Extending emphasis framing in an age of factual relativism and epistemic polarization: The role of divergent factual interpretations in frame packages

In a digital communication era where oppositions are often formed around epistemic disputes, we suggest integrating factual interpretations into the conceptualization and measurement of emphasis frames. Beyond proposing this extended conceptualization of emphasis frames and interpretative packages of journalistic content, we rely on an exploratory qualitative content analysis of an international sample of media content and comments on polarized issues surrounded by epistemic disputes. To extend framing literature and research, this paper ends with concrete suggestions for the measurement of factual interpretations across different methods and journalistic and media domains. Together, to better understand the scope and consequences of the epistemic turn in digital communication ecologies and journalism, this paper suggests placing emphasis on how (in)congruent claims on truth are (de)legitimized across sources and platforms.