Framing Referendum Campaigns: the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum in the Press

Abstract

This article explores the framing of referendum campaigns in the press and its relationship to the framing of elections. Drawing from an empirical analysis of the newspaper coverage of the 2014 Scottish referendum and from previous research on campaigns in different contexts, it finds that frames associated with elections, like the ‘strategic game’ and policy frames, were also dominant in the framing of the referendum. It argues that by framing the independence debate in similar terms to other political contests, the press promoted an understanding of this event as being about pragmatic decision-making on policy and political competition, rather than purely a decision about constitutional matters of self-determination.