The Framing of Tigray Conflict: The Case of ETV 57 and TTV Evening Amharic News
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Date
2021-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The study aims at analyzing the contents of ETV 57 and TTV evening Amharic news programs
on Tigray conflict aired between September - November, 2020. It specifically focuses on
examining the contents of ETV 57 and TTV Amharic evening news in order to determine
whether the narratives have contributed to the escalation or de-escalation of the conflict. It
also pays particular attention to identifying the news sources the selected media outlets used
before the break out of the conflict as well as during the conflict, examining the tone of the two
news outlets, and identifying the dominant frames employed by the two media outlets. The study
employed framing theory as its theoretical framework to inform the study. The researcher used
mixed methodology to assess the specific research question answer. In order to realize the
objectives of the study, the study employed both Quantitative and qualitative methods to gather
data. The quantitative method has been used to collect data that would help identify tone of the
news, the dominant news frames, themes of the news stories and duration of the news. On the
other hand, the qualitative method has been used to gather qualitative data by conducting
interviews with selected media professionals working in the two media outlets. The interview
data have been analyzed in light of the tone of the news narratives, the dominant news frames
used in the two media outlets, the themes of the news and duration of the news across the
selected outlets. The analysis revealed that TTV Amharic portrayed negative images of federal
government and institutions in its news stories. Likewise, ETV 57 depicted the Tigray Regional
Government in a negative light. Both media outlets had their own share of contributions to
exacerbation of the conflict before and during the break out of the actual conflict. This being
the case, however, there was a slight difference between the two selected media outlets. The
ETV 57 news narratives had less focus on the war of words before the break out of the actual
conflict. But it ratcheted up its polarizing news narratives once the conflict broke out. On the
other hand, the TTV Amharic news narratives have consistently focused on fueling the conflict
before and after the actual break out of the conflict. Based on the findings, a few pertinent
recommendations have been suggested.
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The Case of ETV 57 and TTV Evening Amharic News