Challenging the frame in the news: The role of issue involvement, attitude, and competing frames

The present study contributes to the external validity of the framing concept by studying the effects of frames actually utilized in newspaper articles. The study assesses the persuasive influence of such frames on the interpretation of news, and how issue involvement and attitude interfere in this process. A total of 282 participants were presented with one of three experimental versions of a newspaper article about asylum. In the first condition the asylum seekers were implicitly labeled as innocent victims, in the second as intruders. The third version is a mixed condition in which both competing frames were applied. In all three conditions an identical photograph was inserted. The findings indicate that the frame suggests how the photograph can be interpreted. However, no indications were found for a moderating role of the news readers’ issue involvement or attitude