Content Analysis in the Research Field of War Coverage

Abstract

We live in an age of conflicts: Following data by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, the number of violent conflicts reached a peak after the year 2014 that was only matched by the early 1990s and resulted in a total number of 160 different conflicts in 2018. The analysis of how these conflicts are covered draws its relevance from the fact that conflict is often mediated since most wars take place outside of people’s direct sphere of experience. Consequentially, war coverage can influence the perceived relevance of a conflict, the predominant interpretation of conflict events, the public’s attribution of conflict roles (e.g. victim, perpetrator or hero) and the public support for conflict interventions. Content analytical research on war coverage mostly focuses on two main research interests. They either analyze (1) how independent the media is from political influences or they examine (2) how (different types of) media cover conflicts.