Framing analysis of activist rhetoric: How the Sierra Club succeeds or fails at creating salient messages

Abstract: Master and sub frames used by the Sierra Club to communicate with its members and the public were identified in Sierra Club chapter newsletters, regional and national newspapers via content analysis to identify the occurrence of message frames and sources. Frames in three areas – drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), coal-fired power plants (CFPP), and sprawl – were analyzed. Sprawl was the most mentioned subject in all three media. Sierra Club themes were found infrequently, suggesting the need to focus frames. But, Sierra Club frames appeared with greater frequency than competing frames. Environmental sources were the majority in the sampled articles, suggesting the opportunity for powerful framing of public opinion, with focused message frames and trained environmental spokespeople at all levels, i.e., national, regional, local. New theoretical ground for public relations scholarship is opened and findings could influence message strategies of activist and corporate or government organizations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]