The Golden Boy: An examination of framing in national and local news coverage of Jaylen Fryberg

This framing analysis of national and local news coverage uses contextual analysis to examine how both print media and television media portrayed the 14-year-old shooter of the Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting. After the October 24, 2014 shooting in a town of roughly 63,000 people, news media began coverage almost instantly-- including national news media. This study adds to previous research done on mass murders because the recency of the shooting means the coverage has yet to be looked at with a critical eye. In the analysis it was discovered that the majority of the coverage framed the shooter as a “golden boy” who didn’t fit the stereotypical image of a high school shooter. Local media brought more human elements into its coverage, while national media covered the basics-- often relying on other, more local, news sources to supply information for their coverage. keywords: mass murders, school shootings, framing, news media, national, local, television news, newspaper