| dc.description.abstract | In the northern region of Uganda a conflict between Ugandan governmental forces and the Lord's Resistance Army, a regional rebel movement, has been ongoing for more than 20 years. Though this conflict has resulted in the abduction of thousands of children, the mutilation and murder of thousands more and the displacement of millions, is has been largely ignored in the international media. This study employed mixed methods to evaluate the volume, frequency, tone and type of coverage the conflict has received in The New York Times, The Guardian (London), The Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg, SA) and the Monitor (Kampala, Uganda) from January 2004 - December 2008 to gain some sense in how the media is covering this conflict. To attain a deeper understanding of why the discourse surrounding this conflict is being shaped in the way it is through the media, the Theory of Media Gatekeeping was utilized to posit possible explanations for the differences in coverage between the four media outlets under study. The analysis demonstrated a general lack of coverage in the international periodicals in respect to the conflict, however, the Guardian and Mail & Guardian though low in volume provided generally more nuanced and in-depth analysis of the conflict than The New York Times. The study highlighted the general lack of coverage in the international press but also further demonstrated the ways in which the US media differs from the European press, a point that previous studies have identified. Results of the study revealed that the conflict is framed differently in the various periodicals and certain aspects are focused on more heavily in some periodicals than others. For instance, in the Mail & Guardian the Juba Peace Talks received more attention while in The New York Times episodes of violence were more prevalent. In line with other popular geopolitical studies, the results of this study further demonstrate the need for critical analysis of the press and other media because of their ability to shape public perception and knowledge of places and events. | |
