This study investigates the framing of the 2003 Iraq War in the elite newspapers in Sweden and the US, Dagens Nyheter and The New York Times. The content analysis revealed significant differences between the two papers: the military conflict frame was more common for the US war coverage while the responsibility and anti-war protest frames were more common for the Swedish war coverage. Both newspapers offered human interest stories and media self-references. The US newspaper, however, relied more heavily on official government and military sources. In addition, the tone of war coverage differed across the two nations, with Swedish reporting being more negative overall. Implications of the differences in war coverage as well as possible reasons rooted in the national media and political systems are discussed.
Aday, Sean , Steven Livingston and Maeve Hebert (2005) ‘Embedding the Truth: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Objectivity and Television Coverage of the Iraq War’ . Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics10: 3-21 .
2.
Åsard, Erik and W. Lance Bennett (1997) Democracy and the Marketplace of Ideas: Communication and Government in Sweden and the United States. New York: Cambridge University Press .
3.
Bäck, Mats and Tommy Möller (2001) Partier och organisationer. Femte upplagan. Stockholm: Norstedts juridik .
4.
Bennett, W. Lance (2003a) ‘Operation Perfect Storm: The Press and the Iraq War’, Political Communication Report 13(3), International Communication Association and American Political Science Association ; at: www.ou.edu/policom/1303_2003_fall/bennett.htm (accessed 9 October 2004).
5.
Bennett, W. Lance (2003b) News: The Politics of Illusion, 5th edn.New York: Longman .
6.
Bennett, W. Lance (2004) ‘Gatekeeping and Press-Government Relations: A Multigated Model of News Construction’, pp. 283-314 in L. Kaid (ed.) Handbook of Political Communication Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
7.
Berrigan, Frida (2001) ‘Lies, Damned Lies, and War’, 2 December; at: www.commondreams.org/views01/1202-06.htm (accessed 21 October 2004).
8.
Clausen, Lisbeth (2003) ‘Global News Communication Strategies - 9.11.2002 around the World’ , Nordicom Review24(2): 105-116 .
9.
Croteau, David and William Hoynes (2001) The Business of Media: Corporate Media and the Public Interest. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press .
10.
D’Angelo, Paul (2002) ‘News Framing as a Multiparadigmatic Research Program: A Response to Entman’ , Journal of Communication52: 870-888 .
11.
Dimitrova, Daniela V. , Lynda Lee Kaid , Andrew Paul Williams and Kaye D. Trammell (2005) ‘War on the Web: The Immediate News Framing of Gulf War II’ , The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics10(1): 22-44 .
12.
Djerf-Pierre, Monika and Lennart Weibull (2001) Spegla, granska, tolka. Aktualitetsjournalistik i svensk radio och TV under 1900-talet. Stockholm: Prisma .
13.
Donsbach, Wolfgang and Thomas E. Patterson (2004) ‘Political News Journalists: Partisanship, Professionalism, and Political Roles in Five Countries’, pp. 251-270 in F. Esser and B. Pfetsch (eds) Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press .
14.
Entman, Robert (1993) ‘Framing: Towards Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm’ , Journal of Communication43(4): 51-58 .
15.
Entman, Robert (2004) Projections of Power. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
16.
Esser, Frank and Barbara Pfetsch (2004) ‘Meeting the Challenges of Global Communication and Political Integration: The Significance of Comparative Research in a Changing World’, pp. 384-410 in F. Esser and B. Pfetsch (eds) Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press .
17.
Federal Election Commission (2000) Voter Registration and Turnout 2000; at: fec-sun-web-1.digisle.net/pages/2000turnout/reg&to00.htm (accessed 16 October 2004).
18.
Graber, Doris A. (1997) Mass Media and American Politics, 5th edn.Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press .
19.
Gurevitch, Michael and Jay Blumler (2004) ‘State of the Art of Comparative Political Communication Research: Poised for Maturity?’, pp. 325-343 in F. Esser and B. Pfetsch (eds) Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press .
20.
Hadenius, Stig and Lennart Weibull (2003) Massmedier, 8th edn.Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag .
21.
Hallin, Daniel C. (1986) The ‘Uncensored War’: The Media and Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press .
22.
Hallin, Daniel C. and Paolo Mancini (2004) Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press .
23.
Jönsson, Anna Maria (2004) Samma nyheter eller likadana? Studier av mångfald i svenska TV-nyheter. Göteborg: JMG/Göteborgs universitet.
24.
Knightley, Phillip (2001) The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Kosovo. New York: Prion .
25.
McManus, John H. (1994) Market-Driven Journalism: Let the Citizen Beware?Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
26.
Media InfoCenter (2004) Time Spent Viewing Television; at: http://www.mediainfocenter.org/television/tv_aud/time_persons.asp (accessed 23 October 2004).
Mutz, Diana C. (1998) Impersonal Influence: How Perceptions of Mass Collectives Affect Political Attitudes. New York: Cambridge University Press .
29.
Noelle-Neumann, Elisabeth (1984) The Spiral of Silence: Public Opinion - Our Social Skin. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
30.
Nord, Lars (2001) Vår tids ledare. En studie av den svenska dagspressens politiska opinionsbildning. Stockholm: Carlssons.
31.
Nord, Lars and Jesper Strömbäck (2003a) Valfeber och nyhetsfrossa. Politisk kommunikation i valrörelsen, 2002. Stockholm: Sellin and Partner.
32.
Nord, Lars and Jesper Strömbäck (2003b) ‘Making Sense of Different Types of Crises: A Study of the Swedish Media Coverage of the Terror Attacks against the United States and the US Attacks in Afghanistan’ , The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics8(4): 54-75 .
33.
Nord, Lars and Jesper Strömbäck (2004) ‘Reporting More When Knowing Less: A Comparison of Swedish Media Coverage of September 11 and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq’ , paper presented at ICA, New Orleans, May.
34.
Nord, Lars, Adam Shehata and Jesper Strömbäck (2003) Från osäker källa. Bevakningen avIrakkriget i svenska medier. Stockholm: Krisberedskapsmyndigheten.
35.
Palm, Göran (2002) I nationens och marknadens intresse. Journalister, nyhetskällor och EU-journalistik. Göteborg: JMG/Göteborgs universitet.
36.
Pan, Zhongdang and Gerald M. Kosicki (1993) ‘Framing Analysis: An Approach to News Discourse’ , Political Communication10: 55-75 .
37.
Patterson, Thomas E. (1993) Out of Order. New York: Vintage Books .
38.
Patterson, Thomas E. (1998) ‘Political Roles of the Journalist’, pp. 17-32 in D. Graber , D. McQuail and P. Norris (eds) The Politics of News: The News of Politics. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press .
39.
Peter, Jochen and Edmund Lauf (2002) ‘Reliability in Cross-National Content Analysis’ , Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly79(4): 815-832 .
40.
Petersson, Olof, Gudmund Hernes, Sören Holmberg, Lise Togeby and Lena Wängnerud (2000) Demokrati utan partier. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.
41.
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (2004) A Year after Iraq War: Mistrust of America in Europe ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists, 16 March; at: people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=206 (accessed 16 October 2004).
42.
Pfau, Michael , Michel Haigh , Mitchell Gettle , Michael Donnelly , Gregory Scott , Dana Warr and Elaine Wittenberg (2004) ‘Embedding Journalists in Military Combat Units: Impact on Newspaper Story Frames and Tone’ , Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly81(1): 74-88 .
43.
Pfetsch, Barbara and Frank Esser (2004) ‘Comparing Political Communication: Reorientations in a Changing World’, pp. 3-22 in F. Esser and B. Pfetsch (eds) Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press .
44.
Reese, Stephen D. , Oscar H.Gandy Jr and August E. Grant (eds) (2001) Framing Public Life: Perspectives on Media and our Understanding of the Social World. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
45.
Rössler, Patrick (2004) ‘Political Communication Messages: Pictures of Our World on International Television News’, pp. 271-292 in F. Esser and B. Pfetsch (eds) Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press .
46.
Ryan, Michael (2004) ‘Framing the War against Terrorism: US Newspaper Editorials and Military Action in Afghanistan’ , Gazette66: 363-382 .
47.
Sahlstrand, Anders (2000) De synliga. Nyhetskällor i svensk storstadsmorgonpress. Stockholm: JMK/Stockholms universitet.
48.
Scheufele, Dietram A. (1999) ‘Framing as a Theory of Media Effects’ , Journal of Communication49(1): 103-122 .
49.
Schudson, Michael (2003) The Sociology of News. New York: W.W. Norton .
50.
Shen, Fuyuan (2004) ‘Chronic Accessibility and Individual Cognitions: Examining the Effects of Message Frames on Political Advertisements’ , Journal of Communication54: 123-137 .
51.
Strömbäck, Jesper (2004) Den medialiserade demokratin. Om journalistikens ideal, verklighet och makt. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.
52.
Topoushian, Mayda (2002) ‘Interpreting the Constructed Realities of the 1991 Gulf War: A Comparative Textual Analysis of Two Arab and Two North American Newspapers’, doctoral dissertation, Concordia University, Canada.
53.
Tumber, Howard and Jerry Palmer (2004) Media at War: The Iraq Crisis. London: Sage .
54.
White House (2003) ‘Coalition Members’, 21 March; at: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030321-4.html (accessed 16 October 2004).
55.
Wirth, Werner and Steffen Kolb (2004) ‘Designs and Methods of Comparative Political Communication Research’, pp. 87-111 in F. Esser and B. Pfetsch (eds) Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press .
56.
Yang, Jin (2003) ‘Framing the NATO Air Strikes on Kosovo across Countries: Comparison of Chinese and US Newspaper Coverage’ , Gazette65: 231-249 .
