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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
Based on an integration of Ethnolinguistic Identity Theory (Giles and Johnson 1981,
1987) and Framing (e.g. Tuchman 1978, Scheufele 1999), the paper proposes the
approach of Ethnolinguistic Framing suggesting that ethnolinguistic identity can be a
powerful factor in building and developing frames.
The empirical part of the research builds on qualitative interviews conducted with
journalists of three minority language regional daily newspapers in Europe: Dolomiten
(a German newspaper in South-Tyrol, Italy), Vasabladet (a Swedish newspaper in
Ostrobothnia, Finland) and Háromszék (a Hungarian newspaper in Transylvania,
Rumania). Four interviews were carried out in each newspaper and analysed by
meaning categorization, meaning interpretation and narrative structuring (Kvale
1996).
The results indicate that in different contexts, ethnolinguistic identity in different ways
contributes to frame building. Yet, the major differences between the newspapers can
be traced back to how the journalists perceive the (1) sociohistorical status of their
language group, (2) the status and institutional support of the minority language (3)
and the structure and permeability of the intergroup boundaries between the minority
and majority language groups.
The observations suggest that ethnolinguistic frames are outcomes of the interaction
between ethnolinguistic identity on the one hand, and the authority/autonomy of the
objective professional norms on the other. The study points toward that by the means
of Ethnolinguistic Framing, minority language newspapers structure and organize the
social reality in a way through which they head to form actively the salience of
ethnolinguistic identity of their readers, the perception of the status of the minority
language group and the perception of the dynamics of intergroup boundaries.
References
Giles, H. & Johnson, P. (1981). The role of language in ethnic group relations. In J.C.
Turner & H. Giles (Eds.), Intergroup Behavior (pp. 199−243). Oxford: Blackwell.
Giles, H. & Johnson, P. (1987). Ethnolinguistic identity theory: a social psychological
approach to language maintenance. International Journal of the Sociology of
Language, 63, 69−99.
Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews. An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing.
Thousand Oaks: Sage
Scheufele, D.A. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of
Communication, 49(1), 103−122.
Tuchman, G. (1978). Making news: A study in the construction of reality. New York:
Free Press
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