Valuing Victims: A Comparative Framing Analysis of <i>The Washington Post’s</i> Coverage of Violent Attacks Against Muslims and Non-Muslims

Authors

  • Mohammed el-Nawawy Queens University
  • Mohamad Hamas Elmasry Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and University of North Alabama

Keywords:

framing, terrorism, The Washington Post, humanization, Muslims

Abstract

This study examines The Washington Post’s framing of five terrorist attacks taking place in four countries—Turkey, France, Nigeria and Belgium—during a five-month period in 2015 and 2016. Attacks in Turkey and Nigeria were perpetrated against mostly Muslim victims, while France and Belgium attacks were carried out against mostly non-Muslims. Results suggest meaningful differences between the way The Post framed attacks against Western European targets, on the one hand, and attacks against Muslim-majority communities, on the other. In covering attacks on France and Belgium, The Post used “terrorism frames” to structure coverage while consistently humanizing victims and drawing links between European societies and the Western world more generally. Attacks against Turkey and Nigeria were covered less prominently and were primarily framed as internal conflicts. 

Author Biographies

Mohammed el-Nawawy, Queens University

Mohammed el-Nawawy is a Charles A. Dana Professor of International Communication and Middle Eastern Studies in the Department of Political Science and Sociology at Queens University of Charlotte. He is also a visiting scholar in the Media and Cultural Studies program at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies in Qatar

Mohamad Hamas Elmasry, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and University of North Alabama

Mohamad Hamas Elmasry is associate professor in the Media and Cultural Studies program at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, and assistant professor of communications at the University of North Alabama.

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Published

2017-04-14

Issue

Vol. 11 (2017)

Section

Articles

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