This study uses the thematic analysis developed by the Glasgow University Media Group to explore how the US, UK and German national press covered the US/Coalition assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah in November 2004. The study relies on quantitative and qualitative full text content analyses to assess 428 news, editorial and commentary items. The article suggests that, while government and military officials of the US/Coalition had argued the military ‘operation’ was necessary to secure Iraq and defeat an ‘insurgency’, organisations and actors from Iraqi society refer to the ‘operation’ as ‘collective punishment’ and a ‘massacre’ that targeted the Iraqi population. The article investigates how the press represented each of these perspectives. The findings suggest that the press overemphasised the US/Coalition perspective despite striking counter evidence. Critical aspects of coverage largely focused on tactical elements of the military dimension of the event. The article concludes that such findings are in accord with hegemonic models of media performance.
AlexseevMABennettWL (1995) For whom the gates open: News reporting and government source patterns in the United States, Great Britain and Russia. Political Communication12: 395–412.
AlthausSL (2003) When news norms collide, follow the lead: New evidence for press independence. Political Communication20(3): 381–414.
4.
AlthausSL. (1996) Revising the indexing hypothesis: Officials, media, and the Libya crisis. Political Communication13(4): 407–421.
5.
AltheideDL (1996) Qualitative Media Analysis. London: Sage
6.
AP/DPA (2004) Irak Macht Grenzen Dicht. Frankfurter Rundschau, 9November: 1.
7.
BeestonR (2004) Marines storm Fallujah as street fighting begins. The Times, 9November: 1.
8.
BennettWL (1990) Toward a theory of press–state relations in the United States. Journal of Communication40(2): 103–125.
9.
BennettWLLawrenceRGLivingstonS (2007) When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
10.
BuntingM (2004) Screams will not be heard. The Guardian, 8November: 17.
11.
CampD (2009) Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press.
12.
CarruthersSL (2000) The Media at War. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
CottleS (2006) Mediatized Conflict. New York: Open University Press.
17.
CurranJ (2012) Reinterpreting the internet. In: CurranJ. (eds) Misunderstanding the Internet. London: Routledge, 3–33.
18.
DarwishA (2004) Onslaught starts the war of words. The Daily Telegraph, 9November: 4.
19.
DeckerE (2004) Störrisch in Falludscha. Frankfurter Rundschau, 10November: 2.
20.
DiMaggioA (2009) When Media Goes to War: Hegemonic Discourse, Public Opinion and the Limits of Dissent. New York: Monthly Review Press.
21.
EildersC (1999) Synchronization of issue agendas in news and editorials of the prestige press in Germany. Communications24(3): 301–328.
22.
EildersC (2005) Media under fire: Fact and fiction in conditions of war. International Review of the Red Cross87(860): 639–648.
23.
EildersCHagenLM (2005) Kriegsberichterstattung als Thema Kommuni-kationswissenschaftlicher Forschung: Ein Überblick zum Forschungsstand und den Beiträgen in diesem Themenheft. Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft53(2–3): 205–221.
24.
EildersCLüterA (2000) Germany at war: Competing framing strategies in German public discourse. European Journal of Communication15(3): 415–428.
25.
EntmanRM (2004) Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
26.
EntmanRMPageBI (1994) The news before the storm: The Iraq war debate and the limits to media independency. In: BennettW. (eds) Taken by Storm: the Media, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Gulf War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 82–101.
27.
EpsteinEJ (2000[1973]) News from Nowhere: Television and the News. Chicago: Ivan R Dee.
28.
EsserFSchwabeCWilkeJ (2005) Metaberichterstattung im Krieg. Wie Tageszeitungen die Rolle der Nachrichtenmedien und der Militär-PR in den Irakkonflikten 1991 und 2003 framen. Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft53(2–3): 314–332.
29.
FilkinsDWorthRF (2004b) Armored forces blast their way into rebel nest. New York Times, 14November: 1.
GrobeK (2004) Vietnam Lässt Grüßen. Frankfurter Rundschau, 8November: 3.
32.
The Guardian (2004) Fearful in Falluja, editorial:9November: 21.
33.
HallS (1977) Culture, the media and the ‘ideological effect’. In: CurranJ. (eds) Mass Communication and Society. London: Edward Arnold, 315–348.
34.
HallS. (1978) Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. Houndmills: Macmillan.
35.
HallinDC (1989) The ‘Uncensored War’: The Media and Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press.
36.
HallinDCManciniP (2010) Western media systems in comparative perspective. In: CurranJ (ed.) Media and Society, 5th edn.London: Bloomsbury Academic, 103–121.
37.
HammondP (2007) Framing Post-Cold War Conflicts: The Media and International Intervention. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
38.
HermanESChomskyN (2008) Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, 3rd edn.London: Bodley Head.
39.
HermannR (2004) Allawi Ruft Aufständische in Falludscha zur Aufgabe auf. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10November: 1.
40.
HertogJK (2000)Elite press coverage of the 1986 U.S.–Libya conflict: A case study of tactical and strategic critique. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly77(3): 612–627.
HolstiOR (1969) Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
43.
HoskinsAO’LoughlinB (2010) War and Media: The Emergence of Diffused War. Cambridge: Polity Press.
44.
HugglerJ (2004) A brutal assault that was rendered inevitable by the mistakes made earlier in the campaign. The Independent, 10November: 5.
45.
Human Rights Watch (2003) Violent Response: The U.S. Army in al-Falluja, 17June. New York: Human Rights Watch. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/iraqfalluja/ (accessed 22 September 2007).
JamailD (2004) 800 civilians feared dead in Fallujah. Inter Press Service, 16November. Available at: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=26296 (accessed 20 May 2012).
48.
JamailD (2007) Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq. Chicago: Haymarket Books.
JenkinsS (2004) A wrecked nation, a desert, a ghost town. The Times, 17November: 16.
51.
KalnokyB (2004) US-Truppen Kontrollieren Falludscha. Die Welt, 13November: 6.
52.
KeebleR (1997) Secret State, Silent Press: New Militarism, the Gulf and the Modern Image of Warfare. Luton: John Libbey.
53.
KegelS (2003) Im Krieg findet jeder zu seiner Wahrheit. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 14April: 42.
54.
KleinN (2004) Die, then vote: This is Falluja. The Guardian, 13November: 23.
55.
KleinN (2007) Die Schock Strategie: der Aufstieg des Katastrophen-Kapitalismus. Frankfurt am Main: S Fischer Verlag.
56.
KrügerUM (2003) Der Irak-Krieg im Deutschen Fernsehen: Analyse der Berichterstattung in ARD/Das Erste, ZDF, RTL und SAT.1. Media Perspektiven34(9): 398–413.
57.
La GuardiaA (2004) Allawi plays for high stakes using force to ensure elections. The Daily Telegraph, 9November: 4.
58.
LivingstonSBennettWL (2003) Gatekeeping, indexing, and live-event news: Is technology altering the construction of news?Political Communication20(4): 363–380.
59.
LöffelholzM (2004) Krisen- und Kriegskommunikation als Forschungsfeld: Trends, Themen und Theorien Eines Hoch Relevanten, aber Gering Systematisierten Teilgebietes der Kommunikationswissenschaft. In: LöffelholzM (ed.) Krieg als Medienereignis II: Krisenkommunikation im 21. Jahrhundert. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 13–55.
60.
MacFarquharN (2004) Arab response to attacks reveals mixed allegiances. New York Times, 11November: 16.
61.
MarquseeM (2005) A name that lives in infamy. The Guardian, 10November: 32.
62.
McCarthyR (2004) Medicines and food scarce for trapped civilians. The Guardian, 10November: 4.
63.
McChesneyRW (2008) The Political Economy of Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas. New York: Monthly Review Press.
64.
McChesneyRW (2013) Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet against Democracy. New York: Monthly Review Press.
65.
MerminJ (1999) Debating War and Peace: Media Coverage of U.S. Intervention in the Post-Vietnam Era. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
66.
MilesMBHubermanAM (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
NacosBL. (2000) New issues and the media: American and German news coverage of the global-warming debate. In: NacosBL. (eds) Decisionmaking in a Glass House. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
69.
The New York Times (2004) ‘I’m ready for the job,’ Bush says in news conference after election. New York Times, 5November: 20.
PhiloG (2012) Pictures and public relations in the Israel–Palestine conflict. In: FreedmanDThussuDK (eds) Media & Terrorism: Global Perspectives. London: Sage, 151–164.
72.
PhiloGBerryM (2011) More Bad News from Israel. London: Pluto Press.
73.
RamadaniS (2004) Falluja’s defiance of a new empire. The Guardian, 10November: 30.
74.
RobinsonP. (2009) Testing models of media performance in wartime: U.K. TV news and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Journal of Communication59(3): 534–563.
75.
RobinsonP. (2010) Pockets of Resistance: British News Media, War and Theory in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
76.
SampsonA (2004) After the brutality of Fallujah, the Americans need to change their image. The Independent, 13November: 41.
77.
SchwartzM (2008) War without End: The Iraq War in Context. Chicago: Haymarket Books.
78.
SenguptaK (2004a) US begins its biggest urban offensive since Vietnam with long-awaited Fallujah assault. The Independent, 8November: 26.
79.
SenguptaK (2004b) US ‘pacifies’ city but rebels take violence to rest of country. The Independent, 10November: 4.
80.
SenguptaK (2004c) Black Watch under fire while assault on Fallujah continues. The Independent, 11November: 4.
81.
SenguptaKHugglerJ (2004) Battle for Fallujah rages. The Independent, 9November: 1, 4.
82.
SigalLV (1973) Reporters and Officials: The Organization and Politics of Newsmaking. Lexington, MA: DC Heath and Company.
83.
SparksC (2007) Extending and refining the propaganda model. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture4(2): 68–84.
84.
SpinnerJVickK (2004) U.S. and Iraqi troops push into Fallujah. Washington Post, 9November: A1.
85.
SpinnerJ. (2004) U.S. forces battle into heart of Fallujah. Washington Post, 10November: A1.
86.
TheodoulouM (2004) Arab world deplores ‘barbaric’ offensive. The Times, 10November: 9.
VickKSebtiB (2004) Violence spreads in Iraq. Washington Post, 12November: A21.
89.
WestB (2005) No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah. New York: Bantam Dell.
90.
WongE (2004a) Sunni party leaves Iraqi government over Falluja attack. New York Times, 10November: 14.
91.
WongE (2004b) For Iraqi leader, political risks of attack on Falluja grow. New York Times, 14November: 13.
92.
WongESchmittE (2004) Rebel fighters who fled attackmaynow be active elsewhere. New York Times, 10November: 1.
93.
ZanganaH (2004) We salute the fighters in flip-flops. The Guardian, 17November: 26.
94.
ZollmannF (2011) Doublethink in the mass media: Fallujah and the politics of human rights reporting. Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics8(1–2): 25–31.
