Broadcasting Solutions: A Textual Analysis of Philadelphia Local Television News Coverage of Remedies for Gun Violence

Abstract

Philadelphia set records for gun violence in 2021. This textual analysis examined stories about firearm incidents from the four local television news networks in Philadelphia from June through August 2021 to see how proposed solutions to gun violence were covered. We discovered that none of the stories in the data set met all the criteria for rigorous solutions journalism. However, there were stories on almost each day that at least mentioned potential solutions.

Keywords

solutions journalism gun violence textual analysis television news broadcast news framing theory

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