A tale of two wars: Framing analysis of online news sites in coalition countries and the Arab World during the Iraq War

The Iraq War was a defining media event. This study used quantitative content analysis to explore the websites of prestige news media in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as Egypt and Qatar, examining both the frames used by news media in their coverage of the conflict, as well as the voices heard - and unheard - throughout the coverage. The analysis showed that the "tale of war" was constructed differently by the different international media. Arab online news media were more likely to use the military conflict and violence of war frame, whereas Coalition media emphasized the rebuilding of Iraq frame. Differences in the tone of coverage and the use of sources across the four news media were also found.