2008 Woodie Awards
Speech analysis illustrates framing dangers, deception
Jessie Lowry
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: OpEd Page
Most Americans can remember exactly what they were wearing, where they were standing and what they were doing during the attacks of September 11, 2001. Every major television network aired the hijacked airplanes flying directly into the World Trade Center, the smoke permeating the New York City sky and bodies jumping out of the buildings hundreds of feet high. Jan. 29, 2002 President George W. Bush delivered the State of the Union to the American people, framing his version of the "War on Terror."
A contemporary examination of the major technique utilized by Bush throughout his entire 2002 State of the Union was repetition. During his 48-minute speech, he said derivatives of the word "terror" 36 times, "security" 20 times, "war" 16 times, "weapons (of mass destruction)" 12 times, "danger" eight times and "evil" five times. Repetition as a framing technique helped Bush focus his speech specifically on the "War on Terror" and allowed him stay on course with his message.
Since the United States became a democracy, politicians have utilized a variety of frames to shape public opinion in order to push their domestic and foreign policy agendas. In the last three-and-a-half centuries, the U.S. government has led American troops into battles, wars and military interventions all over the world by developing framing techniques to gain public support. Some frames have been successfully accepted by the public, while others have failed. Americans should be weary and conscious of how different presidents throughout history have developed political frames and language in order sway public opinion to deny or support military action and its affect on American foreign policy.
One can look to political scholars such as Robert Entman and George Lakoff who critically analyzed the use of political frames and its affect on American policy decisions. Entman address that taps into the prominence and repetition of the framing and images. The more resonant a strategy, the more likely the framing is to evoke similar thought and feelings in large portions of the audience." Bush created his "War on Terror" frame, repeated key words and ideas and then sold it to the American public as more of "an exercise in mental conditioning than a policy speech." Thus, the pounding of words such a terror, evil and war molded the public's opinion out of sheer repetition.
A contemporary examination of the major technique utilized by Bush throughout his entire 2002 State of the Union was repetition. During his 48-minute speech, he said derivatives of the word "terror" 36 times, "security" 20 times, "war" 16 times, "weapons (of mass destruction)" 12 times, "danger" eight times and "evil" five times. Repetition as a framing technique helped Bush focus his speech specifically on the "War on Terror" and allowed him stay on course with his message.
Since the United States became a democracy, politicians have utilized a variety of frames to shape public opinion in order to push their domestic and foreign policy agendas. In the last three-and-a-half centuries, the U.S. government has led American troops into battles, wars and military interventions all over the world by developing framing techniques to gain public support. Some frames have been successfully accepted by the public, while others have failed. Americans should be weary and conscious of how different presidents throughout history have developed political frames and language in order sway public opinion to deny or support military action and its affect on American foreign policy.
One can look to political scholars such as Robert Entman and George Lakoff who critically analyzed the use of political frames and its affect on American policy decisions. Entman address that taps into the prominence and repetition of the framing and images. The more resonant a strategy, the more likely the framing is to evoke similar thought and feelings in large portions of the audience." Bush created his "War on Terror" frame, repeated key words and ideas and then sold it to the American public as more of "an exercise in mental conditioning than a policy speech." Thus, the pounding of words such a terror, evil and war molded the public's opinion out of sheer repetition.
Be the first to comment on this story