Framing the colombian peace referendum in the media: qualitative content analysis of daily newspaper "el espectador"

The climax came on October 2nd 2016, where Colombian voters rejected the peace deal between the FARC and the Colombian government wanting to end the longest armed conflict in the world. Such a result left a huge degree of surprise in its unanswered questions. While reading an academic literature it is clear – there is a lack of a deeper understanding of the role of the media in Colombian case. That is why my main aim was to carry out a detailed analysis of the October 2nd 2016 Peace Referendum how the Colombian media framed it. I have chosen to do my research based on the national level and the most objective Colombian newspaper called "El Espectador". The background of thesis stands on framing theory made by scholars Semetko and Valkenburg when doing content analysis together with deductive approach articles from "El Espectador" were put in 5 common frame model. Later on, using inductive approach author supplemented existing literature because of new frames were created. Altogether 170 articles from the El Espectador newspaper at the national level were analyzed. 97 of them corresponded to one of the common frame models and could be categorized as "conflict", "attribution of responsibility", "economic consequences", "morals" or "human interests". The examples of the "conflict" frame are most often found. Their tendency was to speak of a peaceful referendum as a controversy among the political elite, by disseminating opponents of information that do not correspond to reality, showing a power relationship and rivalling political ego. The frame of "Human Interests" was reiterated in 22 articles in which the information is presented in the dramatization of the Peace Referendum and as such, tells the consequences of an armed conflict through painful experiences. The third - the frame of "Morality" appeared 17 times. This article in the box presented the historical event in Colombia through spiritual values. The "Responsibility Attribution" frame can be seen in the context of a total of 11 articles. Responsibility is attributed to promoters and politicians for their lack of information on the Peace Referendum. Last but not least of all the articles found a framework for "Economic Consequences," whose main intention was to talk about the Peace Referendum as an economic issue. With the aid of inductive access, 73 articles were assigned to the frames created by the author in the media, rendering the frame name from what is translated into text content. The "Direct Bias" frame, which comprised 29 articles, was the most repetitive. The trend was - direct approaching of "yes" and "no" campaign ideas to the audience. The second frame of "Rules-Setting" reiterated the 18 articles its purpose was revealed through the establishment of rules, ensuring a smooth preparation and conduct of the referendum. "Democracy/Voting Activation Promotion" frame repeated in 13 articles, announces the benefits for Colombian residents if making an effort to vote in promoting democracy. The fourth, the "Analogue" named by the author, repeated 8 times in the article during the analyzed period. The framing of the trend is to define a Peace Referendum as a momentary incident in history, i.e. during a referendum, but in another country or another period, thus avoiding mistakes. The smallest part of the articles was "International Support". This framework presents the Peace Referendum as a request for assistance with the help of foreign musicians and politicians. The use of framing theory has helped me to understand how the Colombian Peace Referendum was highlighted in communication texts. Future research while using a quantitative analysis of frames and a prolonged exploratory period could seek to explore the impact of framing the media has on the public opinion. Also, it is likely a new referendum will take place in the future, which will affect one or another political decision, and that can be explored through the frame created by the author