High Profile Infidelities: A Comparison of News Frames Used to Depict the Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal and the General Petraeus Scandal Tracy Widergren, Brian Huonker, & Kristen Kurelo Illinois State University April 25, 2013 Introduction Infidelity. Affair. Sex scandal. In today’s media, coverage of public figures’ private affairs seems to receive as much attention as the more serious economic, political, and social news stories of the moment. Whereas once these stories of scandal were limited to entertainment media, their presence in the news environment has been growing in recent years, leading to what Williams and Carpini (2004) refer to as the erosion of the distinction between news and entertainment. This “erosion” includes an increase in entertainment stories (i.e., celebrities’ private lives) in the more traditional news media, as well as news media covering entertainment­style stories of public and political figures (i.e., infidelities) instead of only stories about their professional lives. What was once only speculated to happen in public office (i.e., the John F. Kennedy/Marilyn Monroe affair), now becomes front page news: Senator John Edward’s affair and “love child” with Reille Hunter; New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution scandal; Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s affair with a city official. But perhaps the most memorable news coverage of a political sex scandal is former President Bill Clinton’s indiscretions with Monica Lewinsky. Coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal dominated the news for nearly one year, from first reports of the scandal to Clinton’s denial of the “relationship” with Lewinsky to his impeachment trial. And while news coverage of these types of political affairs can severely damage the public’s approval of a public figure, Clinton’s affair and its subsequent coverage remains “one of the great political ironies of modern times” (Lawrence & Bennett, 2001, p. 425). Despite the “negative press” Clinton received with regard to his affair, he maintained some of the most impressive public approval ratings of any modern president (Lawrence & Bennett, 2001). As some scholars have found, the way in which the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal was framed by the news media may have, in fact, bolstered his approval ratings rather than damaged them (Kiousis, 2003; Lawrence & Bennett, 2001; Shah, Watt, Domke, & Fan, 2002; Williams & Carpini, 2004; Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). In November of 2012, news of another high profile scandal broke: CIA Director General David Petraeus had an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. While Clinton and Petraeus both admitted to their indiscretions (albeit it took Clinton a bit longer), Petraeus, unlike Clinton, resigned from office the day the scandal broke, and his public approval ratings dropped 15 percentage points in the week following the scandal (Jones, 2012). Could these different outcomes be attributed to the way in which Petraeus’ affair was framed in the media as compared to Clinton? The purpose of this study is to determine the predominant news frames that were used to cover the Petraeus scandal as compared to the predominant frames used to cover the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Literature Review Before exploring what previous researchers have identified as the predominant media frames used in the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, it is first necessary to examine the concept of framing. What is framing? While the concept of “framing” has received much attention in scholarly research, it has yet to receive a universally­agreed upon definition. While some scholars argue for a “general statement of framing theory” (Entman, 1993), others argue against a single paradigm of framing research (D’Angelo, 2002). However, what these scholars do seem to agree upon is the power of framing and its influence on the media creators (i.e., journalists) and the media consumers (i.e., readers). Framing, at its core, involves the way in which a story is presented by the news media/journalists (frame building) and the subsequent influence it has on an audience’s interpretation of that story (frame setting). In essence, journalists build frames by selecting certain aspects of a story to highlight; this selection process can be impacted by pressures placed on a journalist by his/her organization or elites (political leaders, authorities, interest groups), as well as a journalist’s own attitudes and beliefs (Scheufele, 1999). In turn, these media frames then influence how an audience interprets and comes to understand and think about a particular story. Over time, the audience will begin to associate certain stories with certain definitions, causes, or implications (Tewksbury & Scheufele, 2009). While the process of framing may influence the way in which the audience thinks about a topic, framing is not viewed as an overt attempt to persuade an audience. It is the subtle way in which news media influence public thought: “framing influences how audiences think about issues, not by making aspects of the issues more salient, but by invoking interpretive schemas that influence the interpretation of incoming information” (Scheufele, 2000, p. 309). However subtle, the effects media framing has on its audience has been found to be persistent. A recent study by Lecheler & de Vreese (2011) focused on the duration of framing effects, tracing the magnitude of the framing effect immediately after media exposure and then at three delayed time periods (one day, one week and two weeks). Results from the study indicated framing effects are, indeed, persistent and can impact how individuals view a news story long after the story was first encountered (p. 975). Framing is a powerful tool of the media and, therefore, makes even more relevant the need to examine how the “seedier” of stories are framed in the media and the potential framing effects that may result. How are audiences coming to think about and view private affairs in the public domain? Framing the Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal The Clinton/Lewinsky scandal dominated the news media beginning in January 1998 when news of the affair broke on CNN, ABC News, and The Associated Press newswire. According to Williams and Carpini (2004), whereas once news of this type would have been relegated to less serious news sources (entertainment media), this scandal received an explosion of coverage from the major news outlets as well: “whether one started the day by listening to National Public Radio or Howard Stern, by watching Good Morning America or CNN, by reading The New York Times or the Star, the topic was the same” (p. 1221). And, coverage of the scandal never seemed to let up, even as Clinton faced impeachment. However, as scholars have found, this excessive public coverage of Clinton’s private affair never seemed to damage his public approval or job performance ratings, which may be attributed to the way in which the media framed the story. Throughout the entire coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, one frame seemed to dominate across media outlets: a sex frame/Clinton’s behavior frame (Joslyn, 2003; Kiousis, 2003; Shah et al., 2002; Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). In one study, a content analysis of nearly 40 news sources over eight months, including newspapers, television, and newswires, revealed that 78 percent of stories were framed in terms of Clinton’s behavior (sex/sexual acts) and his reactions to accusations of that behavior (Shah et al., 2002). A second content analysis study, which only examined The New York Times and the Washington Post at three specific time periods, revealed that 55 percent of stories were dominated by the sex scandal/adultery frame (Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). While other news frames did exist, including legal and political frames, it is clear that the news media was preoccupied with framing this story only in terms of Clinton’s adulterous behavior. So how did this dominant sex frame impact the public? According to Lawrence & Bennett (2001), the public related the story to a private matter and viewed it as entertainment and a titillating diversion. Public support for Clinton’s performance held in the mid­60 range and surpassed 70 on some polls, even as the House of Representatives voted to impeach him (p. 425). The public did not find the scandal relevant to Clinton’s role as president or his ability to govern; the scandal was only seen as entertainment. While the sex frame/Clinton behavior frame dominated the news, one other frame was found to appear nearly 20 percent of the time in the previously mentioned study conducted by Shah et al. (2002): the conservative attack frame. This frame included conservative criticisms and attacks on the president’s job performance in relation to his affair with Lewinsky. Just as the sex frame did not negatively impact the public’s approval ratings of Clinton, neither did this conservative attack frame. News coverage that focused on the conservative frame “may have helped sustain Clinton, as citizens recoiled against what may have appeared to be self­serving attempts by Republicans to gain political power” (p. 344). Other lesser news frames used in stories about the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal and studied by researchers include: law/legal, Liberal response, lying/perjury, impact on the Office of the Presidency, character/morality, impact on Lewinsky, and impact on Clinton and/or his family (Joslyn, 2003, Shah et al., 2002, Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). These frames appeared infrequently and probably did not contribute much to how the public came to think about the affair. Despite the negative coverage that seemed to dominate the media, Clinton came out of the scandal virtually unscathed. He did not leave office; his public approval and job performance ratings remained high until his term ended; and, according to a GALLUP poll in July 2012, Clinton’s popularity was the highest it had ever been, at 66 percent (Saad, 2012). Although it has been nearly 15 years since the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke, one cannot help but compare recent scandals of high­ranking public figures’ indiscretions to this most famous case. In the time since the Clinton scandal first became news, many affairs have been covered by the media; however, as one researcher points out, “public understanding of infidelity is challenging because of the belief that sexual decisions are personal and impervious to social structure factors” (Munsch, 2012, p. 55). The public increasingly views prominent figures’ affairs and infidelities as a personal matter, disconnecting it from their professional life. So it stands to reason that news of a high­ranking public figure’s affair that is framed by the media as a personal matter (irrelevant to the professional role) would be viewed by the public as entertainment and have less negative impact on the public’s opinion of the person, as demonstrated by coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. As previously mentioned, news of CIA Director General David Petraeus’s affair with his biographer broke in November 2012; however, unlike Clinton, Petraeus resigned the same day that the affair was made public and his public approval ratings dropped in the weeks following initial coverage of the story. Could the frames used in the Petraeus affair both the day the story broke and in subsequent weeks after have impacted these outcomes? The purpose of this study is to compare the way in which the Petraeus affair was framed by the media with the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. The following research questions will be answered: RQ1: Which frames are dominant in news stories about the General Petraeus affair? RQ2: How do the news frames of the General Petraeus affair differ from those used in the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal? Methods Sample A content analysis of media coverage regarding General Petraeus’ affair was conducted in order to determine the dominant frames used in the telling of the story, as well as to compare coverage of the affair to the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Three of the sources selected for this content analysis were predominantly used in previous content analyses conducted regarding the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal (The New York Times, Washington Post, and ABC News). Fox News and CNN.com were added to the current study in order to increase the sample size, as well as include a second television source and an online news source. A search for articles and transcripts that appeared between November 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 in the aforementioned sources was conducted using LexisNexis Academic. The beginning date was selected with the knowledge that the story first broke in early November. The end date was selected to increase the sample size. The key word “Petraeus” was searched for in the headline or the lead of each article/transcript. A total of 284 articles and transcripts were returned (60 from ABC News; 52 from Fox News; 40 from CNN.com; 46 from The New York Times; 86 from the Washington Post). Of the 284 articles/transcripts returned, 42 were thrown out because the focus of the story was unrelated to the affair between Petraeus and Broadwell (i.e., Petraeus’ testimony about an incident in Benghazi); two were thrown out because they were corrections to previous articles; one was thrown out because it was the caption for a picture; three were duplicates to other transcripts/articles; and, seven were indexes or tables of contents for publications. Coding Scheme A coding scheme developed by Yioutas and Segvic (2003) for a content analysis of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal was adapted for the current study (see Table 1). Because of the differences between the two scandals, the coding scheme was modified slightly to fit the current study: the Republican/Democrat frames were combined into one political frame, a military frame and a public opinion frame were added, and other frames were discarded because they were deemed not relevant to the current study, such as impeachment and perjury frames. Table 1: Coding Scheme. Frame Operational Definition Scandal Discussion of the Petraeus affair in terms of sexual aspects, adultery, cheating/infidelity, or the investigation of the scandal Impact on the CIA Discussion of the Petraeus affair in terms of his resignation from the CIA, the potential of confidential information being at risk (security issue), or the condition of the agency before/after Petraeus’ departure. Political Impact Discussion of the Petraeus affair in terms of any reaction from or impact on political figures/groups. The person or organization must be explicitly identified in the source (i.e., “Congressman Jones said…”or a “representative from Congress reported...”). Military Impact Discussion of the Petraeus affair in terms of any reaction from or impact on a person associated with a branch of the military or a branch itself. The person or organization must be explicitly identified in the source (i.e., “Captain C. Moore said…” or “the FBI reported...”). Public Opinion Discussion of the Petraeus affair in terms of any reaction from the general public, whether a person or a group. General public will be considered those not associated with a political group or branch of the military. Comparison to Past Affairs/Scandals Comparison of the Petraeus affair or resulting resignation to any other prominent political or military scandals. Petraeus’ Character Discussion of the Petraeus affair in terms of his personality, morality, or career. Impact on Petraeus’ Personal Network Discussion of the impact Petraeus’ actions have on his immediate family (spouse, children, etc.), friends, or acquaintances (not affiliated with his professional/military role). Impact on Paula Broadwell and/or Her Family Discussion of the Petraeus affair in terms of the behavior of Paula Broadwell or the impact on her personally or professionally, or the impact the affair on her immediate family (spouse, children, etc.). Procedure The units of analysis examined in this study were the headline, lead, and first paragraph for each article or transcript. Three coders determined the predominant frames for each of these units. A dominant frame for the entire article/transcript was then determined based upon the frame(s) that were present most often among the units of analysis. If two or three units of analysis were coded for the same frame then that was considered the overall dominant frame for the article/transcript. If each unit of analysis was coded differently, the article/transcript dominant frame was coded as “no dominant”. Because television transcripts often include more than one story (i.e., an entire newscast), the following instructions were given to coders when reading transcripts from ABC News and Fox News: 1 Ignore translations and captions of graphics and images. 2 If the headline is the name of the show (i.e., Good Morning America), it will not be used in determining the dominant frame for the entire story. Rather, utilize only the lead and first paragraph to determine the dominant frame. In the case where the lead and first paragraph are coded differently, the coder will determine the dominant frame for the entire story based on which frame is stronger. 3 If the transcript starts with an introduction to the news program or segment or is a “tease” to upcoming stories in the broadcast (i.e., “On tonight's news, Obama wins, Petraeus cheats, and the looming fiscal cliff ...” OR “Stay tuned to this broadcast for more information on the Petraeus affair...” ), the coder should skip to the portion of the transcript where the Petraeus story begins, treating the first paragraph as the lead and the second paragraph as the first paragraph. Reliability Intercoder reliability estimates for this study were calculated between each pairing of coders using Scott’s pi. A random sample of 10 percent of articles/transcripts from each source retrieved from LexisNexis were coded by all three coders. Intercoder reliability for each pairing ranged from 80 percent to 88 percent. Measures A frequency analysis was conducted to determine what percentage of articles were coded in each frame across all news sources. In order to determine if the frequency of any news frames was statistically significant, a Pearson chi­square was calculated by comparing individual news sources with the dominant frames. A chi­square goodness of fit test was conducted in order to determine if the frequency of any frame(s) was statistically significant across all news sources. These measures addressed RQ1. In order to address RQ2, frequencies found in the current study were compared with results found in previous studies regarding the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal conducted by Shah et al.(2002) and Yioutas & Segvic (2003). Results Dominant News Frames As shown in Table 2, results indicated that the most frequently occurring news frame across all news sources was the scandal frame (29.7 percent). The frequency for all other frames ranged from 0.4 percent and 13.5 percent. Table 2: Frequency of News Frames Frame Frequency (%) (n = ) Scandal 29.7 68 Impact on the CIA 11.4 26 Political Impact 10 23 Military Impact 5.7 13 Public Opinion 10.5 24 Comparison to Past Affairs/Scandals .4 1 Petraeus’ Character 8.7 20 Impact on Petraeus’ Personal Network 4.4 10 Impact on Paula Broadwell and/or Her Family 5.7 13 No Dominant 13.5 31 A Pearson chi­square was calculated and indicated no significant differences existed in the frames that appeared most often between individual news sources (chi­square (36, N= 229) = 48.88, p >.05). See Table 3. Table 3: Frequency of Frames by News Source Scandal Impact on the Political Impact Military Impact Public Opinion Comparison to Petraeus’ Impact on Impact on No Dominant Past Scandals Character Petraeus’ Broadwell / Network Family The New York Times Washington CNN.com ABC News Fox News A chi­square goodness of fit test was conducted to determine if any of the news frames’ frequencies were statistically different from each other. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference across frames (chi­square (9, N=229) = 129.30, p < .001). As shown in Table 4, the frequencies of frames can be grouped into four categories. Scandal and comparison to past scandals fall into the high outlier and low outlier categories, respectively. No dominant, impact on the CIA, public opinion, political impact, and Petraeus’ character can be grouped together as a high middle group (scores of 20 to 31) and military impact, impact on Paula Broadwell and/or her family, and impact on Petraeus personal network can be grouped together as a low middle group (scores of 10 to 13). All of these results address RQ1 and indicate that the scandal news frame was the most dominant frame present in news stories about the Petraeus scandal, and the difference in frequency of this one frame was statistically significant as compared to all other news frames. Table 4: Comparison of Frame Frequencies Observed N Expected N Residual Scandal 68 22.9 45.1 No Dominant 31 22.9 8.1 Impact on the CIA 26 22.9 3.1 Public Opinion 24 22.9 1.1 Political Impact 23 22.9 .1 Petraeus’ Character 20 22.9 ­2.9 Military Impact 13 22.9 ­9.9 Impact on Paula Broadwell and/or her family 13 22.9 ­9.9 Impact on Petraeus’ Network 10 22.9 ­12.9 Comparison to past scandals/affairs 1 22.9 ­21.9 Comparison to Clinton/Lewinsky Scandal In order to address RQ2, results from this study were compared against results from studies conducted by Shah et al. (2002) and Yioutas & Segvic (2003) regarding the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. In their study, Shah et al. coded 1,373 stories appearing in 33 media outlets that spanned television news, print media, wire services, and public radio in major metro locations throughout the United States. Articles were coded in one of three frames: a Clinton behavior frame (a focus on the affair/sex scandal), a conservative attack frame (Republican attacks on the president in an effort to remove him from office), and a liberal response frame (a defense of Clinton, primarily by Democrats, and the belief of an underlying conservative agenda to embarrass the president). Results showed that 78.1 percent of all articles were dominated by the Clinton behavior frame. In comparison to the current study, this “scandal” frame appeared more than twice as often in news stories about the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal than they did for the Petraeus scandal, although it was the dominant frame found for both stories. Because the current study did not involve a politician, a single political frame was coded for as opposed to both a conservative frame and a liberal frame. The current study found that 10 percent of articles had a political frame, whereas approximately 22 percent of articles in the Shah et al. study would be considered a political frame, again appearing just over two times as often. While the comparison between the two scandals may, on the surface, appear to be drastically different, the difference in the number of frames coded for (three versus 10) could explain the wide gap between the two studies. As such, results from this study were compared with results from a second study of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal that included a larger number of frames. In the study conducted by Yioutas & Segvic (2003), the researchers randomly selected 140 articles regarding the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal appearing in The New York Times and the Washington Post from the time the scandal broke to the impeachment trials. Fourteen frames, or what the researchers referred to as attributes, were identified for these stories including sex scandal/adultery, politically motivated, character/morality, impact on the first family, impact on Lewinsky, and impact on the presidency. Results indicated that sex scandal/adultery was the most dominant frame, with 55 percent of the articles being coded as scandal. While the frequency of the scandal frame was only found in approximately 30 percent of stories regarding the Petraeus scandal, the difference in both studies between the dominant scandal frame and the next most dominant frame was nearly 20 percent. As indicated earlier with the chi­square goodness of fit test, this difference for the current study was significant. The study conducted by Yioutas and Segvic, however, did not include statistical data for the differences between frame frequencies, so it is unknown if the differences were significant. Discussion Over the course of the past 25 years, the media environment has undergone a major transformation. With the introduction of cable and satellite television in the late 1980s and early 1990s, television viewers could choose from a variety of news sources like never before. Channels like CNN, MSNBC News, and FOX News appeared on the media landscape, providing live and taped news 24 hours­a­day, while Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and Access Hollywood provided a lighter side of the news, reporting on the personal lives of prominent figures. In the early 1990s, the World Wide Web appeared, evolving and maturing into a digital hub of information. Amidst this changing media landscape, news of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998 and is considered one of the first stories that contributed to the erosion of the distinction between news and entertainment media (Williams & Carpini, 2004). Throughout the coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, one frame dominated news stories across all media types, accounting for over 50 percent of the news stories: scandal (Joslyn, 2003; Kiousis, 2003; Shah et al., 2002; Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). In the case of news coverage of General Petraeus’s affair with Paula Broadwell, however, the scandal frame held dominant at 30 percent, but was not nearly as significant as it was for the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Other frames, such as the impact on the CIA (11.4 percent), political impact (10 percent), and public opinion (10.5 percent) competed for the attention of the media consumers. In fact, the current study shows that after the scandal frame, the “no dominant” frame was found to be the second most frequently appearing (13.5 percent). The cause of multiple frames being utilized by the media both across stories and within the same story could be attributed to the fact that Petraeus admitted to the affair and simultaneously resigned as soon as news of the affair broke in the media. In the case of Clinton, his continuous denial of the affair with Lewinsky possibly drew more attention to the scandalous nature of the news and increased the media’s focus on the scandal frame. This continuous denial of his affair by Bill Clinton could have also contributed to the character/morality frame being utilized at a frequency of 20.7 percent in articles/transcripts regarding the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal (Yioutas & Segvic, 2003). Clinton’s personal life, relationship with his wife, Hillary, and past relationships with various other women was reported in the media storm surrounding the event. The resulting “good­ole, southern boy with a wayward eye for the ladies” view of Clinton was formed in the eye of the public. However, this media representation of Clinton did not hurt him, as public approval ratings remained high (Lawrence & Bennett, 2001). Another possible reason for the difference in how the two scandals were framed could be connected to both the job each held and the public’s general knowledge of Clinton and Petraeus prior to news of the scandals breaking. As the President of the United States, Bill Clinton was in the public eye for many years. A well­known, popular president who was credited for putting the country back on track, Clinton’s presidential approval rating was high even before news of the affair with Lewinsky broke, in part due to the fact that the economy was running strong and the unemployment rate and national debt were at all­time lows (National Archives and Records Administration, 2003). There was an air of pride in the country, the economy, and the president. As such, when news of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke, the media did not need to spend time on the educating the public on who he was or how his actions related to his role as president; rather, the scandal itself could be focused on as pure entertainment. Petraeus, on the other hand, was largely unknown by the general public. He was the General of the Army, not an overt political figure. When news of his scandal broke, just days after President Obama won reelection, the economy was in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, a war had been ongoing in the Middle East since 2002, and the national unemployment rate hovered just under 8 percent (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). As a result of both the state of the nation and the nation’s unfamiliarity with Petraeus, the media not only had to report on the scandal, but also had to educate the public on who Petraeus was and why the story was significant, creating stories that had multiple frames instead of one focused approach (13.5 percent of articles/transcripts were coded as “no dominant”). A final reason that may account for the differences in how the Clinton/Lewinsky and Petraeus scandals were framed may be the presence of seemingly more important news stories that were making headlines on both a national and international level. One such news story that dominated the media landscape during the Petraeus scandal was the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi. On September 11, 2012, insurgents attacked the Embassy, taking the lives of four people, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. Additionally, ten other individuals were injured during the attack and the subsequent attack on the CIA annex next door. During the weeks that followed, there was much controversy surrounding the identity of the attackers and why threats against the Embassy and request for additional security were ignored. On Friday, November 16, just days after news of Petraeus' affair and resulting resignation from the CIA made headlines, Petraeus went before Congress to testify that the attacks were clearly an act of terrorism. Upon release of this information, the news coverage of Petraeus quickly shifted to coverage of the Benghazi, the Congressional hearings, and the role Petraeus played in the attack. The scandal with Paula Broadwell quickly was placed on the back burner. The dominant focus of the articles shifted from news about the scandal to news about Benghazi, resulting in over 40 articles being thrown out of the present study as they did not reference the scandal with Broadwell at all. In contrast, during the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, the world was a relatively quiet place: the economy was strong and world affairs were relatively quiet. This lack of other news stories that could be considered high­profile/high­importance allowed for the focus to remain on the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal and the resulting impeachment trial. Although not a part of the original study’s design, an additional piece of interesting information found in the results is
the differences among the three types of media ­­ newspapers, broadcast television, and online news ­­ in the dominant use of the scandal frame. In articles appearing in The New York Times and the Washington Post, the scandal frame was coded as dominant in 15 percent of all articles. But when the scandal frame was examined for dominance in ABC News and Fox News, it was coded as dominant in 43 percent of all stories. This difference could be due to the fact that television news includes an element of visual entertainment, and the scandal frame could be played upon graphically. In the case of online news (CNN.com), the scandal frame was coded as dominant in 37 percent of stories, more than twice as often as in newspapers, but not as often as in television news. This difference could be due to the fact that newspapers have limited space, whereas online news has less space restrictions and the ability to include multimedia elements, which is more conducive to the scandal frame. Limitations and Future Directions While this study adds to the current literature regarding the framing of scandals in the media, a number of limitations were found. Perhaps the largest limitation was the fact that the news coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal was not examined by the coders in the current study; rather, results from previous studies were relied upon. As such, the coding schemes were slightly different, so there had to be surface level comparisons done instead of using statistics to compare the scandals. Statistical comparisons of the two scandals would have made the study stronger and could have provided additional insights. Another limitation of the study is that the date was not coded for during the content analysis. This could have given more information as to whether the time the article was written (i.e., when the news broke versus a month after the news broke) had an impact on which frame was used. This limitation also leaves room for future research: one could compare frames that appeared in early coverage versus later coverage. President Clinton is a well­known political figure, and General Petraeus is a lesser­known military figure, which poses another potential limitation to the study. Because of the public’s varying levels of familiarity with these two public figures, as well as the different positions they held when their scandals broke, the media’s framing of the story was most likely impacted. Future studies might examine public figures who hold the same office and are involved in similar scandals to determine if the framing of those scandals are more or less similar. A final limitation of the present study was the low number of articles/transcripts returned, and the fact that over 50 results had to be thrown out for varying reasons. Because the Petraeus scandal was so new at the time of this study, as well as because of his immediate resignation, fewer stories about the scandal existed as compared to the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Had the scandals received equal coverage, results may have been different or more telling. In addition to the future directions mentioned above, there are a few more. For instance, a study could be conducted to compare how the mistresses of the scandals (Monica Lewinsky and Paula Broadwell) were presented by the media. Additionally, one could expand upon how different media outlets covered the scandal: is there a statistically significant difference between how television covered the scandals versus newspapers or magazines? Lastly, one could compare more recent scandals of public figures (i.e., Senator John Edwards) to the Petraeus scandal to see if they were framed more similarly since they would be closer in time to each other. Media coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal could be considered the first of its kind: it blurred the lines between entertainment and news media, and has seemingly opened a floodgate for similar stories of public figures’ indiscretions. The question remains: does the media cover these scandalous stories of public officials’ indiscretions because they contain pertinent information about current affairs and/or the state of the union, or is the media catering to the public’s increased interested in the seedier of news stories? While both the Clinton/Lewinsky and General Petraeus stories did contain issues other than adultery (i.e., perjury, impeachment, national security), it is apparent from the present study and past studies of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal that those “other issues” did not dominate the headlines: it always came back to the scandal frame. While framing is a well­researched concept in the fields of communication and media, it appears the majority of studies cover topics related to the more serious of issues (wars, political campaigns, natural disasters, etc.), as well as topics related to the framing of gender in the media. While these topics are important to consider, researchers cannot ignore the potential impact the framing of more scandalous topics may have on the general public, especially considering the rise in sexual content present in today’s media. As shown in the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, public opinion of Clinton was not impacted by the scandal­filled stories in the news media. Has the American public come to expect this type of behavior from politicians and public figures and, therefore, is “immune” to the scandal frame? Has reporting of scandalous stories fully transitioned out of the true news environment and into entertainment media? 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