Conclusions
This study brought to the surface the concerns the applicant, consumers, elected
officials, court, and government regulators have about ownership rules and waivers of
these rules being awarded to media companies. Each group has a role in helping to shape
media policy but the arguments put forth by these individuals and organizations vary on a
case-by-case basis. These diverse viewpoints concerning the waivers are present in the
Wall Street Journal and the New York Times documents. The manner in which these
viewpoints are handled in the reports has been determined to parallel the board’s
perspectives on waivers, however, further research needs to be conducted to answer the
questions this analysis has raised about framing, reporters, newsroom/bureau cultures,
and various relationships within the news organizations and sources.
This study affirms frames exist and the media are subjective. Furthermore, this
study serves as evidence that frames do potentially reflect the communicator’s bias. The
frames may parallel the opinions expressed by the editorial board, but future research
would assist in understanding why these similarities exist. Regarding the Times and the
Journal, this parallel occurs more often than not, influencing eight of the ten frames.
Future studies will need to be conducted to determine if this pattern is reflective of the
media industry as whole. Since these results were found through a qualitative analysis
conducted by the primary researcher, the results should not be interpreted as being
conclusive unless replications of this study beyond the Journal and the Times and into
other media yield similar conclusions.