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Framing Terror: A comparative quantitative content analysis of American newspaper coverage of major attacks
Abstract by Dr. Mohamad Elmasry
Coauthors: Mohammed El-Nawawy
On Session 169  (Envisioning Military, Terrorism and Gender)

On Saturday, November 17 at 3:00 pm

2018 Annual Meeting

Abstract
Considerable discussion has been generated regarding an alleged double standard in how American and other Western media outlets treat terrorist attacks and victims of terrorism, depending on the religious and racial identities of the perpetrator(s) and the majority of victims. In particular, numerous analysts - as referenced in the full paper - have claimed that terror attacks carried out by non-Muslims are rarely framed as acts of terrorism, with many such attacks treated as aberrational events carried out by 'lone wolf' attackers often described as mentally unstable and not representative of any particular social group. Acts carried out by Muslims, on the other hand, are framed as acts of organized terrorism, with the religion of Islam, and Muslims at large, frequently implicated. More importantly for the purposes of the present research, several prominent analysts -- also as referenced in the full paper -- claim that Muslim and Middle Eastern victims of terrorism are, for the most part, glossed over by Western media, which are said to focus more heavily on attacks that victimize non-Muslims in Europe and the United States. This study is the second in a series of articles comparatively examining American newspaper reportage of terrorist attacks affecting Middle Eastern and African Muslim victims and European non-Muslim victims, respectively. Specifically, the current study employs quantitative content analysis to examine how ten elite, geographically dispersed U.S. papers covered attacks in Turkey, Nigeria, France, and Belgium, all of which took place within the span of six months near the end of 2015 and the early portions of 2016. The content analysis coding scheme measures prominence of coverage, dominant frames, displays of mourning, elements of humanization, and attributions of responsibility, among other key variables. The paper's Discussion section will place the findings within the larger context of media representations of Middle Eastern peoples, including, importantly, Arabs and Muslims. The project is funded by the lead author's institution, and includes a Washington D.C.-based assistant (working out of the Library of Congress), and a pair of graduate assistant coders based at the lead author's institution. As of early February 2018, all back issues of newspapers were gathered. Training on the coding scheme began in late December 2017, and intercoder reliability testing is set to begin during the week of February 19, 2018. Data will be gathered and analyzed during March 2018, with the final paper completed by the end of April 2018.
Discipline
Journalism
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Sub Area
None