Media and Journalism Research in the Context of Globalization (2017) Erasmus Mundus MA in Journalism, Media and Globalisation

1. Pluralism of perspectives in the
international coverage of
Westminster attack GROUP 1A:
Ella Navarro
Dinfin Mulupi
Aaron McKinnon
Aletta D’Cruz
Anna Dittrich
Estefanía Zárate
Basma Elmahdy
Media and Journalism Research in the Context of Globalization (2017)

2. Introduction
1. Context: What’s the Westminster attack?
2. Research question
3. Relevant literature review
4. Analysis of the articles
5. Analysis of the social media
6. Conclusions
7. References

3. Context: What’s the Westminster attack?
➢ The attack took place on 22nd March 2017
○ in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster in
London, seat of the British Parliament
➢ The attacker, 52-year-old Briton Khalid Masood,
drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement and
stabbed a police officer dead
➢ 5 people killed, including the attacker
➢ The Metropolitan Police said it was investigating
whether he was a lone actor inspired by terrorist
propaganda or was being directed by others
➢ Exactly one year after Brussels terrorist attack
Picture: The Telegraph

4. Research
Question
Global Media System:
Changing Patterns of
International News Flows
To what extent the
breaking news online
coverage of London
Westminster attack (march
22nd, 2017) in Al Jazeera
English and CNN-
International, corresponds
to significant pluralism of
perspectives?

5. Literature Review: Heinrich
Foreign Reporting in the Sphere
of Network Journalism by
Ansgard Heinrich
● Stories are Multifaceted
● Evolution of “Network
Journalism”
● Social Media expands Global
News Map
● Case: Arab Spring
● “Global Outlook” on News

6. Foreign Reporting in the Sphere of Network Journalism by Ansgard Heinrich
➢ “International news stories are still poured through national interpretation filters”
➢ “A ‘global outlook’, then, ‘seeks to understand and explain how economic, political,
social and ecological practices, processes and problems in different parts of the
world affect each other, are interlocked, or share commonalities’”
➢ “The material gathered via social media combined with traditional foreign
reporting might make for a more accurate, multifaceted picture of news”
○ Dependence on traditional local sources for credibility
➢ Global context understood through common tragedy
➢ “The network journalism sphere is an open space of
information exchange.”
○ Use of non-traditional media
Literature Review: Heinrich

7. Literature Review: Zayani
Al Jazeera’s Complex Legacy: Thresholds for an Unconventional Media Player from
the Global South By Mohamed Zayani
AJE in comparison to its Arabic Sister & Western International News:
➢ Al Jazeera English adopts a more nuanced approach.
➢ Al Jazeera English is more sober and less excessive.
➢ Al Jazeera English feels closer to Western news services, although some
observers suggest that it offers more depth, scope, and passion
➢ Balanced global flow of information; offer comes into play.

8. Literature Review: Rawnsley
To Know Us is to Love Us: Public Diplomacy
and International Broadcasting in
Contemporary Russia and China
by Gary D. Rawnsley
➢ New Public Diplomacy: Dialogical,
collaborative and inclusive
○ Social media: Two-way engagement
➢ Global conversation resides in the
audience
➢ Convert the access into credibility

9. Analysis of
articles
Selection Criteria
Duration: 22nd - 23rd, 2017
(First 24 hours after the attack)
Al Jazeera English (AJE):
Non-Western International Media
House with high audience share in
the UK
Cable News Network (CNN):
Western International Media House
with high audience share in the UK

10. Al Jazeera English Coverage of Westminster
Attack
● 3 news reports
● 2 blogs
● The same main report has been published separately twice with updated
information.
European Foreign correspondent didn’t play a great role in the coverage of attack
compared to news agency, however he has given space to reflect on the accident
under section (Reporter’s Notebook).

11. Analysis of Al Jazeera English coverage
The first published reported highlighted the press statement of Prime Minister
Theresa May.
The report defined the accident as “Westminster Attack”.
-However they relied on news agency coverage of the attack, they included eye
witness in both video and published report.
-Social media is one of the main sources of their coverage, however it is cherry pick
(Mayor of London and Politician).

12. Foreign Correspondent
“But it would be disingenuous to deny that this is a shocking moment. I cycle across
Westminster Bridge and fight my way through the befuddled crowds of tourists outside
Westminster Tube station several times each week”.

13. New media and South perspective

14. Analysis of CNN International coverage
First Interactive piece of ‘What do you need to know’ about the incident
- clear and visual piece that illustrates the incident for the international audience.
- Heinrich’s ‘global outlook’ and ‘combination of today’s reporting and traditional reporting’ are applied.
- local sources used as the Portal authority & the MET police
Second piece is an opinion analysis of the incident.
- Sources used British PM Theresa May
- A more analytical piece on how London was expecting the attack and the reasons for it
- this article applies what Heinrich suggests in his text as “A ‘‘global outlook’’, then, ‘‘seeks to understand and
explain how economic, political, social and ecological practices, processes and problems in different parts of
the world affect each other, are interlocked, or share commonalities”
Two different approaches of the incident

15. Analysis of Social Media

16. Al Jazeera’s social media coverage of the attack
➢ Updates on the incident tweeted with links to the main story on the website.
➢ No retweets of independent sources on media’s official handle
➢ Stories however suggest that the UK police (Metropolitan Police) twitter
handle was being looked at for updates - calling it a terrorist attack; video
from scene of attack tweeted by Polish politician and journalist Radslaw
Sikorski also embedded in story
➢ Conducted a ‘Facebook Live’, using eye witness accounts on the spot to
inform the audience with ‘immediate updates’
➢ However, soon became the centre of controversy - emoji reactions picked up
on by other international media

17. CNN’s Twitter coverage
25 tweets during
march 22nd,
regarding the
attack

18. CNN’s Twitter coverage
➢ Updates on the incident tweeted with links to the main story on the website.
➢ During the first 13 tweets, they called the attack a “security incident” or a
“major security incident”
➢ Continued Live Updates
➢ Repost of users videos BUT with CNN watermark
➢ Quoting police and authorities
➢ Focus on tourists
➢ International approach

19. Conclusions
It is possible to identify a significant
pluralism of perspectives but more
due to the methodology used by
each one of the media outlets, rather
than a difference of opinion.
There is no evidence that the media
outlets were trying to shape the
opinion of the audience.
CNNI has more information in situ
and a more international approach.

20. References
➢ Zayani, M. (2016). Al Jazeera’s Complex Legacy: Thresholds for an Unconventional Media Player from the
Global South. International Journal of Communication
➢ Rawnsley, G. (2015). To Know Us is to Love Us: Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting in
Contemporary Russia and China. Politics 35
➢ Heinrich, A. (2012). Foreign Reporting in the Sphere of Network Journalism. Journalism Practice 6
➢ http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/europe/2017/03/seeking-solace-wake-westminster-attack-
170322202656074.html
➢ http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/uk-police-arrests-westminster-attack-170323075501826.html
➢ http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/editors-blog/2017/03/facebook-live-emojis-distortion-
170323112744272.html
➢ http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/incident-investigated-uk-parliament-170322150130685.html