Sharing and redefining power with Vice President Harris: the visual framing by the Biden White House

Abstract

This study investigates the visual framing of the Biden Presidency based on a content analysis of images released by the White House for its first 100 days in office on Flickr, an online photo-sharing site. The rhetorical ideas of Kenneth Burke and the communication theories of agenda-setting and frame-building provide the conceptual foundations for the study. The Biden administration frames Vice President Harris as a coequal to the President and an active participant in White House spaces and political processes. Harris is charged with ritualistic symbolic power that inserts her and other marginalised minority groups into the collective memory of the United States society and moves its national story to integrate a more diverse community. At the same time, the individual personality of President Biden is minimised in favour of institutional power. These narratives offer a stark contrast to former President Trump’s visual rhetoric and serve to negate news frames critical of Harris’ performance as Vice President.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Russell Chun

Russell Chun is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations at Hofstra University's Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. He teaches multimedia storytelling, data journalism, and design. His research interests include data visualization and information design.