Framing Gangnam Style
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v6i8.1243Keywords:
Frame Analysis, Gangnam Style, Korean Wave, News Frame, Popular Music, Psy.Abstract
This paper examines the way in which news about Gangnam Style was framed in the Korean press. First released on 15th July 2012, it became the first video to pass two billion views on YouTube. 400 news articles between July 2012 and March 2013 from two South Korean newspapers - Chosun Ilbo and Hankyoreh were analyzed using the frame analysis method in five categories: industry/economy, globalization, cultural interest, criticism, and competition. The right-left opinion cleavage is important because news frames interact with official discourses, audience frames and prior knowledge which consequently mediate effects on public opinion, policy debates, social movement and individual interpretations. Whilst the existing literature on Gangnam Style took rather holistic approach, this study aimed to fill the lacuna, considering this phenomenon as a dynamic process, by segmenting different stages - recognition, spread, peak and continuation. Both newspapers acknowledged Gangnam Style was an epochal event but their perspectives and news frames were different; globalization frame was most frequently used in Chosun Ilbo whereas cultural interest frame was most often used in Hankyoreh. Although more critical approaches were found in Hankyoreh, reflecting the right-left opinion cleavage, both papers lacked in critical appraisal and analysis of Gangnam Style’s reception in a broader context of the new Korean Wave.
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