Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Digital Journalism (MADJ)
First Supervisor/Advisor
Hesbon Owilla
Department
Graduate School of Media and Communications
Abstract
Qatar became the first Arab and Muslim nation to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. This study aims to analyse Western Media’s framing of the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The study relies on framing theory, an extension of the agenda-setting theory that argues that the media is the key institution for framing and significantly shaping our perspectives on current events and issues. This study adopted a descriptive research framework and focused on news articles published by Western Media, including CNN, BBC, and The Guardian, spanning 48 days. The study adopts a quantitative methodology for data collection, with the researcher crafting a data collection template to document details regarding narratives, themes, dominant frames, and the overarching depiction of Qatar within stories encompassing the 2022 Qatar World Cup. This study found that the Western Media largely presented a negative framing of the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The study, therefore, recommended that consumers of content from Western media outlets should be conscious of the tendency to frame stories about Middle Eastern countries negatively, such as Qatar. Further, this study recommended that Western media outlets develop policies that encourage a balanced framing of content, especially those covering countries of non-western culture. Attempts to ensure a balanced framing are likely to improve consumer trust in these media houses, especially when reporting hard news. Further, this study focused solely on Western Media, without comparing the coverage by media outlets from other regions. It is therefore recommended that a further study be conducted to compare the coverage of the event by Western Media against the coverage of the media from other regions. Moreover, this study failed to establish whether the framing used by Western Media changed over time. A further study comparing the framing of Qatar ten days before the opening of the World Cup and 10 days after the end of the event should therefore be undertaken to assess whether the event could have influenced the Western Media framing.
Recommended Citation
Mildred, W. (2024). 18. Framing of the 2022 world cup in Qatar by the western media. (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, East Africa.