Media coverage of Christchurch mosque attacks in Western News Websites:

Abstract

On March 15, 2019, Christchurch, New Zealand, witnessed mosque attacks on two consecutive mass shootings during Friday prayers. A single gunman who entered both mosques began at the Al Noor Mosque in the suburb of Riccarton at 1:40 pm and continued at Linwood Islamic Centre at 1:52 pm to kill 51 and injure 40. This study seeks to analyse and compare the different western media coverage of these attacks in three media outlets: BBC, CNN, and DW, and to identify the media coverage's main themes. The researchers collected all news materials from all website sections related to the terror attacks, including news stories, features, and opinion pieces. The sample's time frame starts from March 15, 2019, to May 15, 2019, using quantitative content analysis and qualitative thematic analysis. The study found that the highest number of published stories were in both DW and BBC. This study's main findings are four initial themes, the positive experience versus the negative experience related to the attack and the global, international level versus the attack's local level. The study concluded two final themes, the negative and the positive theme. Keywords: Framing, Terror Attacks, Coverage, Thematic Analysis, Comparative Studies