The 'crisis' frame in Australian newspaper reports in 2005

Abstract

This paper examines how the 'crisis' frame was used to report actual events such as areas of government mismanagement of health, water supply, and energy in Australian newspaper headlines and lead paragraphs in 2005. The crisis frame was also linked to predicted crises such as shortages of skilled workers and infrastructure. A search of the Factiva database of Australian newspapers located 3,745 articles that contained the word 'crisis' in the headline and/or lead paragraph. The crisis label was more frequently applied to government than to corporate and business areas of responsibility. The paper includes discussion of the benefits of the 'press as an early warning system for crisis, while urging caution because of the ability of the press to use frames selectively to create particular constructions of news events.