1 00:00:01,189 --> 00:00:05,210 We’ll use another example to demonstrate the fourth characteristic. 2 00:00:05,210 --> 00:00:09,280 Suppose there is a country where students receive a government grant towards their living 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:10,639 expenses. 4 00:00:10,639 --> 00:00:15,299 Now imagine that a right-wing minister in that country wants to abolish these grants. 5 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:18,920 The minister’s argument is a simple one. 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,670 Students pay low tuition fees, which means that their education is mostly 7 00:00:22,670 --> 00:00:24,670 funded by taxpayers. 8 00:00:24,670 --> 00:00:28,780 Once they have left university, many of them will earn two or three times 9 00:00:28,780 --> 00:00:30,660 the average wage. 10 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:33,699 Left-wing politicians, in contrast, 11 00:00:33,699 --> 00:00:36,399 are against abolishing student grants. 12 00:00:36,399 --> 00:00:40,050 This is what a left-wing politician might say: 13 00:00:40,050 --> 00:00:47,050 ‘This measure will hit low-income working families very hard. 14 00:00:47,079 --> 00:00:51,620 Children from these families will decide not to attend university. 15 00:00:51,620 --> 00:00:55,760 I am standing up for these low-income families.’ 16 00:00:56,500 --> 00:00:59,360 And this might be the minister’s response: 17 00:00:59,629 --> 00:01:05,000 ‘My opponents say that they are standing up for low-income families. 18 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,230 Indeed, I am going to abolish student grants, 19 00:01:09,230 --> 00:01:11,580 and I have a very good reason for doing so. 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,040 Students’ degrees are entirely paid for by the taxpayer. 21 00:01:17,050 --> 00:01:22,190 Why should a baker pay for a law student to go to university while in the end the law 22 00:01:22,190 --> 00:01:26,150 student will earn four times as much as the baker?’ 23 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,160 One of the values of left wing politicians 24 00:01:30,210 --> 00:01:33,100 is standing up for poor people. 25 00:01:33,100 --> 00:01:37,620 By using this frame, the minister attacks her opponents’ core values. 26 00:01:37,620 --> 00:01:38,120 27 00:01:38,130 --> 00:01:43,850 The minister says that poor people are better off under her leadership than they would be 28 00:01:43,850 --> 00:01:45,980 under her opponents’. 29 00:01:45,980 --> 00:01:51,800 The fourth characteristic of a good frame is that it attacks your opponents’ core values. 30 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:52,300 31 00:01:52,300 --> 00:01:56,280 And when their core values are attacked they are forced to respond. 32 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,870 They cannot simply ignore what has happened. 33 00:01:59,870 --> 00:02:03,930 In other words, they are forced to step into your frame. 34 00:02:03,930 --> 00:02:08,879 In the next episode of this course, we will analyze how risky it can be to step 35 00:02:08,879 --> 00:02:11,560 into your opponent’s frame. 36 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:16,460 Now we come to the fifth and final characteristic of a good frame. 37 00:02:16,460 --> 00:02:19,470 Every society has undercurrents. 38 00:02:19,470 --> 00:02:23,360 An undercurrent is a strong view that many people take for granted. 39 00:02:24,020 --> 00:02:26,080 In many Western countries, for example, 40 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:30,330 people have a strong dislike of bureaucracy in schools, 41 00:02:30,330 --> 00:02:32,180 hospitals and the police. 42 00:02:32,180 --> 00:02:36,810 The common view is that there are too many managers and bureaucrats – pen-pushers and 43 00:02:36,810 --> 00:02:42,010 box-tickers – who only make things difficult for the real professionals. 44 00:02:42,010 --> 00:02:47,650 This is an undercurrent, a feeling of discontent shared by many people. 45 00:02:47,650 --> 00:02:50,370 So what is the fifth characteristic of a good frame? 46 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,400 A good frame taps into these undercurrents. 47 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:56,340 Suppose, for example, 48 00:02:56,350 --> 00:02:59,319 that two hospitals decide to merge. 49 00:02:59,319 --> 00:03:01,900 This is what an opponent of the merger might say: 50 00:03:01,900 --> 00:03:08,900 ‘A bigger hospital means more managers and less health professionals. 51 00:03:09,260 --> 00:03:12,920 More bureaucracy and less care.’ 52 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:17,099 This is a simple message that taps into an undercurrent. 53 00:03:17,099 --> 00:03:21,490 It evokes a feeling of “here we go again.” More managers, 54 00:03:21,490 --> 00:03:23,360 more bureaucrats. 55 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,220 By framing your message in the language of an undercurrent, 56 00:03:27,220 --> 00:03:30,819 you make it more likely that the frame will “stick.” 57 00:03:30,819 --> 00:03:36,819 This brings us to the end of this episode about the five characteristics of a good frame. 58 00:03:36,819 --> 00:03:39,489 What kind of impact do frames have? 59 00:03:39,489 --> 00:03:44,500 We’ll talk about that next time, as well as about how the game of framing and 60 00:03:44,500 --> 00:03:46,140 reframing is played.