“A Momentary Lapse of
Reason”:
Media Frames of Bush
Administration Policy Issues
Caroline Heldman
Occidental College

Primary Topics
 Phase I: White House Marketing/ media
coverage of the Iraq War.
 Phase II: White House Marketing/ media
coverage of Bush policies pre-9/11.
 Phase III: White House Marketing/ media
coverage of Bush policies post-9/11.

Phase I: Iraq War Analysis
 How did the White House “sell” the recent
Iraq War to the American public?
 How did mainstream print media cover the
Iraq War?
 What does this analysis tell us about
presidential power?

Trends in the Presidential-Press
Relationship
 Presidents “going public”
 Increasingly inter-dependent relationship
 Rally Around the Flag post-9/11

Media Effects
 Agenda-setting
 Framing
 Priming

Methods
 Content analysis used
 Entailed major coding
 Two datasets generated:
1. White House communications regarding Iraq
2. Print media coverage of Iraq

White House Dataset
 All press releases, press conferences,
press gaggles, presidential speeches, and
presidential radio addresses that included
the word “Iraq” from September 12, 2001,
to May 8, 2003.
 361 communications included in the White
House Dataset.

Media Dataset
 Every other article mentioning the word “Iraq” in
Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World
Report from September 12, 2001, to May 8,
2003.
 Good sources because of broad circulation,
readership accessibility, and the ideological
range of their editorial positions.
 412 articles in the Media Dataset.

The “Selling” of the War
 Terrorist Frame: Saddam Hussein
sponsors terrorism
 WMD Frame: Hussein’s WMD pose an
imminent threat to the U.S.
 Liberation Frame: Liberation of the Iraqi
people from an evil dictator

White House Use of Three Frames
60%
49.1%
50%
40% 33.8%
30%
17.2%
20%
10%
0%
Terrorism Liberation WMD Frame
Frame Frame

White House Frames During War
75.0%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30% 20.5%
20%
4.5%
10%
0%
Terrorism Liberation WMD Frame
Frame Frame

White House Mention of WMD
No Mention
of WMD
24.9%
Iraq/Hussein
Mixed Message has WMD
about WMD 74.0%
1.1%

Effectiveness of White House
Campaign
 69% of Americans thought Iraq was involved in
9/11 attacks in August, 2003.
 22% believed WMD had been found in August,
2003.
 Support for the Iraq War much higher among
Americans who harbored misperceptions (86%
compared to 23%).

Support for the War in Iraq
 A majority of Americans supported the war
in Iraq when the White House proposed
the idea in 2002, until February, 2005.
 Extended “Rally Around the Flag” Effect
(until April, 2004)
 Role of press coverage?

Framing
60%
49.1%
50%
40%
33.8%
30.7% 29.8%
30%
20% 17.2%
14.2%
10% 8.0%
5.8% 4.4%
3.1%
2.20% 1.80%
0%
Terrorism Liberation WMD Frame Imperialism Democracy Political Defense Oil Frame Revenge
Frame Frame Frame Frame Gain Frame Industry Frame
Frame

Agenda-Setting
120
117
Number of Communications/ Articles
100
White House Media
80
60
50
40
35
33
20
2
0 0
S Oct- N D Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr- M Jun- Jul- A S Oct- N D Jan- Feb- Mar- Apr-
ep- 01 ov- ec- 02 02 02 02 ay- 02 02 ug- ep- 02 ov- ec- 03 03 03 03
01 01 01 02 02 02 02 02
Months

Priming: Terrorist Frame
White House Media
Percent of Communications/Articles with
60%
50%
Terrorist as Primary Frame
40% 35.7%
30%
22.2%
20% 15.7%
12.5%
11.1% 12.5%
10%
8.0%
5.9%
0%
Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4

Priming: Liberation Frame
White House Media
70%
67.5%
Percent of Communications/Articles with
60%
Liberation as Primary Frame
52.9%
50%
44.4%
40% 37.1%
28.9%
30%
25.9%
20% 20.6%
15.0%
10%
0%
Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4

Priming: WMD Frame
White House Media
80%
72.5%
73.5%
Percent of Communications/Articles with
70%
60% 55.4%
WMD as Primary Frame
51.9%
50%
44.4%
40% 39.1%
30% 27.1%
20% 20.0%
10%
0%
Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4

Framing Pre-War to During War
White House Media
78.7%
80.0% 75.0%
70.0%
60.0% 53.6%
48.8%
50.0%
40.0% 35.5%
27.2%
30.0%
19.2% 20.5%
17.0%
20.0% 15.7%
10.0% 4.5% 4.3%
0.0%
Terrorist Terrorist Liberation Liberation WMD Pre- WMD in
Pre-War in War Pre-War in War War War
Primary Frames Pre-War and After

WMD Mentions
Do Not Exist Mixed
3.7% 3.0%
Existence
Questioned
3.7%
Assum ed
89.6%

Phase I Findings
 Media coverage uncannily reflected White
House attempts to set the agenda, prime,
and frame coverage of the Second Gulf
War.
 Print media articles overwhelmingly
reported that Saddam Hussein possessed
WMD without questioning this “fact.”

Phase I Discussion
 New York Times and Washington Post
mea culpas substantiate findings.
 Complicit coverage: Media reporting that
conveys the White House position,
typically using White House language and
frames, without counter arguments,
discussion of alternative frames, or noting
opposition to the policy at hand.

Phase II: Pre-9/11 Coverage
 Research Questions:
 Did a majority of print media coverage of President
Bush’s policy agenda reflect the framing presented
by the White House pre-September 11, 2001?
 Did a majority of print media coverage of President
Bush’s policy agenda reflect the priming presented
by the White House pre-September 11, 2001?
 Did a majority of print media coverage of President
Bush’s public policy agenda reflect complicit
coverage prior to September 11, 2001?

WH Tax Reform Frames
 Government Spending Frame
 Working Class Frame
 Class Warfare Frame
 Small Business Frame
 Marriage Penalty Frame
 Economic Stimulus Frame

WH Education Frames
 Local Control Frame
 High Standards Frame
 Accountability Frame

WH Faith-Based Frames
 Compassionate Frame
 Community Building Frame
 Family Frame
 Needy People Frame
 Love Frame
 Secular Frame

WH Rebuilding Military Frames
 Post- Cold War Frame
 Strong Military Frame
 Clear Mission Frame
 Legitimacy Frame

WH Social Security Frames
 Honoring Commitment Frame
 Preservation Frame
 Young People Frame

WH Medicare Frames
 Dignity Frame
 Choice Frame
 Cost Frame

Percentage of White House
Communications Mentioning Policy (n=124)
80%
69%
70%
60%
50%
40%
25% 27%
30%
20% 22%
20% 12%
10%
0%
Tax Cuts Education Faith-Based Rebuilding Social Medicare
Military Security

Complicit Coverage Pre-9/11
Complicit
Coverage,
16.4%
Non-Complicit
Coverage,
84.6%

Phase III: Post-9/11 Coverage
Research Questions:
 Did a majority of print media coverage of President Bush’s
policy agenda reflect the framing presented by the White
House post-9/11?
 Did a majority of print media coverage of President Bush’s
policy agenda reflect the priming presented by the White
House post-9/11?
 Did a majority of print media coverage of President Bush’s
public policy agenda reflect complicit coverage after 9/11?

Percentage of White House Communications
Mentioning Policy Topic (n=480)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Clear Skies Initiative 0.6%
Econom ic Stim ulus 36.7%
Energy Policy 14.0%
Estate Tax 2.1%
Faith-Based Initiative 8.3%
Healthy Forest Initiative
0.8%
Medicare Reform 12.5%
Missile Defense 3.1%
Tort Reform 1.9%
Trade Prom otion Authority 10.8%
Social Security Reform 17.3%

Energy Policy Framing/Coverage
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Reduce Fore ign 52.2%
Reliance Fram e 36.6%
16.4%
Econom ic Stim ulus
0.0%
Find New Source 14.9%
Fram e 15.5%
2.9%
Busines s Incentive
4.4%
White House Media

Percentage of Complicit Print Media
Articles Pre- and Post-9/11
18.0%
16.4%
16.0%
14.0% 13.0%
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Pre-9/11 Post-9/11

Democratic Implications
 “Rally effect” erodes media watchdog function.
 “Rally effect” will influence policies linked (even
rhetorically) to crisis.
 Complicit coverage emerges during times when
critical coverage is most needed.

Presidential Power Implications
 Persuasive Presidency Theory
 Imperial Presidency Theory
 New Model of Imperial Persuasion

Imperial Persuasion
The president is able to sway the hearts
and minds of Americans in the open,
amassing inordinate power through skillful
selling of ideas through news mainstream
media.

The End