U.S. Media Framing of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1999: Religious Framing in an International Conflict? A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Sagar Atre May 2013 © 2013 Sagar Atre. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled U.S. Media Framing of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1999: Religious Framing in an International Conflict? by SAGAR ATRE has been approved for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Scripps College of Communication by Yusuf Kalyango Assistant Professor of Journalism Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii ABSTRACT ATRE, SAGAR, M.S., May 2013, Journalism U.S. Media Framing of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1999: Religious Framing in an International Conflict? Director of Thesis: Yusuf Kalyango This study examines the framing of religion in the news coverage of a conflict between India and Pakistan which happened from May 5, 1999 and July 30, 1999 in selected U.S. news outlets. The study looks into the coverage of the conflict in seven national and regional U.S. newspapers, and three U.S. television channels. The theoretical framework of this study was framing, and the frames of reactionary depiction and partisan alignment were used to study if the news outlets framed any country or its religion like Hinduism and Islam negatively or in a partisan manner. The findings showed that the coverage of the conflict covered Pakistan and Islam negatively, and held them responsible for invading India and escalating the conflict. The coverage also reported extensively on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism within Pakistan, the ties of Islamist organizations with the Pakistan government, and their hand in the rising violence in Kashmir. The coverage carried reactionary depictions of Islamic fundamentalism and its role in destabilizing Kashmir. The study of this coverage allows an insight into the coverage of a foreign conflict by some U.S. news outlets, and discovers that the coverage of Islam was reactionary and generally negative even before the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. iii DEDICATION To my dear parents: My mother Vandana Atre and father Rajendra Atre for their constant support and encouragement. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr Yusuf Kalyango, for accepting to be my thesis chair at the last minute. It was an exciting, grueling yet highly enriching experience to work on the thesis during the course of one month. I would also like to thank Dr Michael Sweeney, who has seen this study evolve from the very beginning during my class of War and Journalism with him. My other committee members, Dr Kevin Grieves and Dr Jatin Srivastava also helped with critical feedback which enriched the study and have brought it to fruition. I would also like to thank Dr Jatin Srivastava for his last-minute acceptance to be in the committee, and for his suggestions to the thesis. Dr Kevin Grieves strengthened and provided a new international perspective to the thesis. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends back home who have encouraged me during my time here at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. My time at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism has been a highly enriching and rewarding experience, and my special thanks to Dr Yusuf Kalyango nd Dr Michael Sweeney for all the amazing learning opportunities they have provided me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1.1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.2: Background & Context ............................................................................................ 2 1.3: India-Pakistan Conflict in the Media ....................................................................... 7 Chapter Two: Background of the news outlets studied ...................................................... 9 2.1: The New York Times .............................................................................................. 9 2.2: The Washington Post ............................................................................................. 10 2.3: The Wall Street Journal ......................................................................................... 11 2.4: The Chicago Tribune ............................................................................................. 12 2.5: The Boston Globe .................................................................................................. 12 2.6: Los Angeles Times ................................................................................................ 13 2.7: The Seattle Times .................................................................................................. 14 2.8: Cable News Network (CNN) ................................................................................. 14 2.9: American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) ......................................................... 15 2.10: CBS News ............................................................................................................ 16 Chapter three: Theoretical Framework: Framing ............................................................. 18 Chapter Four: Religion, Conflict and Communication ..................................................... 22 4.1: Communicating Conflict ....................................................................................... 22 4.2: The Interaction between Religion and Conflict ..................................................... 23 4.3: Religion and News Media ..................................................................................... 30 4.4: Research Questions ................................................................................................ 34 Chapter Five: Method ....................................................................................................... 36 Chapter Six: Results .......................................................................................................... 40 6.1: The Chicago Tribune ............................................................................................. 40 vi 6.2: CBS News .............................................................................................................. 54 6.3: ABC News ............................................................................................................. 56 6.4: CNN News ............................................................................................................. 57 6.5: The Seattle Times .................................................................................................. 67 6.6: The Wall Street Journal ......................................................................................... 76 6.7: The Boston Globe .................................................................................................. 79 6.8: The Los Angeles Times ......................................................................................... 86 6.9: The New York Times ............................................................................................ 95 6.10: The Washington Post ......................................................................................... 109 6.11: Summary ............................................................................................................ 123 Chapter Seven: Discussion ............................................................................................. 125 Chapter Eight: Conclusion .............................................................................................. 142 References ....................................................................................................................... 144 vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1: Introduction The killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011 by U.S. Navy SEALs and the killing of twenty-four Pakistani soldiers by U.S. drone strikes in November 2011 somewhat put the U.S.-Pakistan relations in difficulty. Media houses in the United States like the Washington Post, the New York Times and MSNBC questioned whether Pakistan can be trusted as an ally of the United States in the war on terrorism. Since 2010-2011, major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post and MSNBC have discussed the question, “Is Pakistan our enemy?” through editorials and interviews with experts (Scarborough, 2011a). Some Islamic factions such as the Jamaat-ud-dawa have remained hostile to the Pakistani government in power due to their opposition to the government’s friendship with the United States (Tankel, 2009). Former U.S. national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, suggested a “cautious” approach in dealing with Pakistan because even though the Pakistani government might not be an overt supporter of terrorists,