TY - JOUR
T1 - Media bias during extreme intergroup conflict
T2 - The naming bias in reports of religious violence in Indonesia
AU - Ariyanto, Amarina
AU - Hornsey, Matthew J.
AU - Morton, Thomas A.
AU - Gallois, Cindy
PY - 2008/3/1
Y1 - 2008/3/1
N2 - Although the media are regularly charged with bias, empirical evidence of media bias is variable. The aim of the current research was to explore the utility of an intergroup perspective to understanding media bias as it emerges in the context of intergroup conflict. Content analysis was conducted on accounts of ongoing Christian-Muslim conflict in Ambon, Indonesia, as reported in both Christian and Muslim newspapers. This revealed the operation of a 'naming bias', whereby both Christian and Muslim newspapers were more likely to explicitly name the religious outgroup as perpetrators of intergroup conflict than they were to attribute responsibility to their own group. The prevalence of this bias was, however, asymmetrical across the two groups: it was pronounced in the Muslim newspaper but minimised in the Christian one. This pattern was evident in a general sample of media reports, and in a sample of matched reports in which the same incident was covered by both papers. The naming bias and its variable operation is explained with reference to social psychological theorising about intergroup dynamics.
AB - Although the media are regularly charged with bias, empirical evidence of media bias is variable. The aim of the current research was to explore the utility of an intergroup perspective to understanding media bias as it emerges in the context of intergroup conflict. Content analysis was conducted on accounts of ongoing Christian-Muslim conflict in Ambon, Indonesia, as reported in both Christian and Muslim newspapers. This revealed the operation of a 'naming bias', whereby both Christian and Muslim newspapers were more likely to explicitly name the religious outgroup as perpetrators of intergroup conflict than they were to attribute responsibility to their own group. The prevalence of this bias was, however, asymmetrical across the two groups: it was pronounced in the Muslim newspaper but minimised in the Christian one. This pattern was evident in a general sample of media reports, and in a sample of matched reports in which the same incident was covered by both papers. The naming bias and its variable operation is explained with reference to social psychological theorising about intergroup dynamics.
KW - Intergroup relations
KW - Media bias
KW - Religious conflict
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=39049084045&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01292980701823740
DO - 10.1080/01292980701823740
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:39049084045
SN - 0129-2986
VL - 18
SP - 16
EP - 31
JO - Asian Journal of Communication
JF - Asian Journal of Communication
IS - 1
ER -
