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The Battle of the Narratives: Australian Media Agendas and the Iraq War

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The Battle of the Narratives: Australian Media Agendas and the Iraq War COPYRIGHT AND USE OF THIS THESIS This thesis must be used in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction of material protected by copyright may be an infringement of copyright and copyright owners may be entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. Section 51 (2) of the Copyright Act permits an authorized officer of a university library or archives to provide a copy (by communication or otherwise) of an unpublished thesis kept in the library or archives, to a person who satisfies the authorized officer that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study. The Copyright Act grants the creator of a work a number of moral rights, specifically the right of attribution, the right against false attribution and the right of integrity. You may infringe the author’s moral rights if you: - fail to acknowledge the author of this thesis if you quote sections from the work - attribute this thesis to another author - subject this thesis to derogatory treatment which may prejudice the author’s reputation For further information contact the University’s Director of Copyright Services sydney.edu.au/copyright The Battle of the Narratives: Australian media agendas and the Iraq war - Judith Betts, B. Ec (ANU), MPA (Harvard), M. Comm. (CSU) Thesis submitted for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy (Government and International Relations) University of Sydney, October, 2015 ii Statement of Originality This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. Some of the data and analysis in this thesis has been published in conference proceedings: Betts, J. (2011) “The changing Australian politics of WMD over the course of the Iraq war: Political agendas and press coverage”, refereed paper delivered at the Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) conference, Old Parliament House Canberra, 26-28 September. Betts, J. (2012) “Media agendas, Robert Manne and Iraq: the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative analysis”, refereed paper delivered at the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA), University of Adelaide, 4-6 July. Interviews for this research project were conducted in accordance with the conditions laid down by the University of Sydney Human Ethics Committee (Protocol No. 14374, 12 December 2011). Judith Betts October 2015 iii iv Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank those who agreed to be interviewed for this project. Almost without exception the interviews provided valuable insights into processes which, while on the public record, are not often spoken about in the public domain. I greatly appreciate interviewees’ time, the frankness with which they spoke, and their professionalism, indicative of the professionalism they display in their daily work. Their involvement made this a rich and rewarding project. Secondly, this thesis would not have been possible without the wisdom, experience and patient support of my supervisor, Professor Emeritus Rod Tiffen, who has spent every year of his retirement thus far patiently guiding me along the path to completion. As his last PhD student I hope I do him proud. I would also like to thank Professor Rodney Smith, Associate Professor Ariadne Vromen, Dr Adam Kamradt-Scott, Dr Betsi Beem, Dr Anika Gauja and Dr Lily Rahim for their advice and encouragement through the process and for making me feel welcome in the academic community. Thank you too to Dr Bob Howard and Associate Professor Ben Goldsmith for allowing me to sit in on their classes and benefit from all their years of reading and research. One of the great pleasures associated with the PhD process has been making the acquaintance of other students in the PhD community. I would like to thank Stephen Mills, Naser Ghobadzadeh, Trevor Cook, Ben Moffitt, Christopher Neff, Colombina Schaeffer, Stewart Jackson, Christine Winter, Jenny Mason, Adele Webb, Caroline Yarnell, Tom Wynter and Erin Hurley for their friendship and advice. I have really enjoyed our drinks and discussions at the pub after PhD seminars. Many thanks too to my friends and colleagues at UTS, including Vicki Bamford, Jannet Pendleton, Mai Hansford, Kate Delmo, Melanie King, Mehal Krayem, Jesica Mwithia, Jim Macnamara and Jenna Price. Over the course of this project I have benefited from the insights and observations of friends, including Kristen Barry, Chas Savage, Jack and Deborah Gray, Lois Meyer, Ian and Ardsley McNeilly, Patrick Rowe, Mary Venner, Jane Harris, Darcy Duggan and Karen Waller. I am also privileged to be an honorary member of the Dooley family (Anna, v Damian, Han and Jinny) and the Pratt family (Alison, Damian, Maggie and Hamish) all of whom I love dearly. Above all I want to express my heartfelt gratitude and love to my own family: my patient and supportive husband Steve; my intelligent and inspiring step-children Philippa and Edward; my strong and loving brother Doug and partner Judy; and my recently departed wonderful dad, Edgar and his partner Aileen. I would like to remember too my sister Dianne - talented and funny, she chose to leave us clamouring for more - and my wonderful mum, Vera, who put up a dignified fight before succumbing to cancer. vi Table of Contents Tables and Figures .............................................................................................................. x Acronyms .......................................................................................................................... xiii Content analysis sample periods ...................................................................................... xiv Synopsis ............................................................................................................................ xv Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 – Media and political agendas: untangling the debates ..................................... 13 Chapter 2 – Research design ............................................................................................ 42 Chapter 3 – The Iraq war and the media agenda .............................................................. 64 Chapter 4 – WMD and the shaping of the media’s pre-war agenda ................................ 101 Chapter 5 – Drawing the battle lines - wartime coverage................................................. 137 Chapter 6 – Uncertain Victory – collapsing rationales and continuing civil war ................ 168 Chapter 7 – The Iraq war and Australian politics ............................................................. 208 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 239 Appendix: People interviewed .......................................................................................... 260 References ...................................................................................................................... 262 vii Detailed table of Contents Tables and Figures .............................................................................................................. x Acronyms .......................................................................................................................... xiii Content analysis sample periods ...................................................................................... xiv Synopsis ............................................................................................................................ xv Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Media and political agendas ........................................................................................ 4 Research aims and design .......................................................................................... 5 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................. 8 Conclusion 10 Chapter 1 – Media and political agendas: untangling the debates ..................................... 13 Agenda setting, agenda formation and framing ......................................................... 13 Critiques of the media and the Iraq War .................................................................... 25 Contested agendas ................................................................................................... 38 Conclusion 40 Chapter 2 – Research design ............................................................................................ 42 Research questions and hypotheses ........................................................................ 42 Design rationale ........................................................................................................ 44 Content analysis design ............................................................................................ 45 Qualitative analysis rationale ..................................................................................... 62 Conclusion 63 Chapter 3 – The Iraq war and the media agenda .............................................................. 64 Editors and
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