Media Coverage for the Egyptian 25th January Events in Egyptian and American Newspapers: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study adds to the critical discussion about international media coverage diversity during various contemporary political conflicts and social movements that recently occurred especially in the Middle East region. It investigates journalistic objectivity in media coverage for the Egyptian 25th Jan. events (2011), by examining and analyzing news framing for social and political issues in prominent Egyptian and American newspapers. The study clarifies how different countries' news media systems, political and ideological orientations and media ownerships directly affect international news portrayal for significant political issues and Middle East social movements. Moreover, the study addresses the great impact of the recent advent of digital media channels during social conflicts in connecting and directing the public for achieving political change. It clarifies how international digital news media channels were used as a significant tool for motivating the people towards collective political actions and protests participation to achieve democracy and political change in Egypt. Thus, the main purpose of this research is to examine the role of new media and online press in framing the Egyptian 25th Jan. events as a powerful social movement, indicating whether different countries news media systems in Egypt and the U.S. employed different news frames in their leading press coverage.

The study compares the local Egyptian media to the international foreign American media in having the greatest journalistic dominance of news coverage for the Egyptian 25th Jan. events. It focuses on the deep relationship between news framing and the way both local and international news sources portray same political events. This research is based on analyzing four elite local and international dailies representing different news media categories; the local Egyptian governmental press; Al Ahram, the private independent press; Al Masry Al Youm, and the foreign American press; The New York Times and The Washington Post. The study adopts the Framing Theory as its theoretical frame work hence it follows a triangulation mixed methods approach based on combining both quantitative and qualitative methods. The content analysis is used as a quantitative method while the in-depth interviews as a qualitative one to complete each other in presenting an adequate research findings and comprehensive results. Content framing analysis is conducted over a period of one month, from 25th Jan. till 25th Feb. (2011). This specific period was chosen hence it covers the peak period of the Egyptian 25th Jan. events. The study is carried out on a purposive sample selected from all news stories that were published during the same events peak period. The sample includes 190 articles and their attached images, all extracted from four elite Egyptian and American newspapers to be analyzed. This was added to the In-depth interviews which confirmed the same research outcomes elicited from elite media professionals of academics, activists and journalists; giving their insightful views and personal prospective about the media coverage diversity for the 25th Jan. events in global news media channels.

After conducting the research analysis, the primary results exhibited that most of the international news media coverage channels and press failed to present the incidents of the Egyptian 25th Jan. events objectively and transparently without revealing any political biases. Hence, these various international digital news media channels and online press played a profound role in triggering the Egyptian social movement mainly by encouraging online public activism and online social protests. Moreover, it was clear that elite media coverage of the 25th Jan. events differed greatly through their portrayals for the same events, affected by the different countries' news media systems, political and ideological orientations and the media ownership. Remarkably, most of the Egyptian governmental newspapers as Al Ahram newspaper though elite popular local official paper in Egypt, it was apparently biased to the former regime and consolidating Mubarak's government mostly through its daily coverage for the events. Moreover, it carried a conservative mouthpiece of the Egyptian government during the peak days of the 25th Jan. events and warning the public from participating in the demonstrations framing the social movement as a conspiracy against the country. While, Al-Masry Al-Youm, as the most popular local independent newspaper during the 25th Jan. events, it evidently fared to be neutral and objective through its daily coverage. Obviously, it hardly avoided being biased towards the former regime; that it was rarely speaking favorably about the Egyptian government, and covertly supported and directed the protests and the protesters.

However, as compared to the international foreign media and the American press coverage; the study discovered that the New York Times newspaper and the Washington Post newspaper as elite American dailies, they were completely biased towards the Egyptian public demonstrations. Both the foreign American newspapers were boldly supporting the street protesters and their angry motives through their daily coverage. Remarkably, the American media were framing the public street demonstrations from its very beginning as a powerful social revolution for democracy and freedom. Moreover, it was very clear that the American news media and press were dragging the international media coverage to follow its political direction in supporting the democratic change in Egypt and bringing a new government and another elected president. Interestingly, this was seen as one of the basic factors that triggered the instant success of the Egyptian public revolution, the 25th Jan. events in getting rid of Mubarak and his corrupted regime only in eighteen days and achieving democracy and the political change in Egypt, finally and after thirty years of his profound ruling for the country.

In this light, the research in hands managed to give a full and clear picture about the international media coverage for the 25th Jan. events, through examining the framing of various elite Egyptian and American newspapers from different categories. It clearly revealed how such contradicted journalistic balances and covert political biases were directly reflected on news framing of the same events and the way each structured and portrayed its news. Hence, these different elite newspapers were radically affected by those existing journalistic variables among different news media systems and countries including; different media ownerships, political interests, cultural contexts, ideological orientations and nationalities. The results have far more implications and thus raised many critical questions about media coverage fairness and journalistic professionalism especially in times of social movements and political change.