A Framing Analysis of Partisan Media’s Coverage of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting.

Abstract

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2021 saw a record high for gun-related injuries and deaths in America. This included both homicides and suicides. 2021 is the most recent year for which detailed statistics is availabe. A total of 48,830 people died from gun related injuries, the majority (54%) were categorised as suicide, while 43% were categorised as homicide. Eight out of ten homicides involve a firearms (Gramlich, 2023). These figures far exceed other developed Western nations. America is also the only nation in the world where the number of civilian owned firearms exceed the number of people within the country. (Fox et al., (2023). Statistics like these are the reason that the US’s debate about firearm control has raged over decades. However, the debate has remained gridlocked, with no major changes being made to gun policy. The debate has become highly politicised, with voices from The Democratic Party calling for stricter gun control, while voices from The Republican Party argue for the protection of the right to bear arms provided by the Second Amendment.

Mass shootings have become a phenomenon that is correlated with America. While mass shootings have occurred in other developed countries, such as Britain, Australia, Norway etc. However, no other developed Western nation saw more than 8 occurrences over a period of 22 years. America had over 100 public mass shootings within this timeframe (Fox et al., 2023). When mass shootings occur in the US, the inevitable talks about gun control follow with no real resolutions being identified and implemented. One such event occurred on 14 February 2018, when Nikolas Cruz entered the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School armed with an AR-15 and killed 17 people before being apprehended by police later that day.

Events such as these receive large amounts of media attention and the gun debate that ensues in the aftermath is closely covered by media. Media in the US are divided along partisan lines, much like the gun debate. Their political affiliation often determines how they will cover an event such as a mass shooting. The New York Times is a world renowned agenda setting newspaper that is affiliated to The Democratic Party, while The Washington Times is a conservative paper affiliated with The Republican Party.

This paper will conduct a qualitative framing analysis of the coverage of The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting by The New York Times and The Washington Times to assess if their political alignment influenced the way they framed this event. It will attempt to identify the dominant frames present in each newspaper, how the papers’ use of sources contributed to the framing. The goal is to determine if political biases were evident in their coverage.