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Framing Bahrain Through Public Diplomacy

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Framing Bahrain Through Public Diplomacy FRAMING BAHRAIN THROUGH PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FRAMES COMMUNICATED BY THE BAHRAINI GOVERNMENT DURING THE 2011 CRISIS Rana Ahmed AlOmari Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Relations University of Stirling Division of Communication, Media and Culture September 2018 1 ABSTRACT This thesis explores frames communicated through Bahraini public diplomacy to foreign media and publics during three key moments of the 2011 crisis in Bahrain, and factors connected to the building of these frames. It employed qualitative frame analysis of public diplomacy texts published on Bahrain News Agency’s website during the first week of protests, the arrival of the Peninsula Shield Forces to Bahrain, and the publication of Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report. It also used interviews with communicators from the Bahraini Information Affairs Authority to explore background processes of frame-building. This study contributes to research on the role of public diplomacy in co-constructing specific versions of reality in government messages during crises. It offers an example of Arab government practice of public diplomacy and framing in the Arab Spring. The research also employs Benoit’s (1995) image repair theory and Shoemaker and Reese’s (1996) model to explore crisis response strategies represented by the frames, and frame-building processes. The research finds that most of the analysed frames denied a crisis, while other frames addressed it yet externalised its causes. Denying an internal crisis started in absence of decision making, and lack of crisis experience and preparedness. It then became connected to promotion of positive news to contest foreign media’s coverage, and maintain the authorities’ power status. This research suggests the Bahraini government’s responses are similar to how nations usually respond to crises, especially not admitting responsibility for wrongdoing. Rather, public diplomacy is used as a tool by the government to maintain its power position. The thesis suggests this crisis is a turning point in Bahrain’s practice of public diplomacy, especially in paying more attention to how it can further assure the promotion of messages that maintain the authorities’ power position among foreign publics. 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS يا رب لك الحمد كما ينبغي لجﻻل وجهك ولعظيم سلطانك، ﻻ أحصي ثناء عليك، أنت كما أثنيت على نفسك I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Dr. Alenka Jelen-Sanchez and Dr. Marina Dekavalla for the continuous support of my Ph.D research, for their patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Their guidance has been very significant in all phases of writing this thesis. I could not have imagined having better supervisors for my Ph.D study. I also would like to thank my parents and my husband’s parents for all their support during this journey. This also goes to my brother and sisters: Khalifa, Huda, Mona, and Shatha. I am grateful to my husband, my best friend, my all: Mohammad. No words would honour your unconditional love and support through every minute of making this dream come true. Here it is one more time to ‘patience and belief’. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................25 1. CHAPTER OVERVIEW .....................................................................................................25 2. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY .......................................................................................................29 2.1. Definitions and Goals .........................................................................................29 2.2. Media and Soft Power in Public Diplomacy ....................................................33 2.3. Conceptualisations of Public Diplomacy .........................................................39 3. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, PUBLIC RELATIONS, AND RESEARCH PARADIGMS ......................51 3.1. Public Diplomacy, Public Relations, and Functionalism ...............................51 3.2. Public Relations and Social Constructivism ....................................................60 4. FRAMING .......................................................................................................................64 4.1. The Framing Theory ...........................................................................................64 4.2. Frame-Building and Public Diplomacy .............................................................72 4.3. Shoemaker & Reese (1996) Hierarchal Model of Influence .........................80 4.4. The Bahraini 2011 Crisis in Framing Research .............................................91 4.5. The ‘Arab Spring’ in Public Diplomacy and Framing Research ...................96 5. CRISIS COMMUNICATION ..............................................................................................99 5.1. Crisis Communication and Social Constructivism .........................................99 5.2. The Image Repair Theory ................................................................................104 5.3. Crisis Response in Different National Contexts ...........................................112 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................................122 1. PROJECT AIMS AND CHAPTER OVERVIEW ..................................................................122 2. PROJECT TIMEFRAME ..................................................................................................125 2.1. First week of protests (14-19 February 2011) ..............................................126 2.2. Deployment of the PSF in Bahrain (14-16 March, 2011) ............................127 2.3. Publication of BICI report (23-25 November, 2011) ....................................129 3. PHILOSOPHICAL POSITIONS AND PARADIGMS ...........................................................131 4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................134 5. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ...................................................................136 4 6. FRAME ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TEXTS ........................................................138 6.1. The method ........................................................................................................138 6.2. Sampling news items .......................................................................................139 6.3. The procedure of frame analysis ....................................................................141 7. IN-DEPTH SEMI-STRUCTURED QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS .........................................155 7.1. The method ........................................................................................................155 7.2. Sampling interview participants ......................................................................156 7.3. Interview procedure ..........................................................................................159 7.4. Analysing interview data ..................................................................................161 CHAPTER 4: FRAME ANALYSIS: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................165 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................165 2. THE ‘REFORM’ FRAME .................................................................................................172 3. THE ‘EVENTS’ FRAME ..................................................................................................184 4. THE ‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’ FRAME .............................................................................195 5. THE ‘UNPRECEDENTED ACHIEVEMENT’ FRAME .........................................................207 6. THE ‘SUPPORTED LEADERSHIP’ FRAME.......................................................................216 7. THE ‘SOVEREIGNTY’ FRAME ........................................................................................221 8. CONCLUSION: THE FRAMING OF THE BAHRAINI CRISIS OVER TIME ..........................225 CHAPTER 5: INTERVIEW ANALYSIS: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .....................................233 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................233 2. INDIVIDUAL LEVEL: LACK OF CRISIS COMMUNICATION EXPERIENCE .........................237 3. PROFESSIONAL ROUTINES LEVEL: ABSENCE OF DECISION MAKING, AND PROMOTING POSITIVE NEWS ................................................................................................................245 3.1. Disruption of top-down work routines: absence of senior decision making .........................................................................................................................246 3.2. Public diplomacy goals: promoting positive news ........................................249 4. ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL: REDEFINING THE SITUATION, PUBLIC RELATIONS COMPANIES, VISITS TO FOREIGN MEDIA, AND UNPREPAREDNESS ................................255 4.1. Redefining the situation in government narratives.......................................256 4.2. Foreign public relations companies ................................................................259 4.3. Visits to foreign media
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