Covering the war in Iraq: Frame choices in American and German national newspapers

Inhaltlich unveränderte Neuauflage. Coverage during conflicts with threatening potential put a pressing note on accurate information about and interpretation of events. When delivering news worldwide, national spotlights as well as cross-cultural notions are set to create unique themes of interest. Those frames - offered by mass media - are vital organizing concepts to establish public agendas. The ambiguously perceived warfare on Iraq was chosen to identify differences in American and German newspaper reports. Using a quantitative content analysis, following focuses could be examined: (a) The basal organization of war-related frames in articles, and furthermore (b) formal and linguistic disparities. Results show that only slight variances emerge in formal characteristics (format, images). However, the linguistic analysis of frame choices (variety, war motives and metaphors, evaluation of political leaders) revealed to be an expandable indicator for intercultural and intra-national discrepancies.