Framing ISIS: A comparative analysis of news coverage in The New York Times and People’s Daily

As the radical terrorist group, ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), gained its prominence since early 2014, the portrayals of ISIS and framing of ISIS as a global terrorism threat in media outlets has become an increasing concern for journalism scholars. This study examines the news coverage of ISIS in the U.S. media and Chinese media.

Based on framing theory, the goal of this study is to provide a comparison of framing of ISIS in the United States and China by investigating two leading newspapers in the two countries, the New York Times and People’s Daily in terms of news types, news sources and news frames. A national comparative approach is applied in this study in response to the growing trend of competition between hegemonic and oppositional narratives across different media and countries.

The population of the study consisted of the complete news content about ISIS in the New York Times and People’s Daily. The sample period dated from August 19th, 2014 to August 20th, 2016. Specifically, the time period started from August 19th, 2014, when an American photojournalist named James Foley was beheaded, becoming the first American citizen killed by ISIS, and the first demonstrative execution performed by ISIS.

The results of a quantitative content analysis presented similarities and differences between the two news outlets in reporting ISIS. While both the New York Times and People’s Daily mostly cited governmental official sources, the latter relied more on information from other news media than the former. A significant difference was found in the news frames employed, with the New York Times focusing more on telling the stories from military and official perspectives whereas People’s Daily emphasizing more on diplomatic presentations.

There are plenty of previous studies about media framing on Islamic terrorism; however, their focus was mainly on Western world of media, especially the U.S. and the U.K. Therefore, we know little about the distinctive ways of presenting ISIS in Asia and other places of the world. This study is trying to fill in this literature gap and connect the news coverage on Islamic terrorism with media cultures and government policies in the U.S. and China.