Are the media globalizing political discourse? The war on terrorism case study

Archetti, C 2004, 'Are the media globalizing political discourse? The war on terrorism case study' , International Journal of the Humanities, 2 (2) , pp. 1301-1308.

PDF - Published Version Download (138kB)

Abstract

The paper challenges the claim that an increasingly global media is creating a homogenisation of political discourses at the international level. In particular, it explores the extent to which the U.S. government managed to affect global perceptions of the War On Terrorism through the media in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 events. The research starts from the consideration that the U.S. government created, through the repetition of consistent messages, a very specific interpretation of the 9/11 events (a War On Terrorism frame) and attempted to export it globally in order to support its own foreign policy objectives. The analysis then focuses on the comparison between the War On Terrorism frame as delivered by the U.S. government and its reproduction within both the political and media discourses in a range of local cases at the international level. They include the U.S., France, Italy and Pakistan. The research questions current literature on globalisation by drawing on political communications’ framing theory. More specifically, it suggests first that there is no evidence of an on-going globalisation of either political or media discourses; secondly that the local nation-state level plays a key role in understanding the mechanisms of frames’ spreading at the global level; and thirdly that national culture is a major determinant in defining local political and media discourses’ contents, even in presence of a strong persuasion attempt by a powerful international actor such as the U.S. government.

Item Type:	Article
Themes:	Subjects / Themes > J Political Science > JA Political science (General) Subjects / Themes > J Political Science > JZ International relations Subjects / Themes > N Fine Arts > NE Print media Subjects / Themes > H Social Sciences > HM Sociology Subjects outside of the University Themes
Schools:	Schools > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences Schools > School of Arts & Media > Arts, Media and Communication Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of the Humanities
Publisher:	Common Ground Research Networks
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1447-9508
Depositing User:	C Archetti
Date Deposited:	06 Dec 2010 12:05
Last Modified:	16 Feb 2022 09:08
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/2733

Actions (login required)

Edit record (repository staff only)