The Reality of Conflict Frames in Media: A Comparative Analysis of News Stories in The Hindu and Dawn with Reference to the Aftermath of Uri Attack

Abstract

The role of media in conflict situations is vital. When it comes to reporting a news story especially a conflict, it has been an issue of discussion as media have all the powers to decide how the story has to be framed in reality. The paper substantiates the occurrence of a pair of conflict frames that are often used by media while reporting a conflict. A qualitative content analysis of post Uri attack publications in The Hindu (Indian daily) and Dawn (Pakistani Daily) for one month is considered for analysis. The predominant appearance of ‘Indicative’ and ‘Dispute’ Frames often in pair and their concurrent relation in both the newspapers manifest the abstract, concrete and neutral characteristics of the frames. These identified frames are capable enough to create understandings, emotions, cognitions and perceptions which in reality form opinions, perspectives and discussions. This study significantly focuses on the role of the media frames in reporting Indo-Pak Conflicts in a real world scenario that later on provides the major context of discussion and bilateral relations between the countries. When indicative frames are colluded in conflict reports, their destructive power is much more as the indications are often rooted in a way to escalate the dispute that occurred. The effectiveness and the intensity of these notable paired frames are discussed in the paper to comprehend the reality of conflict frames used by media.