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Language frames us, our world and where we are headed—by changing the frames we use we can contribute to changing our future. Press frames are constructed through the selection of certain pieces of information that can contribute to paradigms, our ways of thinking; and to worldviews, our ways of seeing the world, of seeing and perceiving the other. Our perception of the other informs our attitudes, which in turn influences how we behave toward the other. When the language the media uses to define the conflict changes, the frames of the conflict can also change, allowing for a different way of seeing the future. This work first discusses the role of the press in the historic frames used to define “the Irish question.” This is followed by an examination of how press frames in the Northern Ireland conflict were created, and maintained, and then how and why they changed. The impact of frame change is then discussed within the context of re-imagined communities and reconciliation.
Dissertation Committee:
Christopher Mitchell , Ph.D., (Chair), Institute for Conflict Analysis & Resolution
Richard Rubenstein, Ph.D., Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Desmond Dinan , Ph.D. School of Public Policy, GMU