Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The State of the Union address has the potential for extensive subsequent coverage in the press. This context is one of driving forces for the media framing. With this background in mind, this study examines the ways in which the State of the Union address in upcoming cycle of the 2004 presidential election is framed in the news media.

The study shows that American media covered the State of the Union address focusing on the issue of the war in Iraq and economy. The result also shows that Americans watched the news stories about the State of the Union address framed negatively. Responsibility and conflict frames were the most prominent strategies to cover the issue. Each frame was used differently by news outlets and issues. Methodologically, the study shows that a standard set of content analytic indicators (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000) developed in European setting can be used to reliably measure the prevalence of common frame in the news in different setting. Practical implications and future research direction are discussed.