Framing Mali Swedish Media Portrayal of an Armed Conflict
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Framing Mali Swedish media portrayal of an armed conflict Niklas Norberg Department of Media Studies, Department of Journalism, Media and C ommunication Studies (JMK) Master’s Thesis in Journalism 30 EC TS Journalism Studies Master’s Programme in Journalism (120 EC TS) Spring term 2018 Supervisor: Magnus Danielson Examiner: C hristian C hristensen Framing Mali: Swedish media portrayal of an armed conflict Master's thesis Niklas Norberg VT18 Abstract Research has shown that news media reporting on foreign affairs tend to rely heavily on official sources (e.g. Schwalbe, 2013; Entman, 2004; Lawrence, 2009). This thesis analyse whether this is the case in Swedish news media reporting on the armed conflict in Mali, where Sweden has troops sanctioned by the UN. A more broader perspective is also analysed: How does the news media portray the armed conflict, and are there any differences between national daily newspapers (considered more “sober”) and national evening newspapers (considered more sensational)? An inductive framing analysis is used to identify frames not available in previous research. These frames, together with frames identified in other studies, are then used in a quantitative content analysis to measure to what extent the frames occur in the texts. Among the most important findings were that Swedish news media did in fact rely on Swedish official reporting to a large extent. The two evening newspapers, Aftonbladet and Expressen, used Swedish official sources in approximately 60% of their articles. The daily newspapers, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, used Swedish official sources in about 35% of their articles. The main source used was also analyzed: This showed that Swedish official sources were the most common, in between 23% to 62% of the articles. The second most used source differed, but were in the range 9% to 18%. Other important results of the main themes of the articles showed that direct actions of war and other types of violence were the most commonly used. Peace efforts/negotiations and life of Mali civilians were the least common. The thesis also concludes that while there are variables where the evening newspapers and the daily newspapers can be grouped in those categories, that is often not the case. 2 Framing Mali: Swedish media portrayal of an armed conflict Master's thesis Niklas Norberg VT18 Table of contents Abstract 2 Table of contents 3 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Research question and purpose 5 1.2 Outline of thesis 6 2. Background 6 3. Theory and previous research 8 3.1 Framing theory 8 3.1.1 Schemas 10 3.1.2 News framing 11 3.1.3 Framing and armed conflict 13 3.2 Armed conflict in the media 15 3.2.1 Peace journalism 16 3.3 Summary and hypothesis 17 4. Method 17 4.1 Identifying frames 18 4.1 Frames 21 4.1.1 Five common frames 21 4.1.2 Peace or war journalism frame (Beyond the here and now) 23 4.1.3 Orientalist frame 23 4.1.4 Aggressors frame 25 4.1.5 Official bias frame 25 4.1.6 Criticism frame 26 4.1.7 Mention of Swedish military operation frame 26 4.1.8 Main theme of article frame 26 4.2 Quantitative content analysis 26 4.2.1 Coding scheme 27 4.2.2 Coding manual 27 4.4 Methodological limitations 33 5. Results and discussion 34 5.1 Results of the inductive framing analysis 34 5.2 Results of the quantitative content analysis 38 6. Conclusion 51 List of references 55 Appendix 1. News articles and blog posts 64 Appendix 2. Code book 73 Appendix 3. Tables 76 3 Framing Mali: Swedish media portrayal of an armed conflict Master's thesis Niklas Norberg VT18 1. Introduction News media play an important part in how events is presented and perceived, and what is discussed in public debate (Lu, et. al., 2016). Frames used by politicians, the media and citizens are often taken over by other politicians (Chong & Druckman, 2007: 109). Analysing news framing “help us to understand how news norms and practices translate into patterns in news content that potentially affect public thinking and attitudes.” (de Vreese, 2009, p. 190). What journalists write thus has implications beyond simply entertaining and informing - it forms our whole understanding of certain issues. It is therefore important to analyze how news media portray events. In this study, framing theory is going to be used to analyze some aspects of reporting on armed conflicts. Specifically, Swedish news media portrayal of the armed conflict in Mali, where Sweden has employed military personnel, will be analyzed. So why is this important to analyze? Since December 2014, Sweden has an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) task force in Mali - staff officers arrived in the spring of 2013 and military personnel that built the camp for future troops arrived in november 2014. As of now, when this thesis is written, another task force is preparing for deployment in Mali - “Mali 08” arrives in june of 2018. The resolution that gives the Swedish forces mandate to operate in Mali, Resolution 2100, was adopted by the United Nation Security Council in April of 2013. This established the mission MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali). The resolution authorizes MINUSMA - and thereby the Swedish forces thereof - to use “all necessary means” to perform certain tasks. Such tasks are for example protecting civilians and UN personnel, as well as stabilizing key population centres. In later UN resolutions, building on resolution 2100, some tasks are added - such as supporting the peace agreement signed in 2016 (Försvarsmakten, 2017; Försvarsmakten, 2018; United Nation, 2013; United Nation Security Council, 2017). In short, the resolution gives MINUSMA and the Swedish forces authority to kill, if necessary. The United Nation Security Council do, however, call upon MINUSMA and all military forces to take previous resolutions regarding protection of civilians in armed conflict; children and armed conflict; women, peace and security; into account and to abide by human rights, refugee 4 Framing Mali: Swedish media portrayal of an armed conflict Master's thesis Niklas Norberg VT18 and international humanitarian law (United Nation Security Council, 2017). Are they abiding by these rules and regulations? The UN themselves of course try to analyze this, but an organization is not always the best actor to scrutinize its own behaviour. This is certainly where the media has to do its part. But is it doing that? What is the media actually reporting, and what parts of the conflict does it portray? This is where this thesis comes into play. Is the news media reporting on Mali similar to the reporting of the Swedish Armed Forces, or do they in fact take a critical stance of their own, with different sources and different stories? This thesis is not going to analyze why the portrayal is what it is, but rather what that portrayal - that framing - is. The why will, however, be reflected on in the Discussion section of the thesis. 1.1 Research question and purpose The aim of this thesis is to analyze Swedish news media framing of the conflict in Mali, and specifically of the military deployment of Swedish soldiers in the country. Semetko & Valkenburg finds that the use of frames differs between what they call serious/sober and sensationalist news outlets (2000). This thesis build on those findings, and analyse whether Swedish national morning newspapers (considered more “sober”) differ in their reporting from the national evening news papers (who tend to be more sensationalist). According to previous research (described further in the following sections of this thesis), news media reporting on armed conflicts tend to rely heavily on official sources - making the reporting skewed in favour for the ruling power in the country. Swedish news media reporting of armed conflicts where the country itself is involved as a third party should then arguably be skewed in favour for, and be similar to, Swedish official reports and/or use them as a source. Building on this literature, a hypothesis is crafted: News media reporting of the conflict in Mali is likely to be similar to the official Swedish portrayal and/or use Swedish official sources to a great extent. 5 Framing Mali: Swedish media portrayal of an armed conflict Master's thesis Niklas Norberg VT18 Based on previous literature and the hypothesis above, the research questions this thesis seek to answer are the following: How is the armed conflict in Mali portrayed in Swedish news media? To what extent does Swedish news media rely on official sources when reporting about the armed conflict? What are the differences between the publishers? How is the conflict in Mali portrayed by the Swedish Armed Forces? How does the framing of the news articles in the news media differ or resemble the Swedish Armed Forces’ reporting? 1.2 Outline of thesis This brief introduction is followed by a section that present and discuss previous research - on framing theory in general, but also more specifically framing related to schemas, news media and armed conflict. A method built on previous literature is then brought forward. An inductive framing analysis is used to identify possible frames. Those frames, together with frames used in previous research, are then analyzed in a quantitative content analysis. This section is followed by (relevant) Results and discussion, and a conclussion of the thesis thereafter. 2. Background Mali is a country in West Africa, with no sea at its borders and seven neighbouring countries. The country is almost three times as large as Sweden and consist mainly of desert. However, the rivers Niger and Senegal that flows through southern Mali makes the areas close to these rivers fertile.