Narrative of Power and Protest: A Comparative Content Analysis of Al Jazeera and BBC Coverage of the 2024 Bangladesh Uprising
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47814/hfj21a64Keywords:
July Uprising; Documentary Journalism; Media Framing; Agenda-settingAbstract
This research article examines how Al Jazeera and BBC built competing documentary narratives about the 2024 uprising in Bangladesh, which is less explored as compared to other news frames. The study followed the comparative qualitative content analysis method and was guided by the framing theory and agenda-setting theory. Al Jazeera’s 185 segments, and BBC’s 138 segments were coded using a unit of analysis based on the segment and a five dimension coding matrix for comparison. The two documentaries held the Hasina government responsible for lethal state violence, but present an account of protesters and victims in a sympathetic light, but in terms of narrative construction Al Jazeera constructs the investigative-exposure model, centered on the exclusive cover-up narrative frame, while the BBC constructs the chronological-chain-of-command accountability model, centered on the citizen smartphone narrative frame.
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