Newsmedia is a highly trusted source of information when striving for an understanding of the world, and its ability to reproduce a correct and representative worldview has been examined for years. This study is a contribution to the research field of journalism and community, asking the question whether the frequency of news media reports regarding the Taliban offensive in Afghanistan during 2021 correlates with the number of armed attacks or is driven by other factors. Furthermore, it explores how theories regarding news values are applicable to the assessment made by the news reporters when judging which aspects about the conflicts get published, and which do not. The study conducts a quantitative content analysis on two Swedish newspapers and uses a quantitative data analysis to compare the findings to data regarding the violent incidents executed by either of the parties in the armed conflict in Afghanistan, provided by Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). The findings are then analyzed using four theories of news values (Galtung & Holmboe Ruge 1965; Harcup & O’Neill 2001;2017; Hvitfelt 1985; Allern 2002) and Entman's framing theory (1993). The study found no significant correlation between the number of news media reports regarding the conflict and number of violent attacks. Rather the news media reports are more dependent on the occurrence of events such as political acts, escalating events, unexpected / sensational events and cultural- and national closeness. The result argues that news media should not be used as a single-handed source of information if one aims to understand armed conflicts around the world.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-478799 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Magnusson, Helena Yohannes, Tagesson, Moa |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Medier och kommunikation |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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