Press nationalism emerges in pollution disaster reporting

Abstract

This content analysis examines how The New York Times and The Washington Post framed the Bhopal gas leak in India in 1984 and the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Findings indicate that the frame for the Union Carbide-caused Bhopal incident de-emphasized the U.S. corporation’s role. Conversely, the coverage of the BP spill emphasized the faults of the foreign-owned company within the U.S.