Debating Regional Military Intervention: An Examination of the Australian and New Zealand Media-Government Relationship During the 2003 Solomon Islands Crisis A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Jessica Roche University of Canterbury 2012 Acknowledgements I would like to take the time to thank the people who made this thesis possible. First and foremost, I wish to express gratitude to my academic supervisor Dr Babak Bahador for his guidance and expertise. This research would have not been completed without his valuable time and patience that helped me compose this thesis. I would like to thank the staff of Canterbury University Political Science Department. In particular Jill Dolby, for your support and kindness. I am grateful to Allistar Delaney for your encouragement, support, and patience. Also, my mother, thank you. To my peers within the University of Canterbury Political Science Department, the time spent in dialogue has been invaluable to the outcome of this research. Jenna Guest you need more than a special thanks and acknowledgement for you for all your insight on the many issues we deliberated. Finally, I am truly thankful to Kurt McLauchlan for the rigorous editing and feedback on this thesis. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures and Tables .......................................................................................................... v Acronyms .................................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction to Research ........................................................................................ 1 Research Focus and Rationale................................................................................................... 3 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 5 Research Approach ................................................................................................................... 6 Structure of thesis ...................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 9 Agenda Setting ........................................................................................................................ 10 Framing ................................................................................................................................... 11 Elite Political Model ............................................................................................................... 12 The CNN Effect ...................................................................................................................... 24 Robinson’s Policy-Media Interaction Model .......................................................................... 32 The Formation of a Research Method ..................................................................................... 34 Chapter 3: Australia, New Zealand, and the Solomon Islands ............................................. 38 The Regional and International Setting ................................................................................... 38 Australia and New Zealand: Different Agendas Operating Collectively ................................ 40 Crisis in Paradise - Background to the Solomon Island Crisis ................................................ 45 The Initial Intervention............................................................................................................ 47 Chapter 4: Methodology ........................................................................................................... 51 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 51 Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 53 Sample and Criteria for Collecting Data ................................................................................. 53 Research Methods and Related Tests ...................................................................................... 55 Test One: The Quantitative Test ......................................................................................... 56 Test Two: Framing test ....................................................................................................... 57 Test Three: The Media’s Use of Sources ............................................................................ 59 Test Four: Critical Perspectives toward Government ......................................................... 61 Testing Reliability ................................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 5: Findings .................................................................................................................. 65 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 65 Test One: The Time-Sequence Test – Who leads Whom?...................................................... 65 Test Two: The Spectrum of the Debate................................................................................... 77 Crisis in Paradise – Defining the Solomon Islands Problems ............................................. 78 Responding to a Struggling Solomon Islands ..................................................................... 81 Critical Perspectives towards Government Actions ............................................................ 87 Test Three: The Media’s use of Sources ................................................................................. 93 iii Test Four: Critical Perspectives in the Media – Correlation or Marginalization?................. 102 Chapter 6: Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 109 Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 117 Appendix 1: Australian Data Sets ........................................................................................ 117 Appendix 2: New Zealand Data Sets .................................................................................... 123 Appendix 3: Codebook and Definition of Codes .................................................................. 127 Appendix 4: Codebook Test Two – The Range of Debate ................................................... 132 Appendix 5: Codebook Test Three – The use of sources in the media ................................. 133 Appendix 6: Codebook Test Four – Measuring Critical Perspectives .................................. 134 References ................................................................................................................................ 135 iv List of Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1: Three Spheres of Objective Journalism ....................................................................... 16 Figure 2: Australian Media and Government Activity Over 12 Month Period ........................... 66 Figure 3: Australian Media and Government Activity Two Months Preceding RAMSI ............ 67 Figure 4: New Zealand Media and Government Activity Over 12 Month Period ...................... 72 Figure 5: New Zealand Media and Government Activity Two Months Preceding RAMSI ....... 73 Tables Table 1: The Primary Principles of the Indexing Hypothesis and CNN Effect .......................... 35 Table 2: Key Australian and New Zealand Government Actions on the Solomon Islands ........ 48 Table 3: Codebook Test Two ...................................................................................................... 58 Table 4: Codebook Test Three – The use of sources in the media.............................................. 60 Table 5: Codebook Test Four – Measuring Critical Perspectives ............................................... 63 Table 6: Australia Problems Frames ........................................................................................... 78 Table 7: New Zealand Problem Frames ...................................................................................... 80 Table 8: Australia Solution Frames ............................................................................................. 82 Table 9: New Zealand Solution Frames ...................................................................................... 85 Table 10: Critical Perspective towards Australian Government ................................................. 88 Table 11: Critical Perspectives towards New Zealand Government ........................................... 90 Table 12: Australian Media Sourced Opinions Frequency ........................................................