News framing plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion and policy responses to complex social issues. This study focuses on the framing of economic inequality in news media, an area lacking comprehensive research. The authors aim to empirically document how economic inequality was framed in news coverage from Canada and the United States between 2000 and 2014, and conceptually contribute to understanding the determinants of news frames. Understanding the framing of economic inequality is vital because it can influence public discourse and policy approaches. While research exists on related topics like poverty or unemployment, the framing of the broader concept of economic inequality itself remains understudied. This gap is particularly significant given the increasing levels of wealth and income inequality in both countries during the studied period, a trend also marked by significant events such as the Great Recession and the rise of the Occupy movement. The study leverages these historical moments and cross-national differences to analyze the framing of economic inequality, considering multiple potential determinants simultaneously.

Existing literature on news framing highlights the importance of understanding how complex social issues are presented to the public. Studies show that frames select, emphasize, and naturalize particular definitions, causes, consequences, and solutions to problems. However, research on the determinants of news frames remains fragmented. While past research explored the influence of factors such as political orientation of news producers, national cultural contexts, social movements, and broader social structural changes, there is a need for comparative analysis to understand their relative influence. Previous research has examined framing related to poverty, homelessness, tax cuts, and welfare, but the specific framing of economic inequality requires focused investigation, particularly considering the relationship between poverty and relative wealth. The authors highlight the lack of existing research explicitly focusing on the news framing of economic inequality.

The study used a mixed-methods approach. Data on the volume of attention to economic inequality were gathered from LexisNexis searches using keywords such as "economic inequality." For in-depth analysis of framing, a sample of articles from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal (US), Toronto Star, and Globe and Mail (Canada) were hand-coded. The selection of these newspapers aimed to represent both left-leaning and right-leaning perspectives within the two national contexts. The coding scheme involved identifying whether articles framed economic inequality as a problem, and determining the causes and solutions presented (categorized as individual, corporate sector, or state-based). Inter-coder reliability was assessed, ensuring high agreement among coders. The analysis included time-series analysis of attention levels and logistic regression models to examine the influence of national context, newspaper political leaning, the Great Recession, and the Occupy movement on various framing elements. The New York Times served as the reference category in the logistic regressions.

The analysis of the volume of news articles revealed a significant spike in attention to economic inequality after the emergence of the Occupy movement in 2011, a trend that persisted even after the movement's initial peak. This contrasts with the lack of a clear correlation between the Great Recession and increased attention to economic inequality. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the Occupy movement significantly increased the likelihood of articles framing economic inequality as a social problem with negative consequences. However, the Occupy movement's influence on attributing causes (particularly to the corporate sector) and suggesting solutions was significantly less pronounced. The results regarding national context and political leaning of newspapers were largely insignificant. While the Toronto Star showed a higher likelihood of identifying economic inequality as a problem, other comparisons showed minimal differences between newspapers based on political orientation or national context. Interestingly, the attribution of solutions to the corporate sector showed a modest increase after the Occupy movement, contradicting the movement's framing. State-based solutions remained the most common across the entire study period, despite the lack of a clear temporal trend.

The findings highlight the powerful role of social movements in influencing news frames, particularly regarding the salience of an issue. The Occupy movement successfully brought economic inequality to the forefront of public discourse, shaping its representation as a significant problem. However, the study also demonstrates limitations on the movement's ability to shape the underlying causes and proposed solutions, suggesting a gap between movement framing and media representation. This may be due to factors such as the existing biases in media ownership and the influence of elite perspectives within the media landscape. The limited effect of national context and political leaning challenges the simplistic assumptions of their influence on news framing. The complex interplay between these factors warrants further investigation. The study points to the emergence of a 'urgent but ambiguous' frame for economic inequality: it is recognized as a pressing problem, but there is a lack of consensus on its causes and solutions.

This research demonstrates the significant impact of the Occupy movement on the media's representation of economic inequality, particularly its establishment as a salient social problem. However, the movement's influence on framing causes and solutions proved limited, suggesting a complex interplay between social movements, media biases, and established power structures. Future research should explore this interplay further, potentially examining a wider range of social movements and media outlets, and analyzing how media frames perpetuate or challenge existing power dynamics. The study highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of the factors influencing news framing and its consequences for public perception and policy.

The study's reliance on a specific set of newspapers from two countries might limit the generalizability of findings. Future research should include a broader range of news sources to strengthen the robustness of the conclusions. The specific keywords used in data collection could also introduce bias. Additionally, the study focused on a specific period, and future work could examine temporal changes in framing over a longer period. Finally, while inter-coder reliability was assessed, subjective elements in coding news frames remain a potential source of variability.