Content Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Content Analysis - Essay Example This essay shall revolve around the thesis that news coverage in two websites would be different because of the specific social, cultural, and political undertones impacting on the website. Examples from evidence gathered shall help support this thesis. This essay shall gather its evidence for 10 days by browsing through news websites to peruse political and other news. Specific news items shall be chosen and then compared to other perspectives or news items from other websites. This process shall be carried out with different websites from western and Asian settings choosing within the time period for data gathering. A comparative analysis of the news articles shall follow this data gathering process. Main Body News terms and definitions There are different terms which need to be defined before this comparative analysis can proceed. Firstly, news agenda refers to the list of news items or topics which editors would choose to follow. The news values on the other hand refer to the imp ortance which is allocated on a certain news item. Sources are the individuals and other relevant items where the information would be gathered. Aljazeera and BBC These two news outlets are considered trusted international networks with the British Broadcasting Corporation being the most extensive news outlet in the world. It is considered a public corporation with measures undertaken in order to ensure its independence from the government (Briggs, 1985). It transmits to millions of homes worldwide, including hotels, resorts, and is now easily accessed via phones. Aljazeera on the other hand is a news outlet based on Qatar and was designed mostly to focus on Arab news and events (Seib, 2008). It is also the largest news outlet in the Middle East, mostly offering an Asian, mostly Middle East Asian perspective on the news. It also runs 24 hours a day with coverage in other countries expanding through the internet (Seib, 2008). This news outlet mostly highlights a less western influenc ed perspective on current events and affairs. Aljazeera and CNN In comparing the content of Aljazeera and CNN, the Aljazeera news provides a more international variety in its news while the CNN is more US and western focused (Flournoy and Stewart, 1997). Where other perspectives on the news are sought, the reader needs to go to the regional levels of their news outlet, including CNN News Asia where the Asian news can be seen. For Aljazeera, the focus is understandably the Middle East, however, they also include the international news in their front pages (Maalouf, 2008). News Agenda The news agenda is dominated by the Syria issue. In news outlets like CNN and Aljazeera, the threat of a nuclear arms threat from Syria has been discussed, and the position of the US on the issue has been dominant in the news agenda as several related articles have been seen in the past 10 days in these news outlets. The news agenda also includes various discussions and opinions on the Syria issue from t he perspective of the US and the rest of the world, including Britain, Russia, and Syria itself. The brewing nuclear threat has been emphasized in the articles, and seems to mimic the same pathway by which the Second Gulf War with Iraq eventually unfolded, with UN nuclear inspections being suggested by the international community and demands by the US President for the international community to take more decisive actions on the issue. UN inspections have been carried out on Syria, however, the international