Visual research in communication studies regarding terrorism in the media has been overlooked. Television and other sources of broadcasting play a significant role in the media landscape and in the...Show moreVisual research in communication studies regarding terrorism in the media has been overlooked. Television and other sources of broadcasting play a significant role in the media landscape and in the understanding of the public. The way terrorist incidents are reported and communicated can alter or influence the perception and perspective of the public. An increased understanding of the way the media reports a terrorist incident visually is as vital. The visual side is as important to the understanding as the written text. With the use of a case study, the Paris attacks of the 13th of November 2015, and a theoretical framework by Kress and van Leeuwen (2015) this thesis will attempt to shed light on the way different broadcasts use visuals and what they can potentially do with their viewers. By analyzing 18 videos of three different broadcasters using the qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti an answer will be formed to the research question. The codes that are applied to videos originate from the framework and account for the pure visual aspects and includes added context codes. First, the broadcast is analysed separately and per dimension the most noteworthy codes are discussed with example. Also, the implications for the viewers will be elaborated. The findings, and thus the answer to the research question, indicate that all three broadcasters utilize visual elements that try to establish a connection between the represented participants in the footage with the viewer. Relying on the closeness of the shots of the victims but also on reactional vectors in narrative processes that try to convey a story and involve the viewer in the situation.Show less
User-generated content (UGC) obtained from social media has become an essential source of information for traditional news outlets when reporting about crisis events. The strong relationship...Show moreUser-generated content (UGC) obtained from social media has become an essential source of information for traditional news outlets when reporting about crisis events. The strong relationship between UGC and media coverage has been acknowledged. However, media research has been lacking an explicit case study on the relationship between UGC and media outlets to identify potential similarities, differences, or how the two complement each other. This study performs a qualitative case study relying on different methods such as thematic discourse analysis and content analysis to address this gap. This research thereby investigates the media coverage, and UGC disseminated in response to the Brussels attacks. After a thorough analysis of 20 news articles and UGC covering the events, this research identified (1) two different narratives throughout the coverage by the media outlets, (2) different categories and sources of UGC, (3) that half of the news articles analysed contained UGC, and (4) that although professional journalists were concentrated in the area of the attacks UGC from ordinary citizens still played a significant role. Results also show that the concepts of connective witnessing and citizen journalism were prominent throughout the Brussels attacks mostly in relation to a sensationalizing narrative.Show less
On 15 August 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul. By capturing the capital of Afghanistan, they regained control over the country and its government. This ended a twenty-year long war against the...Show moreOn 15 August 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul. By capturing the capital of Afghanistan, they regained control over the country and its government. This ended a twenty-year long war against the Western backed government, the United States, and other Western nations. Now that they have full control over the state and its institutions, the question of their legitimacy arises. This thesis will look at how their legitimacy is framed in US news media. The US has been the main sponsor nation of Afghanistan and has withdrawn humanitarian and financial aid now that the Taliban is in power. This has impacted the Afghan population severely. The US media has an impact on these policies through their framing of the issue for the American audience. In order to find the main themes surrounding this topic, a thematic analysis is conducted. The dataset consists of 30 news articles from five different news sources. These are The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNN. It finds that the Taliban’s legitimacy is linked to five different themes. Two of these themes are about the Taliban’s external legitimacy. These themes are human rights, especially the rights of women and whether or not there should be international cooperation with them. Three other themes are identified that are related to their internal legitimacy. These are the Taliban’s repression of the Afghan population, the fact that people are fleeing the country and the fact that Afghanistan is going through an economic and humanitarian crisis. By focusing on these five themes, the US news media paint a picture of an organisation that lacks both internal and external legitimacy and therefore is illegitimate.Show less
