Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: A content analysis of U.S. newspaper editorials (N = 158) examined framing of Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action at the University of Michigan. Results showed that Remedial Action and No Preferential Treatment, frames dominating affirmative action discourse in mass media from the 1960s through the mid-1990s, were overshadowed in 2003 by Diversity, a frame asserting that a blend of racially and ethnically different people serves to strengthen organizations and society. Logistic regression analysis indicated that Dedman and Doig’s (2003) Newsroom Diversity Index, the ratio of the proportion of minorities professionally employed by the newspaper to the proportion of minorities living in its market, was positively associated with choosing the diversity frame and negatively associated with choosing the no preferential treatment frame. Failure to respond to the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ 2003 Newsroom Employment Survey predicted use of the No Preferential Treatment frame. Implications for framing and affirmative action are discussed.