News agency output and the framing of television news crisis output: 9/11 as a case study

Abstract

This essay is based on the analysis of an extensive and previously unpublished compilation of news wire updates from agencies such as Extel, Press Association and Associated Press received in the BBC newsroom in the run up to the attack and through the first 2 hours of output. The work is comprehensive and is intended as a research resource to enrich the historical record and support further analytical study of news values, especially in connection with major emergencies and unscheduled news events such as terrorist incidents. The significance is that the updates are drawn from all the major news agencies which enable a comparative analysis of their performances. The essay includes a review of frame theory and tests the validity of existing work on frame theory in discussing the stages of news ‘processing’ of crisis and disaster.