conflict & communication online, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2009
www.cco.regener-online.de
ISSN 1618-0747

Maren Stuntebeck
German Army international military operations – The influence of media frames on the attitudes of recipients and the role of mental models

The present paper investigates the impact of differently framed news articles about the so-called "Totenschädel-Skandal" ("skull-scandal") on the approval of Germany's international military operations. A total of 267 students were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions and had to read either a positively or a negatively framed news article. To examine the media effects, the approval of international military operations was assessed before and after reading the articles.
The results showed a significant impact of the media reports on the approval of international military operations. After reading the articles, subjects rejected international military operations more strongly than before. Only minimal framing-effects could be found, however. The participants didn't just passively accept the offered frames, but actively processed the information. Their own mental frames had a stronger impact than the media frames.