Framing the Egyptian Revolution: A content analysis of Al Jazeera English and the BBC

Abstract

This article uses content analysis to investigate how Al Jazeera English (AJE) and the BBC framed the Egyptian revolution that took place in Cairo at the beginning of 2011. It analyzes a sample of 250 articles to understand how AJE and the BBC implemented five frames: attribution of responsibility; conflict; human interest; economic; and morality. As a result, AJE and the BBC had the similar tendency to focus on the first two frames, although the BBC was also somewhat likely to use the human interest frame. AJE reported more on different groups reproaching one another, and the BBC referred more to winners and losers. Most news articles were predominantly episodic, portraying the government as mainly responsible. In conclusion, AJE and the BBC tended to provide slightly different versions of reality.

The passing of a champ: Newspaper coverage of Muhammad Alis death

“…Framing theory notes that there may be different perspectives to look at an issue (Fornaciari, 2011). Analyzing framing discourse thus allows media consumers to understand how messages are packaged and delivered by news organizations.…”

Framing international media in the face of social movements: CNN and Al-Jazeera English in the fall of Morsi

“…A look at published academic articles on democratic revolutions in Arab countries shows there are concurrent frames. The socio-political research that defines reference frameworks of the protests in Egypt in 2011 (Clarke, 2013), as well as research that defines the frameworks detected in the media (Fornaciari, 2011;Hamdy & Gomaa, 2012) follow the same trend. Further to the definition of frame by Entman we grouped together the dominant frames detected into "problem definition", "causal interpretation", "moral evaluation" and "treatment recommendation" (Entman, 1993).…”

“…Regarding problem definition, the dominant frame in research reviewed is that of "revolution" (Clarke, 2013;Fornaciari, 2011;Hale, 2013;Hamdy & Gomaa, 2012;Seigneurie, 2012;Singerman, 2014). Problem definition as "transnational" is also important.…”

El posicionamiento de medios internacionales ante los movimientos sociales: CNN y Al-Jazeera English en la caída de Morsi

“…Tanto aquellas investigaciones socio-políticas que definen los marcos referenciales de las protestas en Egipto del 2011 (Clarke, 2013), como aquellas investigaciones que definen los marcos detectados en medios de comunicación (Fornaciari, 2011;Hamdy & Gomaa, 2012), siguen una misma tendencia. Siguiendo la definición de frame de Entman hemos agrupado los frames dominantes detectados en "definición del problema", "interpretación causal", "evaluación moral" y "posibles soluciones" (Entman, 1993).…”

“…En cuanto a la definición del problema, el frame dominante en las investigaciones revisadas es el de "revolución" (Clarke, 2013;Fornaciari, 2011;Hale, 2013;Hamdy & Gomaa, 2012;Seigneurie, 2012;Singerman, 2014). También es importante la definición de problema como "transnacional".…”