270. Name: Teresa Gastegger Title: From Hiroshima to Panmunjeom: Media Images and the Problem of Social Construction of Nuclear Weapons (A Comparison between Al Jazeera English, China Daily and CNN International) Institution: Universität Wien Country: Austria Date: 2019 Language: German Abstract: Despite the real destructive power of nuclear weapons systems, the perception of atomic weapons is socially constructed. This research examines the way in which nuclear weapons are visualized in the online reporting of Al Jazeera English channel, China Daily and CNN International. The theoretical starting point of the research is the framing approach combined with social constructivism in international relations. Based on this framework, a visual analysis was conducted and its results were contextualized considering the material circumstances, the political definitions of atomic weapons, and the editorial line of the three media networks. The corpus of 1.098 media pictures covers five different research situations in the period from 2015 to 2018, among others, the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the Korea-Summit in Panmunjeom. While Al Jazeera English channel showed the most balanced visual media coverage, China Daily placed emphasis on nuclear elites and “managing” atomic weapons programmes. On the contrary, CNN International visualized nuclear weapons strongly with emotions, such as physical suffering as a result of a nuclear attack and fear of “alien” states in possession of atomic weapons.
494
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter