What is strategic frame analysis and how does it fit into an overall strategic communications approach?
I think doing communication strategically means recognizing that you come into an environment where people already have ways of understanding an issue, whether as a result of the way media framed it, from personal communication, or from cultural models that developed over time. You don’t just walk out the door one day and say, “I have an issue that I want people to consider.” It’s important to understand that the way people already perceive an issue is part of what you may be up against. And so, step number one is to identify what people already bring to the conversation that you want to have with them; and secondly, to consider the implications of the way they understand an issue for their policy preferences. The other important part of strategic communications is to bring a little bit more social science into the art of communications. And that means understanding that strategic communications is about three principles: agenda-setting, framing and priming. It’s about whether your iss
