Global Media Framing on Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the global broadcast media’s coverage and framing of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). For this purpose, four global media, namely British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Cable News Network (CNN), Aljazeera English (AJE), and China Global Television Network (CGTN) were selected purposively based on the North-South perspective. The study employed content analysis as its research design and archival data were collected from each of the sample media’s websites by using the fitting search engine of keywords. Accordingly, a total of 189 stories that fulfill the inclusion criteria were identified. To analyze the data, descriptive and thematic analyses were used. The result of the study revealed that CGTN and AJE gave more coverage to GERD than BBC and CNN. The result showed that, unlike the “North-South” dichotomy, both BBC and AJE represented GERD in a conflict frame. CNN framed the dam positively using the positive reference of assertions that favor the dam project sympathetically. The finding indicated that CGTN mainly framed GERD in a prognostic manner, which focused on the possible solutions to the current impasse on the dam between the concerned states. Government officials were identified as the most common sources of stories in all four target media. The study concluded that GERD was primarily framed as a source of conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt. Finally, the study suggested that more studies are needed on related projects across the Nile River region to better understand the role of the global media.