South African media’s framing of the terrorist insurgency in Mozambique

Abstract

This paper investigated South African media’s framing of the terrorism insurgency in Mozambique. It specifically sought to understand how South Africa’s flagship online publications: News24, TimesLive, and IOL, framed the insurgency. Methodologically, the study employed a qualitative content analysis with the framing theory as our theoretical lens. Our findings show that South African media’s coverage of terrorist attacks in Mozambique is informed by five prominent frames: the social consequences frame, the morality frame, the economic consequences frame, war against Islam militants frame and the national interest frame. We argue that the use of these frames in the construction of the terrorism attacks in Mozambique limit the South African media’s ability to provide a nuanced picture of the complex and multi-faceted nature of the terrorist insurgency in Mozambique. Our findings show that the reliance on official lines tends to influence the manner in which the terrorist attacks in Mozambique are framed by the three South African publications. We also argue that the use of these five frames in the reportage on the terrorist insurgency in Mozambique limit the South African media’s ability to provide the South African public and policy makers with a balanced perspective on the insurgency in Mozambique. In conclusion we recommend that future news reportage as well as future studies consider looking at the complexity surrounding the socio- economic status of the regions experiencing terrorists activities. Such studies and future news stories could be enhanced by looking at multiple stakeholders, including affected communities, to get a broader understanding of the causal effects and possible solutions to terrorism.