Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2009

Frames in Reports and in Reporting: How Framing Affects Global Warming Information in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's “Summary for Policymakers” and in Documents Written about the Report

Bryan Tutt

Abstract

Although much has been written about the use of rhetoric in technical communication, the framing of technical documents often is overlooked. Framing differs from rhetoric chiefly in that it involves the use of content selection and structure to place information in a particular context. In this article, I will analyze the techniques used to frame a technical report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's “Summary for Policymakers,” and compare them to the techniques used to frame corporate news releases and newspaper articles written about the report. This framing analysis shows that writers of technical documents, news releases, and news articles frame their documents chiefly by choosing which facts to include or exclude, and by the positioning of information within the document.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2009-01-01
DOI
10.2190/tw.39.1.d
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism technical communication professional writing
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Pandey (2025)
    A Comparative Rhetorical Analysis of Trump and Biden's Climate Change Speeches:…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Cameron et al. (2022)
    Twitter Users’ Displays of Affect in the Global Warming Debate
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Reeves et al. (2022)
    Writing Climate Change Assessments: Scientific Author Challenges and Rhetorical…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Belinsky et al. (2016)
    Throwing a Change-Up, Pitching a Strike: An Autoethnography of Frame Acquisitio…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

References (21) · 1 in this index

  1. 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00019.x
     ↗
  2. 10.1177/107769900608300207
     ↗
  3. 10.1177/107769900608300403
     ↗
  4. Grabill et al. (1998)
    Toward a critical rhetoric of risk communication: Producing citizens and the ro…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. American Society of Newspaper Editors, ASNE Statement of Principles, http://www.asne.org/kiosk/archive/princi…
Show all 21 →
  1. 10.1177/107769909707400402
     ↗
  2. Kuypers J. (2005)
    The Art of Rhetorical Criticism
  3. 10.1515/text.2004.010
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/378102
     ↗
  5. 10.1353/con.2004.0023
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/377700
     ↗
  7. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group II, Summary for Policymaker…
  8. Borenstein S., Scientists Get Last Say in Climate Study, AP Online, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-content/…
  9. Kanter J. and Revkin A., Emissions Already Affecting Climate, Report Says, New York Times on the Web, http://…
     ↗
  10. 10.1177/107769900608300106
     ↗
  11. Casey M., Millions Face Hunger from Climate Change, AP Online, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070410/ap_on_sc/c…
  12. BBC News, Billions Face Climate Change Risk, BBC News Web Site, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/653…
  13. ExxonMobil Media Relations, ExxonMobil's Response to Publication of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report of Clim…
  14. ConocoPhillips Company, ConocoPhillips Supports Mandatory National Framework to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissio…
  15. Hays K., ConocoPhillips Joins Emissions Push, Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline…
  16. 10.1080/14616700500533585
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 5 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Communication Design Quarterly Dec 2025
    Review of "Document Design: From Process to Product in Professional Communication By Derek G. Ross and Miles A. Kimball," Ross, D. G., & Kimball, M. A. (2025). Document design: From process to product in professional communication (2nd ed.). SUNY Press. ↗
    Amber Lancaster
    rhetorical criticism technical communication professional writing multimodality book reviews
  2. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  3. Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2025
    Review of "Queer Techné: Bodies, Rhetoric, and Desire in the History of Computing by Patricia Fancher," Fancher P. (2024). Queer techné: Bodies, rhetoric, and desire in the history of computing. National Council of Teachers of English. ↗
    Thomas Gurinskas
    rhetorical criticism technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric gender and writing book reviews
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Jun 2025
    Presenting and Making Relevant: Analyzing Teaching Assistant Perceptions of Writing in Statistics Using Semantic Frames ↗
    Ben Markey
    rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis graduate education teacher development assessment technical communication professional writing
  5. Pedagogy Apr 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing graduate education two-year college teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions digital rhetoric multimodality social media literacy studies race and writing gender and writing community literacy literary studies editorial matter