Today we’re going to talk about framing, one of the key methods that journalism has for turning a set of facts into a coherent story. Framing shows up first and foremost in the headline, which attempts to boil down an often complex set of events into one short phrase; but it also continues into the story itself, where reporters and editors have to choose which elements to highlight and what they want readers to take away from the article.
For this morning’s subject, we present a post by Kansas City NPR station KCUR on the start of Missouri’s special legislative session to discuss Chiefs and Royals stadium funding, which KCUR chose to give this headline:
Where will Kansas City’s teams move? Missouri lawmakers enter a high-stakes, high-tension battle
You can see why KCUR went with that phrasing: It’s immediately gripping, presenting an exciting conflict with an important outcome — where the Chiefs and Royals will move. It’s also factually incorrect, or at least misleading: The Chiefs and Royals may not move anywhere, either if the Missouri legislature doesn’t approve state money and the team owners decide not to take what’s on offer from neighboring Kansas, or if the owners just decide to wait and see if Missouri can be encouraged to up its ante next session, or if they decide they’d be better off renovating their current stadiums, etc.
The article’s subheading — the “dek,” in journalism parlance — doubles down on the heightened dramatic tension and starts to assign blame:
A big incentive package from Kansas is expiring soon, the Royals are investing in properties across the metro and lawmakers are already fighting among themselves. Will Missouri’s General Assembly be able to reach an agreement and end the drama over stadium funding?
“Lawmakers are already fighting among themselves” is a weird way of describing some legislators promoting a bill and others opposing it, which is pretty much the definition of lawmaking. And positing the goal as “reaching an agreement” — rather than “coming to a resolution” or, perhaps better, “deciding whether funding stadiums with state money is worth it” — stacks the deck in favor of subsidizing teams, since not doing so would be considered failure.
Why am I going on about this? Because framing matters intensely, not just for how readers perceive a news story, but for how legislators and other decision-makers do. It’s well established that the most important factor in how willing local governments are to lavish money on sports team owners is the strength of local “growth coalitions” — basically, whether elected officials, business leaders, and the local media can circle the wagons to decide that a stadium is necessary, after which it’s just a matter of figuring out how the public will pay for one, not whether. You may not think that politicians can be talked into voting for a bill because a news headline says they need to “reach an agreement and end the drama,” but it can be an important part of making them feel like handing out billion-dollar sports subsidies is just a regular part of their job.
As for the rest of the KCUR story, it mostly rehashes stuff we already knew: Gov. Mike Kehoe is proposing a bill to cover “half the cost of a new Royals stadium and a refurbished Arrowhead for the Chiefs” (and actually half the future cost of any stadium in the state with more than 30,000 seats and costing at least $500 million to build or renovate), there would be unspecified “local contributions” from Kansas City as well, and lots of state legislators are opposed to Kehoe’s proposal because they’re upset that the state repealed a popularly passed sick leave law/didn’t fully fund tornado relief/didn’t cut taxes enough. But mostly it’s about the “obstacles” lawmakers have to overcome and the “bitterness” that stands in its way — terminology that makes the stadium battle sound more like the third act of a romantic comedy than like a decision over how to prioritize the use of tax dollars.
The special session kicks off today and can continue for up to 60 days, giving plenty of time for local journalists to get their act together and cover the real issues involved. Or, you know, not, and just go for cheap drama that will drive clicks and not improve anyone’s understanding of anything at all beyond “legislators be disagreeing, LOL.” No need to think too hard about it, there’s only billions of dollars at stake, it’s not like state spending decisions can leave people’s lives hanging in the balance or anything.
The early winners will be the restaurants and bars in Jefferson City.
“ “Lawmakers are already fighting among themselves” is a weird way of describing some legislators promoting a bill and others opposing it, which is pretty much the definition of lawmaking.”
Testify, brother! That’s all I read when pols abuse their franking privileges with junk mail boasting of how much they’re purportedly fighting for me. We should elect lovers, not fighters.
Greensboro! It’s the it town where every sports franchise wants to be.
But, there are regional and geographic league footprint concerns (for both franchises).
So Boise, then.
Wake up Missouri taxpayers, or you will lose another baseball (and probably football too) franchise to Oakland. Or somewhere. Maybe.
Either way, cough up billions now or continue to suffer in uncertainty!!!!
Great writeup! Now do “keep the teams” media framing. Because clearly the Royals and Chiefs are not businesses, but balloons that will inevitably float away elsewhere unless Missouri awards some magical subsidy amount…
That framing’s more likely to work in a market like KC that has already lost MLB, NBA and NHL teams over the years, right?
Done that one a bunch of times:
https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2025/05/05/22670/royals-expiring-lease-may-not-be-the-stadium-leverage-john-sherman-pretends-it-is/
https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2025/04/17/22608/are-the-buffalo-sabres-moving-to-greensboro-now-an-investimagation/
https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2024/11/18/22067/sternberg-to-county-approve-stadium-bonds-or-ill-take-the-rays-and-go-somewhere/
Then you need to tell the Jackson County voters that! I’ll almost 98% guarantee they’re going to Kansas! Kansas City, Missouri and Jackson County have done nothing to fix up the area around the stadium! The only major hotel around is filled with rats, homeless people, and broken windows boarded up! They have spent all their money in Liberty, downtown and up north. Instead of taking care of business in the Raytown and Independence areas. Have you seen the Missouri welcome center in front of Arrowhead and Royals stadium lately. They closed it down and it is trashed! So everyone who comes to see the games who stops at the welcome center. Sees that it’s closed and nothing but trash.
All the tax money from sales coming in from the Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs. Has been spent elsewhere. Shame on Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri!
In my observation, lawmakers don’t realize how much leverage they have. Both the Vichy Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays are in serious ballpark purgatory, AND MLB is looking to expand by two teams as soon as possible. What municipality has the money and desire to pull the Royals?
What’s also troubling is a supposedly respectable NPR News/Talk station reporting this story in the manner of their commercial brethren. You would expect such reporting from stations that do blood-and-guts news or mouth-breather sports.
Wait…that’s Jackson County taxpayers fault that there’s been no development? How do you get to that conclusion?? The teams have never really wanted to do anything around the stadiums. Can’t force them to if they don’t want it. It’s ridiculous anyway. As long as people are eating/drinking somewhere in Jackson County when they’re also attending a game, it doesn’t matter whether those places are next to a stadium or 3 miles away. The tax revenue remains the same for the county. As for 98% claim, if the kansas offer is such a slam dunk winner, why haven’t both teams jumped on it already? The whole claim of the kansas Star bond offer paying up to 70% is quite likely way off. And who gets stuck with paying for it if it doesn’t? The kansas taxpayers. There’s a lot of kansas people who love Jackson County taxpayers paying for stadiums for both teams and keeping it that way. And Jackson County taxpayers are okay with continuing the taxes if both stadiums stay where they are. If the Royals especially want to move, they can do it on their own dime