Störst går först Senkaku-­konflikten i internationell media

To start out we would first like to acknowledge the Japanese/Swedish Sasakawa Foundation who gave us the opportunity to travel to Japan to gather information and perform interviews for the purpose of our study. Without their financial support, the trip would have been impossible… In this study we take a look at conflict reporting in international media. For this purpose we have performed a screening of all published material concerning the Senkaku/Diaoyu-­dispute in the New York Times as well as the 24/7 news channel CNN during a period of two months. It is the study of a conflict with historical heritage, dating back to the 19th century. It involves a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China sea and the nations who wishes to lay claim. These nations also happens to be the three biggest economies of the world and are also interlinked through business as well as through military alliances. What role does the american media play in the coverage of this story and how is it made relevant for an international audience? That is the question which sparked our interest in performing a study on the matter. In order to account for the many different variables in such an analysis, we decided to utilize a research metod commonly known as ECA. Or, “Etnographic Content Analysis”. For it to be used with efficiency a comprehensive protocol had to be constructed. The final product ended up using five common categories which we had to configure to fit our needs for this study. These categories then lay the foundation of the analysis that we perform in the end chapters. It is a qualitative study, building on advancements on the critical discourse analysis technique promoted by such researchers as Teun A. van Dijk and Peter Berglez. A wide array of theories in the field of media study and research support our claims in this study of ideology in the news-­related press. Questions such as the dangers of one-­sided reporting are made more relevant since CNN more often than not attracts attention for slanted coverage on social issues and world news. Therefore, making a direct comparison between the discourse of acknowledged newspaper The New York Times an interesting one. In the end we made some interesting revelations regarding political ideologies and agendas within the small time-­frame between November and December of 2013. Coinciding with Chinese/Japanese visit from Vice President Biden as well as the establishement of a new air identification-­zone in the disputed area.