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F
V
IRUSES AND
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ICTIMS
: F
RAMING THE
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NTERNET
, 1988-1990 2
negotiate a meaning for the new phenomenon (Berger & Luckmann, 1967; Adoni &
Mane, 1984; Tuchman, 1978; Fishman, 1980; Gamson, Croteau, Hoynes, & Sasson,
1992). The media often take part in this negotiation by filtering, amplifying and omitting
certain messages about the innovation. Because the technology is new and possibly
complex, the public relies to some degree on the news media for information about the
innovation (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976). As the facets of a socially constructed
technology circulate, the social construction becomes more and more accepted, until a
particular meaning is seen as natural and almost inevitable (Gitlin, 1980; Schudson,
1982). Alternative meanings occasionally challenge this dominant meaning, but they are
typically measured against the original. These naturalized assumptions about the
technology (often in the form of catchphrases and metaphors) can then influence the
public policy that surrounds the technology, legitimizing certain kinds of action and
obscuring otherwise viable options (Pan & Kosicki, 1993; Nelkin, 1995; Lakoff &
Johnson, 1980). They can also hamper or aid the adoption of a technology, particularly
when the media broadly circulate these assumptions among the technology-consuming
public.
The purpose of this study is to examine the language used by newspapers in
constructing the Internet and structuring the new technology in the public consciousness.
It suggests some connections between how the media initially presented the Internet, the
public policy about the Internet that has emerged since, and the adoption of the. In a
broader context, this study adds to our knowledge of how emerging communication
technologies develop, and how their development is both affected by and reflected by
media discourse.
Convention