Newspaper coverage of the Islamic State rise to power : a content analysis of The New York Times, The Guardian, and Le Monde

Abstract

Scholars have been increasingly concerned with portrayals of terrorism in mainstream and alternative media outlets. Although terrorism had previously received some scholarly attention, the political and policy ramifications of September 11 and subsequent terrorist threats or attacks on the European Union, the United States and the Middle East have prompted an even more immediate and voluminous response from scholars. Communication researchers have since focused on public response and reaction to terrorist attacks, definitions of terrorism, policy questions, media portrayals of terrorism, and framing across different media and nations (e.g., Greenberg 2002: Noll 2003; Norris et al. 2003). This study undertakes a comparative framing analysis of media coverage of the Islamic State, as reported by prominent U.S. and European newspapers. The thesis investigates The New York Times, The Guardian, and Le Monde newspapers coverage of the Islamic State phenomenon during pivotal periods since the rise of the group in 2011 until present date. In conjuncture with the framing and agenda-setting media theories, along with existing literature on media coverage of war ad terrorist groups, the content analysis showed that the media reflect their respective national interests using a predominately subjective approach in the coverage of the Islamic State issue; however there is a difference in the treatment in the coverage and sources of information used.