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IMAGES OF, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD, THE ARABS AND THE ISRAELIS IN THE AMERICAN PRESTIGE PRESS--JUNE 1, 1980-MAY 31, 1983: A CONTENT ANALYSIS

The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of three leading American newsmagazines' image of, and related attitude toward, both the Arabs and the Israelis during the period of two years before and one year after Israel's invasion of Lebanon. / Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News and World Report were selected. News and editorials for the period June 1, 1980 through May 31, 1983 were examined and content analyzed. The period of the study was divided into twelve quarter blocks. Editorials were analyzed separately. A systematic sample was drawn from news topics and items. Every third column-inch from a random start was analyzed. The unit of analysis was the term (adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs). A category system was developed. Each nation constituted a major category. Nation in general, people, leaders, institution, policies/actions, economy, religion, location, and other were subcategories. Evaluative terms were used to measure the magazines' attitude; whereas evaluative and descriptive terms were used to detect the image. The author and two American graduate students coded the data. / Major findings were: (1) There was a shift, mostly negative, toward the Israelis, and a quite similar shift, somewhat positive, toward the Arabs. (2) Economy, policies/actions, and leaders were the major sub-elements hurting Israel's image. (3) Institutions, people, and extremist leaders along with their policies and actions were the principal sub-elements affecting Arab nations' image. (4) "Oil-rich" Arab countries and those involved in direct conflict with Israel received much more attention than other Arab nations. (5) Arab nations received slightly higher favorable and neutral percent evaluations than Israel in the news articles and items. The Editorials were slightly more favorable toward Israel than the Arab nations. (6) All three newsmagazines assigned both the Arabs and the Israelis more negative terms than positive or neutral ones. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: A, page: 3238. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75436
ContributorsHASHEM, MAHBOUB EDMOND., Florida State University
Source SetsFlorida State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText
Format318 p.
RightsOn campus use only.
RelationDissertation Abstracts International

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