Framing is deciding what goes inside the picture and what is left out. In photography and film it is a compositional choice; in argument it is the choice of what to present as the question.
The second sense is the one that has spread. To frame an issue is to set the terms in which it will be discussed — framing a tax cut as relief rather than as lost revenue changes what people think without changing a single fact. That makes framing a central idea in politics, marketing and psychology, and a useful thing to be able to name. Note the third sense: framing somebody is making an innocent person look guilty, and it is a different word doing a different job.
1nounframingThe choice of what to include in a picture and what to leave out.
“The framing puts the whole building off to one side.”
2nounsubjectThe way a subject is presented, which shapes how people judge it.
“The framing of the question decided the answer.”
3nounstructuralThe structural timbers of a building.
“The framing went up in two days.”
framing is a way of presenting.
Practised in Photography & Film, Logic & Argument