Erving Goffman's Framing Theory

Erving Goffman first defined Framing Theory in an essay titled “Frame Analysis” in 1974 in order to provide a context for understanding and interpreting information that enables people to define and label ideas. This theory helps communicators define the scope of a situation or argument and transmit meaning. The goal of framing is to focus the audience’s attention on a particular part of a message or aspect in order to achieve a specific reaction (Hallahan, 2008). Frames help define problems, identify causes, and make moral judgments in order to suggest ways to solve those problems (Knight, 1999). Framing is closely related to Agenda-Setting theory, but while Agenda-Setting deals with telling an audience what to think about, framing theory goes one step further and involves the actual presentation of information to an audience. The theory suggests that the way something is presented to an audience directly effects how people process that information and make decisions based on that information (Hallahan, 2008). This is done through selection and …show more content…
In a way, framing is what constructs social reality. However, some people believe it neglects systematic empirical studies, has descriptive bias, reductionism, and monolithic tendencies (Benford, 1997). Regardless, this theory is useful to public relations professionals for multiple reasons. An article titled “Framing Political Public Relations: Measuring of Political Communication Strategies in Germany”, written by Romy Froehlich and Burkhard Rudiger in 2004, explains the importance of framing when it comes to political public relations. The goal is to use media outlets to communicate their interpretations of political issues in order to generate support for their policies. They conducted a study based on how successful political PR is at portraying specific perspectives to the public (Froehlich & Rudiger,