Communications Faculty Scholarship

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2009

Publication Title

New Media & Society

Publisher

Sage Publications

Keywords

computers, ICTs, framing, critical discourse analysis, US magazines, media discourse, marketing

Abstract

This study investigates the role of media discourse in the hegemonic process by which the microcomputer became a common and trusted appliance in the USA during the early years of the technology's adoption: the 1980s to 1990s. A critical discourse analysis combined with framing analysis of four cases from consumer magazines — two advertisements and two editorial feature stories — reveals that a device heralded as 'revolutionary' was presented in fact using rhetoric that incorporated and legitimized traditional values, roles and practices such as capitalism. Any frames that potentially challenged existing social structures and power relationships were secondary and 'super-framed' by the reinforcing frames.

First Page

31

Last Page

52

Volume

11

Issue

1-2

Original Citation

Kelly, J. (2009). Not So Revolutionary After All: The Role of Reinforcing Frames in US Magazine Discourse about Microcomputers. New Media & Society, 11(1-2), 31-52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444808100159

DOI

10.1177/1461444808100159

Version

Post-Print

Publisher's Statement

Copyright © 2009 SAGE Publications

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