Framing the Freddie Gray incident: a content analysis of The Baltimore sun and The Washington post newspapers

Abstract

The month of April 2015 will forever be etched in Baltimore history as a time of opinion, sadness, and soul-searching as the Freddie Gray incident occurred, along with the protests that swiftly followed. For the purpose of observing the framing done of the incident by newspaper outlets, a qualitative content analysis of The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post was performed for the time period after his death and before the protests. Understanding that framing is virtually unavoidable, it is important to recognize the slants presented to the public about the incident. The findings suggested there are minimal differences in how media outlets in two different cities framed the same incident as evidenced by the majority of framing being sympathetic toward Freddie Gray. In addition, the majority of framing took place in the body of the article as opposed to the headline, lead, or closing paragraph.