Framing the isil: A content analysis of the news coverage by cnn and aljazeera [Pembingkaian isil: Analisis kandungan liputan berita oleh cnn dan Aljazeera]

This study examines the coverage of the islamist militant group that established the islamic state of iraq and levant isil by cnn and aljazeera.after the attacks of september 11,2001; the international media have launched the “war on terror” campaign out of concern for international security and global conflict from their perspectives. this study uses the theory of media framing that emphasizes on certain aspects at the expense of others; therefore this study examines the presence of particular narratives in the coverage of isil by cnn and aljazeera. framing news story is believed to have impact on audience perceptions through the salience of key issues and its interpretation. content analysis of news stories written by the two most influential international media is the approach used to explore the frames on the coverage of isil. the study investigates how the two media organisations present isil after the declaration of the claimed state; it also investigates the use of “generic frames” developed by semetko and valkenburg (2000) on the beheading incidents. the analysis reveals differences in the reports by the two broadcasters in both time frames. cnn devoted large number of articles on both periods of times. however,there are similarities between cnn and aljazeera in the way they report the beheading incidents based on the selected three frames (conflict,human interests and morality frames). these similarities indicate that the coverage of these horror incidents represents the global standardization of terrorism coverage. © 2016,universiti kebangsaan malaysia press. all rights reserved.