Deconstructing Newspaper Representations of the International Criminal Court

This thesis employs a social constructionist perspective to analyze constructions of the International Criminal Court (ICC), specifically (1) the notion of impunity; (2) the presence of a critical analysis; and (3) the connection between state support/opposition and favourable/negative portrayals of the Court. The theory chapter focuses on the propaganda model’s main premise that “media serve the interests of that state … framing their reporting and analysis in a manner supportive of established privilege and limiting debate accordingly” (Herman & Chomsky, 1998, p.32). A thematic qualitative content analysis and several tools of grounded theory deconstructed 1,982 articles collected from The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Overall, the newspapers contained a high level of support for the propaganda model’s main assertions. Some of these conversations were quite limited and/or biased; specifically, American newspapers manipulated debates to justify American opposition to the Court.

Grantor dc:publisher

Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Kramer, Amanda L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Climaco Dos Santos, Edmundo

• International Criminal Court
• ICC
• Propaganda model
• Social constructionism

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-5786

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/22855