Smartphones
Date Range
Score Range
Daily Mail : Is your relationship falling down a 'scroll hole'? Expert warns 'we're more likely to touch …
Smartphones are framed as hostile intruders in personal relationships
Loaded language and metaphor position smartphones as adversaries to intimacy and family formation, implying they actively disrupt human connection.
“we're more likely to touch our phones than our partners in the bedroom”
NZ Herald : Smartphones linked to drop in birth rates, claim new US studies
Smartphones framed as a harmful influence on social and reproductive behaviour
[framing_by_emphasis] and [loaded_language]: The article foregrounds smartphones as a key driver of declining birth rates, using causal language like 'played a sizable role' and linking them to reduced in-person contact and sexual activity, while downplaying structural factors.
“the introduction of the smartphone "played a sizable role in the decline in US births" after 2007 as it shaped people’s behaviour with less in-person contact.”
Daily Mail : POLL OF THE DAY: Should parents be banned from buying a smartphone for children aged …
Smartphones are framed as inherently harmful for young children
The article emphasizes risk and developmental unsuitability without discussing potential educational or social benefits, contributing to a one-sided, threat-based narrative.
“pre-secondary age children are 'too young' to be using internet-enabled devices”
The Washington Post : Why are birth rates falling? Ask your smartphone.
Smartphones are framed as an adversarial force undermining social and demographic health
[headline_body_mismatch], [loaded_language]: The headline and body text position smartphones as a primary culprit in falling birth rates, using emotionally charged language and speculative causality.
“Why are birth rates falling? Ask your smartphone.”
Irish Times : Fewer people are having babies. Could smartphones be the reason? – The Irish Times
framed as a destructive force contributing to societal collapse
[loaded_language], [framing_by_emphasis], [narrative_framing]
“the hyper-capitalism that is channelled through them is an anti-human force, and that its products are loneliness, alienation and ideological despair.”
Stuff.co.nz : ‘The world seems brighter’: How parents are fighting teenage social media use
Smartphones are framed as hostile to child development and family cohesion
The device is portrayed as displacing meaningful human interaction and forming addictive habits early. Quotes emphasize what smartphones replace — calls, bike rides, presence with whānau — framing them as socially corrosive.
““And we should always ask, ‘What is this replacing?’. It could be a simple phone call, hopping on a bike to visit a friend, or just being present with whānau at home.””
The Guardian : The Guardian view on a new National Conversation: whether this works will depend on who …
Framed as an adversarial force contributing to social isolation among youth
[framing_by_emphasis] The article suggests smartphones are likely connected to younger adults’ reluctance to meet new people, positioning the technology as a disruptive influence on community building.
“younger adults were more likely to be daunted by the prospect of meeting new people than older ones – which seems likely to be connected to smartphones.”
New York Post : ‘Porn is warping our lives’ admit Gen Z men, who reveal their addictions got ‘totally …
Smartphones framed as enablers of harmful behavior rather than neutral tools
The article positions smartphones as vectors for uncontrolled porn access, emphasizing their role in normalizing early exposure without acknowledging their broader social or educational uses.
“Armed with unfettered access to the internet in their pocket, many boys inevitably found their way to pornography”
Irish Times : ‘Parents continue to stick their heads in the sand’: Teachers’ views on screen time
Smartphones framed as inherently harmful to child development and education
Cherry-picking and omission of counter-evidence present smartphones exclusively as damaging, with no mention of educational or social benefits
“The only thing that changed was the introduction of a mobile phone”
The Guardian : I was wrong about the danger of smartphones in schools. It’s far, far worse than …
Smartphones are framed as universally and severely harmful to youth
Loaded language and emotional appeals depict smartphones as causing widespread psychological and behavioral damage, including addiction, radicalization, and mental deterioration.
“They ransacked their home like an addict desperate for a fix.”