Media Framing of the Syrian Conflict: Aljazeera, BBC, and ETV in Comparative Perspective Mohammed Salih A Thesis Submitted to the School of Journalism and Communication Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia November, 2014 i Addis Ababa University School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Mohammed Salih, entitled Media Framing of the Syrian Conflict: Aljazeera, BBC, and ETV in Comparative Perspective and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication complies with the regulations of the University and notes the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the Examining Committee: Examiner__________________________________Signature_____________Date___________ Examiner__________________________________ Signature_____________ Date__________ Advisor____________________________________ Signature____________ Date__________ ________________________________________________________________ Chair of department or Graduate Coordinator ii Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank God for the courage and energy He gave me throughout the journey. Next, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor Dr. Zenebe Beyene who exerted a lot of scholarly effort in commenting, guiding, and in providing me with new insights about the research topic. Without his persistent help, this research paper wouldn't have been possible. I would also like to thank Dr. Abdissa Zerai for his constructive comments during the proposal presentation. My thanks also go to Dr. Gebremedhin Simon for the advice he gave me while starting the research paper. Finally, my sincere appreciation also goes to my father, my mother, and all my brothers and sisters for their moral and material support during my study. I Table of Contents Content Page Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... I Table of contents................................................................................................................II List of Acronyms & Abbreviations....................................................................................V Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………VI Chapter one: Introduction..................................................................................................1 1.1. Background of the study....................................................................................1 1.1.1. A brief overview of the Arab uprising.........................................................1 1.1.2. An overview of the Syrian conflict..............................................................2 1.1.3. Media and the Arab uprisings: an overview................................................4 1.2. Statement of the problem...................................................................................5 1.3. Objective of the study........................................................................................8 1.3.1. General objective.........................................................................................8 1.3.2. Specific objectives.......................................................................................9 1.4. Research Questions............................................................................................9 1.5. Scope of the study..............................................................................................9 1.6. Significance of the study..................................................................................10 1.7. Limitation of the study.....................................................................................10 1.8. Organization of the study.................................................................................11 Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature....................................................................12 2.1. The Arab Spring...............................................................................................12 II 2.1.1. The Syrian conflict....................................................................................14 2.2. An overview of modern history of Syria.........................................................15 2.2.1. The Ba'ath Party........................................................................................16 2.3. The Arab-Israel war of 1973...........................................................................18 2.3.1. Hezbollah..................................................................................................19 2.4. Superpower interests in the Middle East.........................................................22 2.4.1. U.S. interests in the Middle East...............................................................22 2.4.2. Russia's interests in the Middle East.........................................................24 2.5. Power Struggles in the Middle East................................................................25 2.5.1. Saudi Arabia..............................................................................................25 2.5.2. Iran.............................................................................................................26 2.5.3. Syria...........................................................................................................28 2.6. Theoretical Frameworks..................................................................................29 2.6.1. Political economy theory of the mass media.............................................29 2.6.2. Framing theory...........................................................................................34 Chapter Three: Research Methodology............................................................................40 3.1. Research Method...........................................................................................40 3.1.1. Content Analysis......................................................................................40 3.1.1.1. Qualitative Content Analysis (Textual Analysis)...............................41 3.1.2. Sampling strategy.....................................................................................42 3.1.3. Selection of media outlets........................................................................43 3.1.4. Time frame...............................................................................................46 3.1.5. Story selection..........................................................................................47 III 3.1.6. Unit of analysis........................................................................................47 3.1.7. Data decoding and analytical categories.................................................48 Chapter Four: Data Presentation, Analysis and Findings.................................................51 Chapter Five: Conclusion and recommendations.............................................................84 5.1. Conclusion.....................................................................................................84 5.2. Recommendation...........................................................................................86 References Appendices IV List of Acronyms & Abbreviations EPRDF Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front EU European Union FSA Free Syrian Army HWR Human Rights Watch IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency ISIS Islamic State in Syria and al-Sham [the Levant] JN Jabhat al-Nusra MoFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs MNF Multinational Force NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NWICO New World Information Communication Order OAU Organization for African Unity PLO Palestinian Liberation Organization PYD Democratic Union Party SANA Syria Arab News Agency SNC Syrian National Council SOHR Syrian Observatory for Human Rights UAR United Arab Republic UK United Kingdom UN United Nations U.S. United States USA United States of America V USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republic WMD Weapon of Mass Destruction WWII World War II [Two] Sr. Senior Jr. Junior VI ABSTRACT Media framing of the Syrian conflict: Aljazeera, BBC, and ETV in comparative perspective Mohammed Salih Addis Ababa University, December, 2014 This study entitled Media framing of the Syrian conflict: Aljazeera, BBC, and ETV in comparative perspective was conducted to investigate how these media institutions framed the conflict in Syria. Guided by framing and political economy theory of the mass media, this study was carried out to answer three research questions. To do so, articles that explicitly entertain the Syrian conflict were downloaded from their respective websites: www.aljazeera.com, www.bbc.com/news, and www.erta.gov.et. With the aim to answer the research questions, a three month time frame was purposely chosen and qualitative content analysis (textual analysis) method was employed. Purposive sampling technique was also used to select articles which were relevant to answer the research questions. By thorough reading, analytical frames were finally identified to analyze how the selected media organizations framed the conflict during the time frame. These were diagnostic frame, responsibility frame, portrayal frame, solution frame, and prognostic frame. The study revealed that differing only in portraying of ISIS and al-Nusra Front, and in the prognostic