Weekly Media Emotional Framing Analysis

Introduction

This week’s Emotional Framing Analysis examines how Fox News, CNN, and NPR shaped the week’s top stories to elicit emotional responses from their audiences. We used our quadrant mapping framework (Negative ↔ Positive, Reactive ↔ Reflective) to identify how each outlet positioned itself emotionally. To enrich our findings, we also compared results with parallel analyses from Gemini and Grok, two other AI evaluators.

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Step 1: Overlapping Stories

Common Coverage Across All Outlets:

1. Trump renames the Department of Defense to the “Department of War.”
2. Federal raid at a Hyundai/LG factory in Georgia.
3. U.S. jobs/economy report.
4. RFK Jr.’s health-related claims/policies.
5. Release of Jeffrey Epstein files.
6. Anthropic AI lawsuit settlement.

Each outlet framed these overlapping stories differently:

• Fox News leaned toward pride, reassurance, vindication, and outrage.
• CNN leaned toward concern, fear, empathy, and outrage.
• NPR leaned toward neutrality, concern, empathy, and analytical objectivity.

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Step 2: Emotional Framing

Story	Fox News	CNN	NPR
DoD renamed “Department of War”	Pride, Confidence → bold, patriotic action	Concern, Apprehension → alarming militarism	Informative Neutrality → reported as fact
Federal raid in Georgia	Vindication → tough enforcement	Shock, Empathy → detainees’ plight	Concern, Neutral → noted implications
U.S. jobs/economy report	Doubt, Disappointment → weak leadership	Uncertainty, Worry → potential downturn	Objectivity, Informative → presented data
RFK Jr. health claims	Validation, Hope → outsider questioning elites	Skepticism, Confusion → challenges science	Neutral, Questioning → informative but cautious
Epstein files	Outrage, Vindication → corruption exposed	Outrage, Shock → scale of scandal	Seriousness, Curiosity → gravity of situation
Anthropic AI lawsuit	Schadenfreude, Relief → accountability	Satisfaction, Validation → creator rights upheld	Informative, Objective → factual update

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Step 3: Non-Overlapping Stories

Outlet	Story	Emotion(s)	Why Others Didn’t Cover
Fox	“Guilt tipping”	Frustration, Resentment	Targets cultural grievances specific to conservative audience
CNN	Google lawsuit	Distrust, Annoyance	More niche; others prioritized broader politics
NPR	Chicago preparing for federal troops	Anxiety, Uncertainty	Community-level impact not prioritized by Fox/CNN

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Step 4: Quadrant Mapping

Our Results:

• Fox News → spread across Reactive Negative (fear/anger), Reactive Positive (reassurance), and Reflective Positive (pride). Center of gravity sits in a mixed negative/positive reactive zone.
• CNN → clustered in Reactive Negative (fear, outrage) and Reflective Negative (concern, empathy). Center of gravity firmly negative.
• NPR → concentrated in Reflective Negative (concern, empathy) and Critical Thinking. Center of gravity deeply reflective.

Visual Map:

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Step 5: Comparative Perspectives (Gemini & Grok)

Gemini’s Findings:

• Fox News: Positive/Reactive → pride, validation, satisfaction.
• CNN: Negative/Reactive → concern, outrage, worry.
• NPR: Neutral/Reflective → informative, curious, objective.
• Conclusion: Outlets occupied distinct quadrants, reinforcing separation of emotional intent.

Grok’s Findings:

• Fox News: Negative/Reactive → distrust, fear, anger (CoG: -2.5, -1).
• CNN: Positive/Reflective → hope, pride, critical thinking (CoG: 2, 2.7).
• NPR: Neutral/Reflective → concern, empathy, analysis (CoG: 0, 3.3).
• Conclusion: Fox drove alarmism, CNN emphasized optimism/progress, NPR encouraged reflection.

Cross-AI Comparison:

• All three analyses agree that Fox mixes anger, fear, and pride to rally its base.
• CNN shifts depending on lens: our read and Gemini stress negativity, while Grok emphasized hope/pride.
• NPR is consistently reflective and empathetic across all evaluations.

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Conclusion

This week, Fox News sought to make audiences feel vindicated and proud while also fearful, CNN pushed concern and outrage (with Grok noting elements of hope and progress), and NPR emphasized empathy, concern, and critical reflection. All three outlets continue to reinforce distinct emotional ecosystems for their audiences. The quadrant framework, enriched by comparative AI perspectives, makes clear the divergence in how news is framed — not just in what is reported, but in how it is meant to make us feel.