Framing of the 2024 of American Elections in International Media: A Comparison Among Nine Countries

Ivanka Pjesivac, Sohyun Park, and Moses Okocha’s paper, “Framing of the 2024 of American Elections in International Media: A Comparison Among Nine Countries,” won 1st place in Open category, International Division, paper competition at the April Broadcast Education Association (BEA) conference in Las Vegas. The paper was presented on April 20. Abstract: The study examined how international media framed the 2024 American elections by conducting a content analysis of all stories (N=1,623) published in nine public service media in Australia, China, Mexico, South Korea, United Kingdom, France, Bahrain, South Africa, and Israel. The sample ranged from Sept. 10, 2024, the day of the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, to Jan. 20, 2025, the inauguration day of Donald Trump as the new U.S. president. The study found that the most dominant frame across the nine outlets was conflict frame, followed by issue relevance frame and human interest/personality frame. Significantly lower presence had regional, horserace, sensationalism, media, and constitutional crisis frames. The country of origin had a significant impact on each used frame. Results are interpreted in light of cross-cultural differences in media reporting and framing.