, Professor, The Department of Journalism Media and Communication. Co-Principal Investigator.
