{"title":"#Azovsteel: Comparing qualitative and quantitative approaches for studying framing of the siege of Mariupol on Twitter","authors":"Michael Tschirky, M. Makhortykh","doi":"10.1177/17506352231184163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231184163","url":null,"abstract":"Social media platforms play a major role in shaping how the public around the world perceives contemporary wars, including the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, there are multiple challenges in studying how exactly these platforms represent violence and what aspects of it are made more salient by their users. One of these challenges concerns the broad range of qualitative and quantitative approaches used to study platform-based war framing and their different capabilities in tackling the large volume of available data. To address this challenge, the authors compare the performance of qualitative and quantitative approaches – i.e. qualitative content analysis and topic modelling – for studying how one of the key episodes of the Russian–Ukrainian war, the siege of Mariupol in 2022 was framed on Twitter over time. Their findings demonstrate that both approaches show the prevalence of human interest and conflict frames that aligns with earlier research on war framing in journalistic media. At the same time, they observe differences in the estimated visibility of less common frames, such as morality and responsibility frames, depending on what method is used.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80072406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Saints and witnesses: Virtue and vocation in the memorialization of the Western conflict journalist","authors":"Richard Stupart, R. Sharp","doi":"10.1177/17506352231184154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231184154","url":null,"abstract":"How are Western journalists who are killed in the course of their work remembered? Using the biographies of journalists killed covering conflict, this article investigates the discursive repertoires through which the memorialization of journalists killed while reporting conflict is accomplished. The authors argue that such journalists are consistently constructed as humanitarian, cosmopolitan witnesses engaged in supererogatory moral projects involving justice and voice for those outside of these journalists’ geopolitical home communities. This particular articulation appears to herald a recent shift in the memorialization of the journalistic dead, although it is continuous with longer discourses in fields such as photojournalism and its idea of the ‘concerned photographer’. We speculate that this shift is consistent with material changes in the field – in particular, the precaritization of conflict reporting driving journalists into the material and social world of professional humanitarianism, whose discourses around the moral worth and cosmopolitan nature of the work have colonized the subfield of conflict reporting.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"86 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88991087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pak–India relations: A comparative analysis of political cartoons","authors":"Fraz Bakhtiar, M. Ismail, F. Baig","doi":"10.1177/17506352231184156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231184156","url":null,"abstract":"A picture is worth than a thousand words. Political cartoons are an important genre in media content and can be used as a tool for propaganda in peace and war times. Permanent hostilities and rising media outlets in the region between India and Pakistan increased the importance of media to cool down hostilities. This study attempts to explore the role of political cartoons in escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, due to the Uri base and Pathankot terrorist attacks in 2016. Therefore, two daily newspapers – DAWN from Pakistan and Times of India from India – published from 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2016 were selected for frame analysis. Findings revealed that both newspapers published 82 cartoons relevant to the study, 29 in DAWN and 53 in Times of India. Analysis of the data reveals that five themes are present in the cartoon content: blame game, Kashmir conflict, role of international actors, peace efforts and dialogue, and water dispute. Blaming the other is dominant in the Times of India and peace efforts and dialogue in DAWN. The Times of India mostly supported Indian government and DAWN rejected the Pakistani stance in cartoon coverage regarding Pak–India relations.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83209550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The New York Times distorts the Palestinian struggle: A case study of anti-Palestinian bias in US news coverage of the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas","authors":"Holly Jackson","doi":"10.1177/17506352231178148","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231178148","url":null,"abstract":"This article provides a methodologically novel, large-scale proof of historical bias against Palestine in a newspaper of international importance – The New York Times (NYT) – during the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas. Using state-of-the-art natural language processing toolkits as well as a regression model with over 90 percent accuracy based on a carefully validated word bank, the author analyzes over 33,000 NYT articles for (1) their use of active/passive voice, and (2) the objectivity, tone, and violent sentiment of the language used. She follows up her quantitative analysis with a qualitative validation step, analyzing biased articles in each period. In conjunction with historical context, the article shows that anti-Palestinian bias persisted disproportionately in the NYT during both periods and, in fact, worsened from the First Intifada to the Second. This work builds on a history of qualitative research on anti-Palestinian bias in the US media and attempts to provide a methodological contribution that encourages conversation between quantitative and qualitative metrics of bias.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90867302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"War and ‘museum front’ in a digital era: The Ukrainian War Museum during the Russian invasion of Ukraine","authors":"Elżbieta Olzacka","doi":"10.1177/17506352231175077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231175077","url":null,"abstract":"Based on the extensive literature on the digital transformation of museums, this article explores how war museums can effectively use online media to fulfil their functions related to remembering, interpreting and debating war. The author focuses primarily on the context of ongoing armed conflict as war museums engage in a struggle, shaping, mobilizing and unifying narrative to support the war effort. The main part of the article is an analysis of the online activities of the Kyiv Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War during the first months of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The author analyses the online exhibitions, online projects and content of the official Museum’s Facebook profile in order to explain how the War Museum uses its digital online resources to inform the local population and the international communities about the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and mobilize them to support the war effort.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"83 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84744734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The perceived credibility of the Ethiopian private, federal and regional television channels","authors":"Amanuel Gebru Woldearegay, Bereket Wondimu Wolde","doi":"10.1177/17506352231175082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231175082","url":null,"abstract":"The detaining, arresting and holding of journalists for more than half a year without formal charges in addition to the war and conflict in Ethiopia between different ethnicities and regional states motivated these authors to explore rising issues of perceptions of media credibility in Ethiopia. The main focus of this study was to assess the audiences’ perceived credibility of the Ethiopian federal, regional and private television channels. The participants of this study were people living in two regional states and one capital city of Ethiopia (i.e. Amhara, Oromia and Addis Ababa). A total of 600 participants were chosen from the three places included in the survey, using snowball and convenience sampling techniques. The data were collected through the survey and analysed using non parametric statistics (Mann Whitney U Test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, Kruskal Wallis Test and Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test) using SPSS version 26. Results indicated that the federal and private television channels enjoy more news and medium credibility than the regional television channels. However, the audiences’ perception of the credibility of journalists from the television channels of the federal, private and regional states showed no statistically significant difference. The results of the study suggest that the television organizations, journalists and policy designers need to work harder to bring credibility to the regional states television channels in addition to ensuring credibility to the federal and private television channels.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85648943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"US news media’s framing of the ‘North Korean crisis’ under the Trump administration: The new ideological foreign affairs paradigm","authors":"B. Labbe, Sanghee Park","doi":"10.1177/17506352231162280","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231162280","url":null,"abstract":"On 11 February 2017, North Korea launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test of the Trump administration. Over the ensuing year the North Korean government continued to defy international pressures through the intensification of its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. During this time frame, an escalation of adversarial rhetoric between the Trump administration and the Kim Jong-un military government gained widespread media attention for its potential to escalate into military aggression. This study analyzes USA Today coverage of the ‘North Korean crisis’, and its subsequent de-escalation following the announcements of diplomatic talks in March 2018 in order to gain insight into the nature of mainstream US media framing of the issue. The study found that US news media appropriates ingroup/outgroup dichotomies in the service of US interests. Analysis also revealed that the coverage embraced an ideologically-based narrative predicated on the rejection of an international system based on the moral imperatives of democracy and human rights in favor of a realpolitik interpretation of the international system in which actors compete for advantage.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"117 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74551939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"War on frames: Text mining of conflict in Russian and Ukrainian news agency coverage on Telegram during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022","authors":"Grzegorz Ptaszek, B. Yuskiv, Sergii Khomych","doi":"10.1177/17506352231166327","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231166327","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the results of verbal framing analysis of the conflict in news published on Telegram channels by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti (RIAN) and the Ukrainian news agency (UNIAN) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The analysis, using the text mining method, shows differences between how a more authoritarian and more competitive regime uses social media to construct strategic narratives. RIAN benefits from a technical frame that has not changed throughout the war although the reality on the ground has been evolving dramatically. It focuses on military issues and international rivalry (e.g. sanctions) because the Kremlin focuses on it. UNIAN, on the other hand, uses the moralizing frame of conflict which is more flexible and has been developed in response to changes on the ground – from discussions about the possibility of the invasion to humanitarian tragedy to war crimes, and to creating a more essentialized image of the enemy (‘rashists’).","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77598664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Open-source intelligence and research on online terrorist communication: Identifying ethical and security dilemmas","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/17506352231166322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231166322","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores key ethical and security challenges related to exploitation of open-source intelligence (OSINT) in research on online terrorist propaganda. In order to reach this objective, the most common approaches to OSINT-based projects are analysed through the lens of some of the most recognized ethical guidelines in science, which allowed several core dilemmas to be identified. First of all, this study discusses how personal data protection rules are applicable to investigations of potentially dangerous subjects, such as members and followers of Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs). In addition, the author examines potential threats to the safety of researchers and the scientific infrastructure used in OSINT-based projects. He also discusses the risks of incidental findings and malevolent use of research results. Finally, drawing from existing legal regulations and good practices in other fields, as well as the author’s previous experience in OSINT-based analyses of online terrorist activities, this article explores basic means of tackling these dilemmas.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75258656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Peace is possible: The role of strategic narratives in peacebuilding","authors":"Tiffany Fairey","doi":"10.1177/17506352231160360","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352231160360","url":null,"abstract":"In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), scholars and practitioners often cite the lack of shared narrative as a primary challenge to long-term peace. A study of the multi-ethnic, collaborative story-telling work of the Post Conflict Research Centre (PCRC), a Bosnian peacebuilding organization, however, tells a different story. Instead of aiming to forge a singular narrative, PCRC weaves together multiple stories that express complex positions while driving narrative frames that show peace is possible. In a context where actors might not be ready for a joint narrative, the organization demonstrates how plural stories can co-exist, and be strategically mobilized and disseminated through diverse formats to actively engage others in peace-building processes. Identifying key narrative principles, tactics and frames employed by PCRC, this article proposes more attention is paid to how narrative can be strategically harnessed to de-stabilize the stories that drive entrenched division and to foster and cultivate a culture of peace.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"240 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80457717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}