Framing Big Data: The Media Framing of Aggregate Data and New Data-Based Processes in Comparison of Communicative Forms, Time Periods, and Countries
Final Report Abstract
The project examined how large amounts of data and the associated processes were presented in the media. It analyzed the framing of big data in the period 2010 to 2020 on the basis of a broad material basis and compared Germany, the USA and South Africa. Three levels were considered: (1) Comparison of forms of communication: The representations in journalistic and user-generated content were compared. (2) Development over time: The influences between journalistic and usergenerated representations were recorded over time. (3) Country comparison: The differences and similarities in the perception of big data between the three countries were determined. The project pursued these goals using a multi-method design. It analyzed media frames and the temporal relationship between journalistic and user-generated content. After a preliminary analysis of the topics, press texts were collected, whereby no key events could be identified, but typical topics for big data were. From these topics, a register of search terms was derived to collect suitable usergenerated content. Based on the manually conducted content analysis of the press releases, thematically relevant user-generated content on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit was collected, (semi- )automatically analyzed and compared over time. Finally, country-specific differences and similarities in the big data discourses were identified. The project produced three results: Firstly, it described and analyzed the domain-specific repertoire of media frames around big data. In doing so, it took into account their constitution in professional and participatory forms of communication. Secondly, it provided a reconstruction of the discursive interpretation processes of novel data volumes and data-based processes. To do so, it traced the development of the topic over time. Thirdly, it compared countries to identify specifics and similarities in the way big data is dealt with. In this way, the comparative analysis deepened our understanding of the developing social engagement with big data and the interpretation of the associated processes, conditions, consequences and responsibilities of social datafication.
Publications
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Exposing Data Power: Secrecy, Revelation, and Outrage in Whistleblowing Scandals. Data Power Conference 2022, Bremen
Pentzold, C. Knorr, C. & Wolter, M.
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When Data Became Big: Business Hyperbole, Intellectual Straw Fires, and the Rise of an Obsolete Keyword. IAMCR Annual Conference, Beijing, China (Virtual Conference)
Knorr, C. & Pentzold, C.
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Whistleblower Memoires: Deconstructing the Rhetorical Signature of High-Profile Disinformation Producers’ Insider Stories. ECREA Bi-Annual Conference, Aarhus, Dänemark
Knorr C., Wolter, M. & Pentzold, C.
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Cultural Motifs on #bigdata. A Semi-Automated Topic Modeling from a Socio-Cultural Constructionist Perspective. Digital Humanities 2023: Book of Abstracts. Graz 2023, Graz, Österreich
Knorr, C., Niekler, A., Behret, M. & Pentzold, C.
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Media frames as adaptive networks of meaning: A conceptual proposition. Language & Communication, 93, 95-106.
Pentzold, Christian & Fraas, Claudia
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The Craft of Data Scandals. Reassessing Contemporary Whistleblowing as Media Events. ICA Preconference on the Legacies of Elihu Katz, ICA Annual Conference, Toronto, Kanada
Knorr, C. & Pentzold, C.
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When Data Became Big: Revisiting the Rise of an Obsolete Keyword. ICA Annual Conference, Toronto, Kanada
Knorr, C. & Pentzold, C.
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When data became big: revisiting the rise of an obsolete keyword. Information, Communication & Society, 27(3), 600-617.
Pentzold, Christian & Knorr, Charlotte
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Making Sense of “Big Data”: Ten Years of Discourse Around Datafication in South Africa, Germany, and the United States. ICA Annual Conference, Gold Coast, Australien
Pentzold, C. & Knorr, C.
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Whistleblower Memoirs: Deconstructing Data Consultants’ Insider Stories. Social Media + Society, 10(1).
Knorr, Charlotte; Wolter, Margitta & Pentzold, Christian
