Federica Fornaciari spent the months of May and June 2013 at the University of Copenhagen to conduct and author the study Mapping the Territories of Privacy: Textual Analysis of Privacy Frames in American Mainstream News. In the attempt to shed light on the multifaceted complexity of privacy, Fornaciari’s study explores the frames that emerged in American coverage of privacy since the 1980s. Fornaciari collected 2,473 articles covering privacy published in three timeframes. Results reveal that American news media consistently implement four main frames: the value of truth, expected flow, fundamental privacy, and trading privacy. Three secondary frames also emerge: privacy is dead, relationships, and users’ responsibility. Results also reveal that the framing of privacy as a fundamental value is declining whereas the portrayal of the commercial value of personal data is increasing.

During her internship, Fornaciari conducted research under the supervision of Professor Klaus Bruhn Jensen at the University of Copenhagen and had the opportunity to present her work in different settings including formal conference-style presentations as well as informal workshops and discussions. She also developed fruitful dialogues and professional relationships with a number of scholars including Prof. Anja Bechman and Prof. Rasmus Helles at the University of Copenhagen; Prof, Gitte Stald, Prof. Lisbeth Klastrup, Prof. Irina Shklovski, Dr. Christina Neumayer, and Ph. D. student Sander Schwartz at the IT University.

The resulting article has been accepted for presentation at the HICSS-47 conference.