conflict & communication online, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2009
www.cco.regener-online.de
ISSN 1618-0747

Volker Rueß
US troops in Iraq: American print media as moderators of societal change. A content analysis of the New York Times and the Washington Post

How did American press coverage of the Iraq War develop from the official end of fighting (May 2003) until May 2007? The New York Times and the Washington Post were chosen as the sources for this study, and 334 articles that appeared in these papers during this period were analyzed using first quantitative content analysis and subsequently latent class analysis. The development of the classes was presented on a temporal axis. The study showed that the media coverage was mainly driven by war journalism. The media more often discussed military ways to settle the conflict than peaceful or alternative ways. This tendency increased over the course of the conflict. The two newspapers criticized their leadership strongly and extensively, but they scarcely differed from each other.