The Framing of the “Desolate” in Czech Nationwide Media

Abstract The aim of the present study is to analyze the framing of the group of citizens referred to as “desolates” in the Czech nationwide media. Using the method of discourse analysis on a sample of media texts from the period October 2022 – March 2023, we identified two types of framing present in media discourse: (i) frame of desolates as disobedient citizens, (ii) frame of desolates as concerned citizens. Meanwhile, the basic nodal point of this discourse is the enforcement of the social norm of the “correct” and “suitable” citizen, on which both identified frames are based. The two frames interact simultaneously with each other – the former functions to define “desolates” as a socially and politically undesirable phenomenon, while the latter reactively defends “desolates” as “concerned ordinary citizens”.