Measuring Issue-specific and Generic Frames in the Media’s Coverage of the Steroids Issue in Baseball

Abstract

This study explored frames in the coverage of the steroids issue in baseball through a content analysis of traditional and new media. Using issue-specific and generic frames, it proposed a hybrid measurement tool that combines both approaches. Findings of the principal component analysis indicate the media framed the steroids issue primarily in terms of conflict and policy. Significant differences emerged between traditional and new media, on the one hand, and between the news and sports media, on the other. Besides these frames, the media also presented the steroids story as a public opinion and morality issue, using organizational officials, the public, and the media to convey these frames.

KEYWORDS:

• baseball
• content analysis
• framing
• new media
• steroids
• traditional media

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank Journalism Practice’s anonymous reviewers and editors for their helpful suggestions. Also special thanks to Indiana University faculty Lesa Hatley Major (PhD, Louisiana State University), Jae Kook Lee (PhD, University of Texas), Sung-Un Yang (PhD, University of Maryland), and Galen Clavio (PhD, Indiana University), for their support, advice, and useful comments throughout the various steps of this study.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.