Framing THE E-mail Situation

Earlier this year, March to be specific, Hillary Clinton got herself into some deep water when she exclusively used her personal email accounts on a non-government, private email server for Secretary of State business.  While this use of the private email account/server was allowed under the State Department and was supposedly only done for convenience, the story exploded on just about every media outlet and has yet to leave national attention. With it’s timely occurrence, against the backdrop of Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, the controversy served well as fuel for opponents in the race and as a hot story for the media.

            Because the email scandal immediately conjures up suspicions of a government official who has already been the center of many scandals concerning national security and overall public support for cautious behavior of the Secretary of State, it was not difficult for the media to frame this as a major national scandal that required immediate disciplinary action. As George Lakoff explains in his book Thinking Points, “political framing” of topics is applied cognitive science that facilitates our basic interactions with the world. He goes on to say that political disputes are sometimes about how frames interact and whether one frame takes priority over another, using the controversy around the Bush administration’s illegal spying on U.S. citizens during the War on Terror as an example. He explains that “spying” comes with a frame that the public already understands and has predisposed views on. However, the frames established by the War on Terror invoked a resonating message: “bringing criminals to justice.”

            Unfortunately for Hillary, her flounder was framed much differently. While the spying done under the Bush administration was controversial, it was framed as beneficial to the safety of the American people; Clinton’s use of a private email server has been framed as a serious problem surrounding classified information that could potentially put Americans at risk.

            Clinton and her team have worked relentlessly to do damage control on this issue. Clinton addressed the issue in March, to the United Nations. Clinton defended herself on August 8^th saying that classified materials were not exchanged on the personal server. When the media hype did not dissolve, Hillary put out a formal apology in early September. Experts say that there’s no legal issue with her use of the servers and her actions do not stand out against those of past Secretaries of State. So why is the country still buzzing with talk about her emails? Why was Hillary still defending herself at the Democratic Debate on Tuesday night? Because the media did a successful job of framing this as an issue of public concern.

            Controlling the damage of this scandal is difficult because reframing the issue could be even more detrimental. If the administration downplays the immediacy of the concern or the severity of leaks of national secrets, she will not look like a competent Secretary of State. However, if discussion of the scandal continues, her race for the White House will be over. What’s a Clinton to do?

Lakoff, George. “Frames and Brains,” Thinking Points. New York: Farrar, Staus, Giroux, 2006.

Carol D. Leonnig (September 1, 2015). "Clinton, using private server, wrote and sent e-mails now deemed classified". Washington Post.

"NSA head: Clinton server a 'priority' target for foreign agencies". TheHill.