Abstract
This paper seeks to explore how Bangladeshi newspapers frame road safety governance. It investigates the prevalence of five news frames—responsibility, conflict, human interest, economic consequence and morality, in news stories on road safety in Bangladesh. Taking a deductive approach to qualitative content analysis, a total of ninety three (93) news stories from July 29 to August 30, 2018, were analyzed from four Bangladeshi newspapers. The findings suggest that the most common frame in news stories on road safety was the attribution of responsibility frame, followed by the conflict frame and human interest frame, respectively. In most of the cases, the government was seen as responsible for the problem, rather than the individual actors. It is argued that each of the frames can construct a distinct picture of the reality in which road safety is positioned and influence the policy preferences of the audience.
References
Accident Research Institute. (2014). Fact sheet. ARI, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
Adikary, T. S. (2019). UN road safety week: Bangladesh to observe it for first time. The Daily Star
Akhter, S. (2018). Road safety directives fall on deaf ears. New Age.
Akhter, S. (2019). Reckless driving goes unabated. New Age.
An, S. K., & Gower, K. K. (2009). How do the news media frame crises? A content analysis of crisis news coverage. Public Relations Review, 35(2), 107–112.
Andrews, M. (2010). Good government means different things in different countries. Governance, 23(1), 7–35.
Andrews, M. (2014). An ends-means approach to looking at governance. In Working paper no. 281, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Antara, N. F. (2019), ‘What can fix trip-based public transports?’ Dhaka Tribune.
Atkinson, M. L., Lovett, J., & Baumgartner, F. R. (2014). Measuring the media agenda. Political Communication, 31(2), 355–380.
Bdnews24.com. (2018). Natore road accident: Death toll rises to 15.
Bdnews24.com. (2018). Police act tough on university students during road safety protests.
Behr, R. L., & Iyengar, S. (1985). Television news, real-world cues, and changes in the public agenda. Public Opinion Quarterly, 49(1), 38–57.
Beullens, K., Roe, K., & Van den Bulck, J. (2008). Television news’ coverage of motor-vehicle crashes. Journal of Safety Research, 39(5), 547–553.
Bevir, M., & Rhodes, R. A. W. (2003). Searching for civil society: Changing patterns of governance in Britain. Public Administration, 81(1), 41–62.
Boukes, M., Boomgaarden, H. G., Moorman, M., & de Vreese, C. H. (2015). Political news with a personal touch: How human interest framing indirectly affects policy attitudes. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 92(1), 121–141.
Carter, M. J. (2013). The hermeneutics of frames and framing: An examination of the media’s construction of reality. SAGE Open.
Cho, S. H., & Gower, K. K. (2006). Framing effect on the public’s response to crisis: Human interest frame and crisis type influencing responsibility and blame. Public Relations Review, 32(4), 420–422.
Connor, S. M., & Wesolowski, K. (2004). Newspaper framing of fatal motor vehicle crashes in four Midwestern cities in the United States, 1999–2000. Injury Prevention, 10(3), 149–153.
Cook, T. E. (1998). Governing with the news: The news media as a political institution. Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press.
D’Angelo, P. (2017). Framing: Media frames. In The international encyclopaedia of media effects, pp. 634–644.
de Vreese, C. H. (2004). The effects of frames in political television news on audience perceptions of routine political news. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 81(1), 36–52.
de Vreese, C. H. (2005). News framing: Theory and typology. Information Design Journal & Document Design, 13(1).
de Vreese, C. H. (2014). Mediatization of news: The role of journalistic framing. Mediatization of politics (pp. 137–155). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Deane, J. (2015). Media and communication in governance: It’s time for a rethink. In A. Whaites, E. Gonzalez, S. Fyson, & G. Teskey (Eds.), A governance practitioner’s notebook: Alternative ideas and approaches (pp. 265–280). Paris: OECD.
Dhaka Tribune. (2018). NCPSRR: Road accidents killed 4284 people in 2017.
Dhaka Tribune. (2018). The nine demands of the students.
Dhaka Tribune. (2018). Shajahan Khan: I won’t resign paying heed to BNP’s demand.
Domke, D., Shah, D. V., & Wackman, D. B. (2000). Rights and morals, issues, and candidate integrity: Insights into the role of the news media. Political Psychology, 21(4), 641–665.
Dorfman, L., Wallack, L., & Woodruff, K. (2005). More than a message: Framing public health advocacy to change corporate practices. Health Education & Behavior, 32(3), 320–336.
Elder, C. D., & Cobb, R. W. (1984). Agenda-building and the politics of aging. Policy Studies Journal, 13(1), 115–129.
Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51–58.
Financial Express. (2019). Road transport act 2018.
Gamson, W. A., & Modigliani, A. (1989). Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power: A constructionist approach. American Journal of Sociology, 95(1), 1–37.
Ghanem, S. I., & McCombs, M. (2001). The convergence of agenda setting and framing. In S. D. Reese, O. H. Gandy, & A. E. Grant (Eds.), Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world (pp. 83–98). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc, Publishers.
Gorp, B. V. (2010). Strategies to take subjectivity out of framing analysis. In P. D’Angelo & J. A. Kuypers (Eds.), Doing news framing analysis: Empirical and theoretical perspectives (pp. 84–109). New York: Routledge.
Grindle, M. S. (2004). Good enough governance: Poverty reduction and reform in developing countries. Governance, 17(4), 525–548.
Grindle, M. S. (2007). Good enough governance revisited. Development Policy Review, 25(5), 533–574.
Gronemeyer, M. E., & Porath, W. (2017). Framing political news in the Chilean Press: The Persistence of the Conflict Frame. International Journal of Communication, 11.
Gross, K. (2008). Framing persuasive appeals: Episodic and thematic framing, emotional response, and policy opinion. Political Psychology, 29(2), 169–192.
Hajer, M. A. (2009). Authoritative governance: Policy making in the age of mediatization. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hasan, K. & Rabbi, A. R. (2018). 2 students killed, 7 injured in Airport Road accident. Dhaka Tribune.
Hassan, M. (2014). Political settlement dynamics in a limited-access order: the case of Bangladesh (Working Paper No .20). BRAC Institute of Governance and Development. BRAC University.
Hertog, J. K., & McLeod, D. M. (2001). A multiperspectival approach to framing analysis: A field guide. In S. D. Reese, O. H. Gandy, & A. E. Grant (Eds.), Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world (pp. 157–178). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc, Publishers.
Hoque, M. & Ahamed, S. (2018). Govt assures students of ensuring road safety measures, justice for road accidents. Bdnews24.com.
ITF. (2016). Zero road deaths and serious injuries: Leading a paradigm shift to a safe system. Paris: OECD Publishing.
ITF. (2018). International transport forum summit. Leipzig, Germany.
Iyengar, S. (1989). How citizens think about national issues: A matter of responsibility. American Journal of Political Science, 33(4), 878–900.
Iyengar, S. (1990). Framing responsibility for political issues: The case of poverty. Political Behavior, 12(1), 19–40.
Iyengar, S. (1994). Is anyone responsible?: How television frames political issues. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Iyengar, S., & Kinder, D. R. (1987). News that matters: Agenda-setting and priming in a television age. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Iyengar, S., & Simon, A. (1993). News coverage of the Gulf crisis and public opinion: A study of agenda-setting, priming, and framing. Communication Research, 20(3), 365–383.
Jebril, N., de Vreese, C. H., van Dalen, A., & Albæk, E. (2013). The effects of human interest and conflict news frames on the dynamics of political knowledge gains: Evidence from a cross-national study. Scandinavian Political Studies, 36(3), 201–226.
Jeong, S. H., Yum, J., & Hwang, Y. (2018). Effects of media attributions on responsibility judgments and policy opinions. Mass Communication and Society, 21(1), 24–49.
Kim, S. H. (2015). Who is responsible for a social problem? News framing and attribution of responsibility. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 92(3), 554–558.
Kim, S. H., Carvalho, J. P., & Davis, A. C. (2010). Talking about poverty: News framing of who is responsible for causing and fixing the problem. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 87(3–4), 563–581.
Kim, S. H., & Willis, L. A. (2007). Talking about obesity: News framing of who is responsible for causing and fixing the problem. Journal of Health Communication, 12(4), 359–376.
Klijn, E. H., & Korthagen, I. (2017). Governance and media attention: A research agenda about how media affect (Network) governance processes. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 1(2), 103–113.
Mahmud, S. S., Talukder, M. M. A., Ahmed, I., & Raihan, M. A. (2013). Road safety initiatives in Bangladesh. Jurnal Teknologi, 65(3), 60–64.
Mamun, S. (2018). PM gives Tk20 lakh each to Airport Road accident victims’ families: The prime minister conveyed her sympathy to the bereaved families. Dhaka Tribune.
Mamun, S. (2018). Bus owners to put contract drivers on monthly payroll instead. Dhaka Tribune.
Mamun, S. (2019). Road transport act, 2018 goes into effect on Friday: BRTA not yet prepared to implement new traffic law. Dhaka Tribune.
Matthes, J. (2009). What’s in a frame? A content analysis of media framing studies in the world’s leading communication journals, 1990−2005. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 86(2), 349–367.
McCombs, M. (2004). Setting the agenda: The mass media and public opinion. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187.
Mello, S., & Tan, A. S. (2016). Who’s responsible? Media framing of pediatric environmental health and mothers’ perceptions of accountability. Journal of Health Communication, 21(12), 1217–1226.
Nasim, N. H. (2018). Natore accident bus bought at auction, was to be sold as scrap. Dhaka Tribune.
Neuman, W. R., Just, M. R., & Crigler, A. N. (1992). Common knowledge. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
New Age. (2019). New road transport act comes into effect across Bangladesh.
ODI. (2017). The political economy of road safety: A policy-oriented literature review. London: Overseas Development Institute.
Pan, Z., & Kosicki, G. M. (2001). Framing as a strategic action in public deliberation. In S. D. Reese, O. H. Gandy Jr., & A. E. Grant (Eds.), Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world (pp. 35–66). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc, Publishers.
Peters, B. G. (2016). Governance and the media: Exploring the linkages. Policy & Politics, 44(1), 9–22.
PPRC. (2014). Road Safety: Realities & Challenges. Bangladesh: Power and Participation Research Centre and BRAC.
Price, V. (1989). Social identification and public opinion: Effects of communicating group conflict. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53(2), 197–224.
Price, V., Tewksbury, D., & Powers, E. (1997). Switching trains of thought: The impact of news frames on readers’ cognitive responses. Communication Research, 24(5), 481–506.
Prothom Alo. (2018). Over 25,000 killed on roads in 3 years.
Rabbi, A. R. (2018). Grieving students end blockade on Airport Road, place nine-point demand. Dhaka Tribune.
Reese, S. D. (2010). Finding frames in a web of culture: The case of the war on terror. In P. D’Angelo & J. A. Kuypers (Eds.), Doing news framing analysis: Empirical and theoretical perspectives (pp. 17–42). New York: Routledge.
Rhodes, R. A. W. (1996). The new governance: Governing without government. Political Studies, 44(4), 652–667.
Scheufele, D. A. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 103–122.
Scheufele, B. T., & Scheufele, D. A. (2010). Of spreading activation, applicability, and schemas: Conceptual distinctions and their operational implications for measuring frames and framing effects. In P. D’Angelo & J. A. Kuypers (Eds.), Doing news framing analysis: Empirical and theoretical perspectives (pp. 126–150). New York: Routledge.
Schnell, K. C. F. (2001). Assessing the democratic debate: How the news media frame elite policy discourse. Political communication, 18(2), 183–213.
Schudson, M. (2002). The news media as political institutions. Annual Review of Political Science, 5(1), 249–269.
Semetko, H. A., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2000). Framing European politics: A content analysis of press and television news. Journal of Communication, 50(2), 93–109.
Singer, E., & Endreny, P. (1993). How accurately do the media report on risk? In Reporting on risk: How the mass media portray accidents, diseases, other hazards (pp. 139–158). Russell Sage Foundation.
Stoker, G. (1998). Governance as theory: Five propositions. International Social Science Journal, 50(155), 17–28.
The Daily Star. (2018). Students check licenses, discipline traffic.
The Daily Star. (2018). Truck crushes schoolgirl to death.
The Daily Star. (2018). Dhaka shaken by youth spirit.
The Daily Star. (2018). Causing death by rash driving: Maximum 5 years’ jail: Cabinet okays draft law; activists term punishment insufficient.
The Daily Star. (2018). Overworked, underpaid: Bangladesh bus drivers say accidents not entirely their fault.
Tipu, M. S. I. (2018). Driver confesses competition between buses killed 2 students. Dhaka Tribune.
UNDESA, UNDP, UNESCO. (2012). Governance and development: Thematic think piece. UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda.
UNDP. (1997). Governance for sustainable human development: A UNDP policy document. New York: United Nations Development Programme.
UNESCO. (2005). Media and good governance. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Valkenburg, P. M., Semetko, H. A., & de Vreese, C. H. (1999). The effects of news frames on readers' thoughts and recall. Communication research, 26(5), 550–569.
Weaver, D. H. (2007). Thoughts on agenda setting, framing, and priming. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 142–147.
Weaver, D. H., McCombs, M. E., & Spellman, C. (1975). Watergate and the media: A case study of agenda-setting. American Politics Quarterly, 3(4), 458–472.
Wendorf, M. J., & Yang, F. (2017). Framing autism: A content analysis of five major news frames in US-based newspapers. Journal of health communication, 22(3), 190–197.
WHO. (2015). Global status report on road safety 2015. World Health Organization.
WHO. (2018). Global status report on road safety 2018. World Health Organization.
World Bank. (1992). Governance and development. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
World Bank. (2006). Media, governance, and development: An empirical perspective that challenges convention. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
World Bank. (2009). Bangladesh - operationalizing political economy : Urban bus operations in Dhaka. South Asia Political Economy and Governance Issues; Note No. 1. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Zhang, Y., Jin, Y., Stewart, S., & Porter, J. (2016). Framing responsibility for depression: How US news media attribute causal and problem-solving responsibilities when covering a major public health problem. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 44(2), 118–135.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Naziz, A. Sustainable development goals and media framing: an analysis of road safety governance in Bangladeshi newspapers. Policy Sci 53, 759–777 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-020-09393-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-020-09393-0