Senior Communications student presents research at journalism history convention

Katie Blunt '15 discussed media framing of Hitler's early years.

Katie Blunt '15

Elon University senior Katie Blunt presented her research, titled “Yesterday’s News: Media Framing of Hitler’s Early Years, 1923-1929,” at the American Journalism Historians Association annual convention Oct. 11 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Blunt, a journalism and history double major and a Communications Fellow, was the only non-doctoral student to present at the conference. Her presentation featured a portion of the research she’s completing as a university Lumen Scholar.

Below is the abstract of Blunt’s research:

“This research uses media framing theory to assess newspaper coverage of Hitler published in The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and The Washington Post between 1923 and 1929. Nearly 500 articles contained at leaf passing mentions of Hitler, and of those articles, about 250 offered substantial information about his activities and influence and warranted cooer examination. An analysis of the selected articles revealed ‘credible’ and ‘non credible’ frames relating to his political influence. Prior to his trial for treason in 1924, the credible frame was slightly more prevalent than the non-credible frame, but after his conviction, the non-credible frame dominated coverage, for reports often presented Hitler’s failure to overthrow the Bavarian government as evidence of his lack of political skill. When he reentered the public sphere in 1930, correspondents necessarily had to reintroduce him to the American public and reassess the scope of his influence.”