Unprecedented Candidate, Uncertain Coverage: Media Framing of Trump and January 6th

Abstract

This thesis examines how U.S. news outlets framed the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol during the year surrounding Donald Trump's 2024 presidential candidacy. The study analyzes over 40,000 articles from fifteen outlets across nonpartisan-centrist, Democratic-favoring, and Republican-favoring categories, coding articles that mentioned both Trump and January 6th for use of the term "insurrection." Results show that nonpartisan-centrist outlets steadily reduced their use of "insurrection" between May 2022 and April 2023, declining by more than half across the period. Democratic outlets also showed a modest decline, while Republican outlets remained inconsistent due to low baseline use and smaller sample sizes. Alternative framings such as "protest" were rare and did not replace "insurrection." The findings suggest that language softened gradually rather than shifting at a single point, influenced by newsroom caution, public polling that showed Trump as a likely frontrunner, and professional pressures to maintain neutrality.