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International Journal of Communication 20(2026), 240–263 1932–8036/20260005 A Model of Frame Categories for Analyzing Media Discourse of Emerging Technologies EMMA KAYLEE GRAVES-SANDRIMAN Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom This article presents a model of frame categories for analyzing media discourse about emerging technologies, applying it to 2 original case studies on UK news coverage of big data and generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI). The Frame Categories for Emerging Technologies (FCET) model offers 4 categories (Conceptualization, Newness, User Experience, and Evaluation) to allow researchers to identify frames inductively while affording easy and effective comparisons across studies. The empirical results demonstrate this, showing that the news included frames unique to each technology (such as Vast for big data and Human-Like for gen-AI), as well as shared frames such as Revolutionary and Important. This article contributes to the literature on media discourse of emerging technologies and offers a methodological approach to improve the quality and comparability of future studies in this area. Keywords: framing, media discourse, emerging technologies, big data, artificial intelligence Media discourse can have a significant impact on public perception of new technological developments, as well as their adoption and development (Asif & Gouqing, 2023; Buenaflor & Kim, 2013; Harley, 2022). In particular, studies employing framing theory to examine media coverage of technology have found that the way these developments are framed is often mirrored in readers’/viewers’ opinions of those technologies (e.g., Bingaman, Brewer, Paintsil, & Wilson, 2021; Scheufele & Lewenstein, 2005). Uncovering these representations is therefore paramount in understanding how emerging technologies are socially constructed. Since emerging technologies come with new concepts, it is important to use an inductive approach for frame identification when analyzing the media discourse about them. This means researchers are not limited to a pre-defined set of frames, which could lead to significant meaning being lost (Matthes & Kohring, 2008). However, inductive framing analyses have been criticized for their lack of replicability and comparability (de Vreese, 2005; Hertog & McLeod, 2001; Tankard, 2001). Thus, this article presents a model for analyzing the media discourse of emerging technologies (Frame Categories for Emerging Technologies; FCET). This model intends to minimize such methodological issues by providing categories within which frames can be identified. The FCET approach allows comparisons to be made across studies while offering researchers the flexibility to Emma Kaylee Graves-Sandriman: emma.gravessandriman@canterbury.ac.uk Date submitted: 2025-09-26 Copyright © 2026 (Emma Kaylee Graves-Sandriman). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at https://ijoc.org.