“Business groups” / “red tape”

Aug 26, 2011 – We’ve seen this headline story many times before. It’s a template containing the elements of a complex frame:

1. Imposed EU regulations
2. Obstacles to ‘British’ business growth
3. Huge costs (for firms)
4. “Business groups” to the rescue

The “business groups” get a lot of space. The Telegraph quotes the British Chambers of Commerce and The Institute of Directors. The former says that unless the government “reduces this kind of red tape” it could “end up derailing the recovery”. The latter says the legislation has “very high costs for business” and is “wholly inappropriate in the current economic climate.”

Factual details may be misreported, or not. More important is the construct, the reinforcement of a particular cognitive script, and what it excludes.

Absent frames:
• PROTECTION (OF ‘ORDINARY HARD-WORKING PEOPLE’)
• WELL-BEING & HEALTH OF WORKERS-TAXPAYERS
• WIDER BENEFITS TO SOCIETY OF WORKER RIGHTS