Using corpus linguistic software in the extraction of news frames: towards a dynamic process of frame analysis in journalistic texts

The article seeks to demonstrate the contribution that corpus linguistic software can make in news frame analysis and how it can help address some of the methodological challenges in the extraction of news frames. With the employment of corpus linguistic software WordSmith, the study conducts an inductive frame analysis of the UK press coverage of the Greek financial crisis, in which it combines principles of qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches. The findings demonstrate that, by integrating a statistical measuring mechanism in a qualitative analytical approach, corpus linguistic techniques can offer a systematic connection of stylistic and ideological features of news content and a more reliable identification of the loci for frames. Such techniques can also allow a better approximation of the unconscious level of frame construction. This can lead to a more efficient identification of frames that exhibit deeper cultural values and are more likely to shape the receivers’ interpretations.