International Coverage of Qatar During the Blockade

Bahrain Egypt Qatar

Saudi Arabia U.A.E.

International Coverage of Qatar During the Blockade International Coverage Introduction of Qatar During On June 5, 2017, four nations, led by Saudi Arabia the Blockade and joined by Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, broke diplomatic relations with their Gulf neighbor, the State of Qatar, and began a land, sea, and air blockade. Triggered by a hacked website at the Qatar News Agency in May and almost immediate media coverage from that date forward and especially after the blockade itself, what emerged was a high profile geopolitical crisis that engaged major powers, including much of the Arab world, the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and others. The dispute was a serious breach for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and set off a series of demands amid efforts to resolve the conflict.

What emerged was truly an information war defined by issues of cyber security and the heavy use of social media as well as the dissemination of false news. Much of a massive and well-funded public relations campaign led to especially vehement one-sided coverage in the nations, which were party to the dispute. While coverage in Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. its kind in the Middle East. As new parties became Areas covered: The study analyzed articles from At this date, no conclusion can be reached was particularly vitriolic, coverage in Qatar was involved, notably Iran and Turkey, this was fodder 20 of the largest English-language publications about the consequences of the coverage or the more measured in an apparent desire by the for greater news coverage and international (by digital reach) based in three leading markets impact it might have. A cursory view suggests country to present a unified and resolute face interest in the dispute. Thus, the trajectory of the for English-language publishers: the United that the blockade has ignited and embraced linked to denials of any wrong doing which the siege as seen from the perspective of international States, United Kingdom, and United Arab topics that ranged from the Hajj to the World blockading parties had charged. media as well as the topics that commanded Emirates. A list of the news publications can Cup, Donald Trump’s tweet, and the involvement attention is of considerable continuing interest be found at the end of this report. of Iran and Turkey. This study is presented as a International media was much less predictable as the crisis moves into its eighth month as this preliminary discussion paper, first introduced at since news worthiness was the main driver of report is written. Data extraction/articles analyzed: To cast a meeting of the Qatar Media Industries Forum coverage, linked to national self-interest. The the widest net possible for coverage of Qatar, in October 2017. Much gratitude to Robb Wood, coverage was fueled by active information, public To better understand the nature of the articles were included for analysis if they NU-Q’s former director of external partnerships, diplomacy, and propaganda efforts aimed at international news coverage of Qatar during used the word “Qatar” in the headline for his leadership on the study and to Meltwater swaying the international news coverage. Adding the ongoing diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, or lead paragraph. for gathering the data. to the drama were demands from the blockading Northwestern University in Qatar commissioned nations that included their insistence on the a media monitoring firm, Meltwater, to collect Time period of coverage analyzed: The period Everette E. Dennis shuttering of Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar data on coverage of Qatar during the period begins the week of May 21, 2017, the week Dean and CEO and has a global footprint. Charges that Qatar between May 21 and September 25, 2017. that the Qatar News Agency was hacked and Northwestern University in Qatar was fomenting terrorism were denied as the The data are limited to specific markets and distributed false quotes from Qatar’s Emir—the January 2018 United States, a longtime Qatari ally, wavered in its specific topics and do not presume to paint moment largely considered the instigating event support after a summit in the Saudi capital where a comprehensive picture. The intent is to for the blockade which was imposed June 5, 2017. President Donald Trump entered the fray with a inject hard numbers into what can sometimes The period ends September 25, 2017, the week tweet that was in conflict with longstanding policy be an unwieldy and subjective discussion, following the United Nations General Assembly and the views of his two cabinet secretaries, the and hopefully to give a big-picture sense of session in New York. The timeline extends into secretaries of state and defense, who pointed to how, when, and where Qatar featured in the December 2017 as the GCC nations convened the value of a U.S. air base in Qatar, the largest of international media during the blockade. at a summit convened by the Emir of Kuwait.

Timeline (2017) June 23 August 17 Four blockading nations Saudi Arabia reopens the land border with issue a set of 13 demands. July 17 May 24 Qatar to facilitate the The Washington Post October 23 Qatar’s state-run news annual Hajj pilgrimage. June 24 breaks story revealing United Arab Emirates October 25 service, Qatar News Qatar rejects Qatar and Russia sign June 5 that the U.A.E. was August 24 hires a U.S. firm to launch Agency, is hacked. military agreements. Blockade begins when the 13-point behind hacking of Qatar restores an anti-Qatar campaign. Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., demand list. Qatar News Agency. ties with Iran. Bahrain, and Egypt sever ties with Qatar.

July 21 September 18 September 19 December 5 His Highness Sheikh Snapchat blocks His Highness Sheikh Tamim Kuwait hosts the Gulf June 13 Tamim bin Hamad Al Jazeera in bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, Cooperation Council Qatar says any talks Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, Saudi Arabia. addresses the opening session (GCC) summit. to shut down Al Jazeera addresses the nation of the United Nations General will remain off the table. on TV. Assembly; meets with U.S. President Donald Trump. Volume of Coverage

This chart shows the overall volume of articles Weekly Coverage U.A.E. covering Qatar each week during the period of (Top 20 English Language Publications in the U.A.E., U.K., and U.S.) analysis. The week of the June 5 imposition of U.K. the blockade sees a spike in coverage of Qatar. Volume of news articles containing the word ‘Qatar’ in headline or lead paragraph U.S. In most weeks analyzed, U.A.E. publications covered Qatar more frequently than U.S. 1800 or U.K. publications. A notable exception 1600 was in the four-week period following the 1400 blockade, in which U.A.E. publications covered Qatar significantly less frequently than their 1200 counterparts in the U.S. and U.K. 1000

800

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0 21.05.17 28.05.17 04.06.17 11.06.17 18.06.17 25.06.17 02.07.17 09.07.17 16.07.17 23.07.17 30.07.17 06.08.17 13.08.17 20.08.17 27.08.17 03.09.17 10.09.17 17.09.17 24.09.17 –27.05.17 –03.06.17 –10.06.17 –17.06.17 –24.06.17 –01.07.17 –08.07.17 –15.07.17 –22.07.17 –29.07.17 –05.08.17 –12.08.17 –19.08.17 –26.08.17 –02.09.17 –09.09.17 –16.09.17 –23.09.17 –25.09.17 U.A.E. 125 150 1449 532 303 290 519 334 356 261 175 216 139 199 114 133 165 190 21 U.K. 70 60 1390 715 572 480 683 316 264 193 248 104 68 142 67 114 107 153 1 U.S. 37 36 1584 613 650 331 676 420 237 208 128 100 58 120 85 98 110 80 5 Key Topics Key Topic Frequency

Each week, articles containing the word “Qatar” in the headline or lead paragraph were analyzed to identify common topics associated with coverage of Qatar. These are the key topics of 158 772 325 560 2256 interest that appeared frequently alongside Qatar in leading publications in the three Haj/Hajj/ markets covered. The term “crisis” was used Pilgrim* FIFA/ World Cup Bank* universally, while coverage patterns of other Demands topics such as “airline,” “terror,” and “Turkey” varied across markets. Crisis

989 746 495 1255

Turkey/Turkish/ Trump Airway*/ Erdogan Terror* Airline*

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Topics by Country

Coverage of each of the key topics between May Topics by Country 21 and September 25, 2017, varied by country. U.A.E. The U.A.E. made less use of the term “crisis,” U.K. but more use of the term “terror” than did the Volume of articles about Qatar U.S. U.S. or U.K. U.S. publications contained the most coverage of the airline industry over this 900 period, while paying very little attention to the 800 flurry of diplomatic and PR activity related to the 700 pilgrimage to Mecca. The U.K. paid significantly more attention to Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 600 World Cup than the other markets. 500

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0 Airway*/Airline* Bank Crisis Demands FIFA/World Cup Haj/Hajj/ Terror* Trump Turkey/Turkish/ Pilgrim* Erdogan

U.A.E. 338 205 647 230 71 90 471 157 110 U.K. 277 105 815 313 199 45 424 270 232 U.S. 374 250 794 229 55 23 360 319 153

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Topic Trends by Country—U.S.

On June 5, leading publications in the United Topic Trends by Country—U.S. States covered the sudden announcement Airway*/Airline* Demands Terror* of the blockade of Qatar alongside terms Bank* FIFA/World Cup Trump “terror,” “crisis,” and “Trump.” As the blockade Volume of articles covering Qatar and... Crisis Haj/Hajj/Pilgrim* Turkey/Turkish/Erdogan progressed through the summer, more attention 250 was paid to coverage of the airline industry and to the demands being made by the blockading countries. 200

150

100

0 11.06.17–17.06.17 16.07.17–22.07.17 09.07.17–15.07.17 13.08.17–19.08.17 21.05.17–27.05.17 17.09.17–23.09.17 10.09.17–16.09.17 23.07.17–29.07.17 25.06.17–01.07.17 18.06.17–24.06.17 06.08.17–12.08.17 02.07.17–08.07.17 24.09.17–25.09.17 27.08.17–02.09.17 04.06.17–10.06.17 30.07.17–05.08.17 20.08.17–26.08.17 28.05.17–03.06.17 03.09.17–09.09.17

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Topic Trends by Country—U.K.

Similar to the coverage in the United States, Topic Trends by Country—U.K. coverage in the United Kingdom focused on the Airway*/Airline* Demands Terror* sudden announcement of the blockade of Qatar Bank* FIFA/World Cup Trump alongside terms “terror,” “crisis,” and “Trump.” Volume of articles covering Qatar and... Crisis Haj/Hajj/Pilgrim* Turkey/Turkish/Erdogan As the blockade progressed through the 250 summer, more attention was paid to coverage of the airline industry and to the demands being made by the blockading countries. 200

150

100

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Topic Trends by Country—U.A.E.

Coverage of the blockade in the U.A.E. differed Topic Trends by Country—U.A.E. from that in the U.S. and U.K. in a number Airway*/Airline* Demands Terror* of significant ways. The effect on the airline Bank* FIFA/World Cup Trump industry appeared prominently at the start, as Volume of articles covering Qatar and... Crisis Haj/Hajj/Pilgrim* Turkey/Turkish/Erdogan Doha and Dubai were, until that point, close 250 trading and travel destinations. The demands of the blockading countries dominated coverage in the weeks following the imposition of the 200 blockade. For two weeks, the diplomatic discussion of the Hajj pilgrimage was the most 150 salient topic.

100

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Theme Trends—Airlines

The blockade of Qatar had a significant and Theme Evolution Over Time—Airway*/Airline* immediate effect on common daily travel U.A.E. between Doha and Dubai. This was reflected in U.K. the prominent and instant coverage of the airline U.S. industry by U.A.E. publications. 250

200

150

100

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Theme Trends—Crisis

The U.S. and the U.K. tended to use the intense Theme Evolution Over Time—Crisis term “crisis” when covering Qatar over this U.A.E. period. Publications in the U.A.E., one of the U.K. countries involved in the conflict, used the U.S. term significantly less. 250

200

150

100

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. Theme Trends—FIFA/World Cup

Top publications paid more attention to Theme Evolution Over Time—FIFA/World Cup Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup than its U.A.E. counterparts, especially in the weeks following U.K. the imposition of the blockade. This is the period U.S. when the demands of the blockading countries 60 were being discussed intensely. U.K. publications had been critical of Qatar’s handling of the 2022 50 World Cup before the blockade had begun, and there was some speculation that the U.K. might 40 win a bid to host the 2022 games if FIFA were to retract Qatar’s right to play host. 30

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. Topic Trends—Hajj/Pilgrimage

In August, Saudi Arabia announced a deal to Theme Evolution Over Time—Haj/Hajj/Pilgrim* allow Qataris to cross the land border for the U.A.E. purposes of pilgrimage to Mecca. However, the U.K. deal was made to feature a Qatari who was not U.S. part of Qatar’s government. This was widely 40 seen as an attempt on the part of the blockading countries to undermine the Qatari government. 35 Publications in the U.A.E., one of the blockading 30 countries, covered the incident significantly more than publications in the U.S. or U.K. 25

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Topic Trends—Terrorism

Although the blockading countries cited support Theme Evolution Over Time—Terror* for terrorism as one of the key complaints U.A.E. against Qatar, it was the U.S. and U.K. U.K. publications that used terror as a key term at U.S. the outset. At the outset, publications from the 250 U.A.E., a blockading country, cited terrorism less frequently than its Western counterparts. 200

150

100

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. *Represents multiple variants with the root word Topic Trends—Trump

The blockade of Qatar was imposed only weeks Theme Evolution Over Time—Trump after U.S. President Donald Trump visited U.A.E. Saudi Arabia. Once the blockade was imposed, U.K. President Trump tweeted support for the U.S. blockade. U.S. publications, and to a slightly 180 lesser extent U.K. publications, frequently cited Trump in discussion of the blockade at the 160 outset. U.A.E. publications paid significantly 140 less attention to Trump’s role in the conflict. 120

100

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. Topic Trends—Turkey

Turkey’s role in the conflict between Qatar Theme Evolution Over Time—Turkey/Turkish/Erdogan and the blockading countries has been closely U.A.E. watched in diplomatic circles. While Turkey’s U.K. involvement did not receive a high volume of U.S. coverage in major publications, leading U.K. 45 outlets appear to have been more attuned to the subject than either the U.S. or U.A.E. 40

Frequency denotes the number of articles containing the corresponding word in headline or first paragraph. Articles

Articles analyzed for the study were from the following English-language digital publications:

U.A.E. U.K. U.S. Gulf News Daily Mail Online BuzzFeed The National The Guardian The Huffington Post Khaleej Times The Observer Forbes Al Arabiya English The Telegraph The Washington Post Sport360 The Independent CNN Emirates 24|7 Mirror.co.uk Fox News ArabianBusiness.com Express.co.uk USA Today Zawya [EN] BBC News Northern Ireland Bloomberg StepFeed International Business Times UK Business Insider AMEInfo The Economist (eClips Web) Yahoo! Finance MSN UAE MoneySavingExpert.com Time Magazine What’s On Dubai Sky Sports Chron.com Lovin Dubai The Blog—Huffington Post National Public Radio ShortList Dubai ITV.com Los Angeles Times Gulf Business The Register CNBC Popsugar Middle East London Evening Standard AOL.com UAE Interact BT.com CNET.com Emirates Woman Sky News New York Post Hotelier Middle East Yahoo! News UK NBCNEWS.com The Gulf Today Western Telegraph The Atlantic

Published in January 2018 Northwestern University in Qatar P.O. Box 34102 Education City Doha, Qatar www.qatar.northwestern.edu