Framing of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology in the Media

in #cryptocurrency6 years ago (edited)

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As eluded to briefly in the previous article, different news agencies frame the current cryptocurrency and blockchain environment quite differently.

In general terms, the concept of framing grew from sociological foundations and tends to focus on the words, images, and presentation styles that are used to construct news stories and the processes that shape this construction.

As described by Michael Bruggemann in “Between Frame Setting and Frame Sending: How Journalists Contribute to News Frames:”

” Professional criteria of newsworthiness as well as value judgments will play a role when journalists produce texts with certain news frames. The framing approach has therefore the potential to broaden our perspective on journalistic practice.”(Brüggemann, 2014)⁠

In the process of interpreting the news, journalists can be frame setters and frame senders (Borah, 2011)⁠. Frame senders are repeating the message they hear from someone else, without adding much interpretation. When this takes place, the origin of the message becomes very important.

In my opinion, competition over frame building is a strategic activity between blockchain technology advocates versus government regulators and competitors in the finance and technology sectors.

For example, many news stories cite prominent members of governments, financial institutions and technology giants saying negative things about blockchain technology, while their organizations are doing something quite different.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan stated he would fire any employee who purchased Bitcoin, while JP Morgan was simultaneously routing their customers to exchanges to purchase it. Ironically, for at least two years JP Morgan has been quietly testing their own blockchain technology, and merely six months after Dimon’s inflammatory statements, JP Morgan’s CIO states that blockchain will replace existing technologies.

In a similar vein, China ordered all cryptocurrency exchanges to close Sept. 17, 2017. Only three months earlier, China became the first country to test a national cryptocurrency.

It seems that governments and financial institutions are not the only organizations that say one things and does another. In early 2018, most of the tech giants, including Google, Twitter, and Facebook banned all cryptocurrency advertising reportedly out of concern for the public. Facebook’s statement said:

“We’ve created a new policy that prohibits ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency.”

It should come as no surprise that like governments and financial institutions, Facebook and other tech giants are very interested in deploying their own blockchain projects.

Why they are doing this appears to be obvious. They are simultaneously pursuing their own versions of the technology while attempting to slow down their competition. The fight to gain access to the media is a central element in this competition over frame building. (Tamir & Itay, 2009)⁠.

Government regulators, financial leaders, and tech giants can use their authority and prominence to push their frames to the public through the media. On the other hand, blockchain technology advocates are the “new kids on the block” and are at an inherent disadvantage in this game because their personalities are relatively unnown to the general public.

So who will win this contest? The demographics seem to point solidly in favor of Blockchain advocates among Millennials, and to a lesser extent Generation X. Will they leave their favorite cryptocurrencies and the burgeoning field of distributed blockchain-based applications that promise a financial system disintermediated from third parties? Will they prefer a blockchain-based internet experience that doesn't treat an individual's private information as a commodity over traditional systems that do? That remains to be seen.

Ironically, even if the traditional tech giants, financial institutions and governments field highly successful projects, they will provide legitimacy for the rest of the fledgling industry as a consequence.

Politicians around the world that support blockchain are becoming more prominent, and in Sept. 2018, the Blockchain Associationbecame the first crypto-lobby in Washington D.C. These developments, along with increased media attention of cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, will assist with pushing frames originating from blockchain technology advocates about the benefits of the technology into public consciousness.

About:
Michael Meyer conducts graduate research at the Zimmerman School of Advertising for Mass Communications at the University of South Florida. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism and production from USF in 2005. This blog focuses on various aspects of mass communications research and practice, and relates these findings to the many current technological shifts that are impacting communicators; including social media, data mining, and the emerging field of blockchain technology.

Borah, P. (2011). Conceptual Issues in Framing Theory: A Systematic Examination of a Decade’s Literature. Journal of Communication, 61(2), 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01539.x

Brüggemann, M. (2014). Between frame setting and frame sending: How journalists contribute to news frames. Communication Theory, 24(1), 61–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12027

Tamir, S., & Itay, G. (2009). Mediated public diplomacy: A strategic contest over international agenda building and frame building. Political Communication, 26(4), 447–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600903297240

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