Topics related to ethical issues in agricultural production, particularly farm animal welfare, are increasingly featured in mainstream news media. Media representations of farm animal welfare issues are important because the media is a significant source of information, but also because the way that the issues are represented, or framed, defines these issues in particular ways, suggests causes or solutions, and provides moral evaluations. As such, analysis of media frames can reveal how issues are being made public and identify the cues that audiences are given to help them make sense of complex ethical issues. Previous research on media frames and animal welfare has tended to focus on single issues or events; however we sought to identify whether media frames extended across different farm animal welfare-related issues to investigate whether there is any commonality between issues. We analysed articles published in the mainstream press in Australia between 2014 and 2016 related to farm animal welfare, and identified two dominant frames: that governments and the farm animal production industries cannot be trusted to ensure good farm animal welfare; and that consumers can act to improve animal welfare through ethical consumption. These frames have implications for how the Australian public interpret and understand the roles and responsibilities of different actors in the food production system. This research also contributes to discussion about the role of the media in shaping public opinion about ethical issues in agriculture and how, in turn, the media landscape itself is being shaped by consumer attitudes.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚媒体如何报道农场动物福利问题

与农业生产中的伦理问题相关的话题，特别是农场动物福利，越来越多地成为主流新闻媒体的报道。媒体对农场动物福利问题的表述很重要，因为媒体是重要的信息来源，还因为这些问题的表述或框架以特定方式定义了这些问题，提出了原因或解决方案，并提供了道德评价。因此，对媒体框架的分析可以揭示问题是如何公开的，并确定给予观众的线索，以帮助他们理解复杂的道德问题。以前对媒体框架和动物福利的研究往往侧重于单一问题或事件；然而，我们试图确定媒体框架是否扩展到与农场动物福利相关的不同问题，以调查问题之间是否存在任何共性。我们分析了 2014 年至 2016 年间在澳大利亚主流媒体上发表的与农场动物福利相关的文章，并确定了两个主要框架：不能信任政府和农场动物生产行业来确保良好的农场动物福利；消费者可以通过道德消费来改善动物福利。这些框架对澳大利亚公众如何解释和理解食品生产系统中不同参与者的角色和责任具有影响。这项研究还有助于讨论媒体在塑造有关农业伦理问题的公众舆论方面的作用，以及如何反过来，