A Media Analysis of Racism and Ethnocentrism Issues Framed in US and European Mass Media within the Setting of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Competition.

• Main Author: Nastase, Monica
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2007
• Subjects: content analysis; racism; FIFA World Cup; media framing; ethnocentrism; soccer; Communication; International and Intercultural Communication; Mass Communication; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2083; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3444&context=etd

The present exploratory study, framed in agenda-setting theory, analyzes the way European and US newspapers frame racism and ethnocentrism issues, on the background of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, 2 research hypotheses and 9 research questions were explored. The results showed the distribution of articles that used a positive frame and the ones that used a negative frame was relatively equal across geographical regions. The US media have shown as the most ethnocentric nationality the Spanish, while the European media, the Scottish. There is an agreement across different geographical regions that the French and the German have the most tolerant or anti-discriminatory actions or attitudes. The most prominent theme to describe nationalities’ tolerant attitudes was the power of football to unify peoples and to enhance global understanding. Both the American and the European media described the Argentinean team mostly in terms of athletic skill.