Framing them in order to hang them?

Abstract

There has been an influx of Zimbabweans into Botswana following the economic meltdown in their country. While Zimbabweans have made important contributions, they have been blamed for the spiraling crime wave and other ills in the Botswana society. The overarching aim of this study was to find out how Zimbabweans are reported in Botswana print media. Consequently, a content analysis of Botswana's only two daily newspapers and two randomly selected weekly newspapers was undertaken over a five-year period. The news stories were coded on the basis of themes or subject matter as well as categorized into objectivist or advocacy frames. The findings indicate that stories on Zimbabweans are advocacy framed as opposed to objectivist framed. Also, there are more stories on Zimbabweans’ involvement in crime than about any other aspect of their presence in Botswana. Flowing from the one sided reports, we call for consideration of another aspect to the framing debate – frame-up.

Keywords:

• framing
• Zimbabwe
• newspapers
• Botswana
• crisis

Notes

1. Retrieved from www.bbc.co.uk on Wednesday March 11, 2009

2. Retrieved from news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3582459.stm on Wednesday March 11, 2009.

3. Retrieved from news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3582459.stm on Wednesday March 11, 2009.

4. Retrieved from www.unchr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,ZWE,,3f7d4d4d2,0.html on Wednesday March 11, 2009.

5. Retrieved from www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,QUERYRESPONSE,,ZWE,3f7d4d4d2,0.html on Wednesday March 11, 2009.

6. Retrieved from www.afrik-news.com/article14667.html –United States on Wednesday March 11, 2009.

7. Retrieved from www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news on Thursday March 12, 2009

8. Retrieved from www.bbc.co.uk on Thursday March 12, 2009

9. Retrieved from www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/.../botswana.htm –Cached –Similar on Thursday March 12, 2009.

10. Retrieved from www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/.../botswana.htm –Cached –Similar on Thursday March 12, 2009.

11. Retrieved from www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/.../botswana.htm –Cached –Similar on Thursday March 12, 2009.

12. Afghanistanism is a term that now means concentrating on happenings in other parts of the word while ignoring pressing local issues

13. Retrieved from www.mmegi.bw/2004/August/Tuesday10/news.html –Cached on Friday March 27, 2009

14. Retrieved from www.mmegi.bw/2004/August/Tuesday10/news.html –Cached on Friday March 27, 2009.

15. Retrieved from www.mmegi.bw/2004/August/Tuesday10/news.html –Cached on Friday March 27, 2009.

16. Retrieved from www,gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi on Saturday March 28, 2009

17. International Organization for Migration (2009).

18. Retrieved from www.mmegi.bw –Cached on Saturday March 28, 2009

19. Retrieved from www,gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi on Saturday March 28, 2009