Representations of Pakistan: A framing analysis of coverage in the U.S. and Chinese news media surrounding operation Zarb-e-Azb

Abstract

This study compares perceptions of Pakistan in the Chinese and U.S. news media, two countries with which Pakistan shares different types of relationships. The timing of this study—summer 2014—is crucial, because Pakistan’s most comprehensive military offensive, Operation Zarb-e-Azb, was under way against militants and terrorists along Pakistan’s northwestern border with Afghanistan. The news coverage of the largest wire services of both countries—the Associated Press of the United States and the Xinhua news agency of China—was analyzed for a period of two months commencing on May 15 and ending on July 15, 2014. It was observed that the news coverage of Pakistan by the Associated Press was decidedly different from that of Xinhua, particularly in addressing the terrorism threat, the economic consequences, and international relations. The results inform the frame-building process in the milieu of vested interests of international politics and have practical implications for the state and publicity machineries of Pakistan.