Title: The Disingenuously, Emotion Fueled Witch Hunt of the 21st Century
“The issue of abortion provides a good example of how the way the rightest U.S. news media
frame a political topic, causing emotions such as anger which can be assumed to have a relevant
impact on preferences regarding ‘pro-life’ policies; being detrimental and dangerous.”
The Role of Emotions in Political Communication
Statement: 4
Lecturer: Andreas Schuck
February 20, 2020
Word Count: 1,189
1
, “The issue of abortion provides a good example of how the way the rightest U.S. news
media frame a political topic, causing emotions such as anger which can be assumed to
have a relevant impact on preferences regarding ‘pro-life’ policies; being detrimental”
News outlets can be regarded as the primary informers of society, acquainting individuals
with complex societal and political issues. This clarification conducted by news media is done
through a variety of techniques including the infamous methods of framing and the utilization of
emotional appeals. One of the most notorious processes studied within media effects research:
framing, being the, “selection, silence distribution, and the specific exclusion or elaboration of
certain issues” (Schuck & Feinholdt, 2016) is remarkably argued to increase the comprehension
of readers through the curation of specific frames thought to be, “a central organizing idea that
suggests to a reader what the issue is and how one should come to understand it” (Brader, 2005).
Frames are blatantly liable and important in instigating specific emotions through the use of
primarily subconscious emotional appeals (Brader, 2005). Frames illicit discrete emotions:
emotive episodes characterized by their unique valence, arousal level, and post action tendencies
(Valentino, et al. 2011). Although framing is detected throughout media and the news, it does not
necessarily imply that it is objective nor necessarily accurate.
Abortion has been a topic of discussion since the 1970’s, long regarded as a political
issue that becomes ever more prominent on the media and public agenda during election
campaigns (Woodruff, 2019). Since 2011 to 2017, “states have enacted 401 abortion restrictions”
while, “58% of American women of reproductive age lived in a state considered either hostile or
2
“The issue of abortion provides a good example of how the way the rightest U.S. news media
frame a political topic, causing emotions such as anger which can be assumed to have a relevant
impact on preferences regarding ‘pro-life’ policies; being detrimental and dangerous.”
The Role of Emotions in Political Communication
Statement: 4
Lecturer: Andreas Schuck
February 20, 2020
Word Count: 1,189
1
, “The issue of abortion provides a good example of how the way the rightest U.S. news
media frame a political topic, causing emotions such as anger which can be assumed to
have a relevant impact on preferences regarding ‘pro-life’ policies; being detrimental”
News outlets can be regarded as the primary informers of society, acquainting individuals
with complex societal and political issues. This clarification conducted by news media is done
through a variety of techniques including the infamous methods of framing and the utilization of
emotional appeals. One of the most notorious processes studied within media effects research:
framing, being the, “selection, silence distribution, and the specific exclusion or elaboration of
certain issues” (Schuck & Feinholdt, 2016) is remarkably argued to increase the comprehension
of readers through the curation of specific frames thought to be, “a central organizing idea that
suggests to a reader what the issue is and how one should come to understand it” (Brader, 2005).
Frames are blatantly liable and important in instigating specific emotions through the use of
primarily subconscious emotional appeals (Brader, 2005). Frames illicit discrete emotions:
emotive episodes characterized by their unique valence, arousal level, and post action tendencies
(Valentino, et al. 2011). Although framing is detected throughout media and the news, it does not
necessarily imply that it is objective nor necessarily accurate.
Abortion has been a topic of discussion since the 1970’s, long regarded as a political
issue that becomes ever more prominent on the media and public agenda during election
campaigns (Woodruff, 2019). Since 2011 to 2017, “states have enacted 401 abortion restrictions”
while, “58% of American women of reproductive age lived in a state considered either hostile or
2
