Online Visual Framing of Conflict Mediation in Africa

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the online visual framing of conflict mediation in West Africa. Consequently, it widens the scope of the literature on media visual framing as well as on conflict mediation. The manifest content of 51 photographs from the online version of the leading magazine Jeune Afrique from January 2008 to November 2021 was analysed. The findings suggest that the male gender universe, dominated by politicians and the military, is more visible than the female gender universe. It was also found that the majority of photographs depicted positive attitudes. While these findings undoubtedly extend the political and scientific discourses that give high visibility to official mediation initiatives and its messianic aspect, it also informs us that Jeune Afrique’s website tends to make more salient the mediation perspective which sets it up as a notable fact, worthy of media treatment.