War and Peace Journalism Perspective in the Leading Press on US-Afghan Taliban Peace Talks

Abstract

This study analyses the war and peace framing perspective on the US-Taliban peace deal in selected newspapers from July 2018 to February 2020. During this period, the formal peace talks between these countries were at their peak after US representative Zalmay Khalilzad's appointment. This study has critically evaluated the framing of elite press, which have essential stakes in this negotiation process. The included countries in this study were Pakistan, US, Russia, and Afghanistan. Content analysis was used to analyze news stories, articles, and editorials of four English newspapers taken from selected countries, i.e. Dawn, New York Times, The Moscow Times, and Afghanistan Outlook. The study's central focus was to figure out the Taliban factor in Afghanistan, especially the approach used by selected Press in responding to the initiative of peace talks between the US and Afghan Taliban. The researchers found that all press predominantly reported in the peace journalism approach during peace talks and adopted neutral approach towards Taliban. The sample newspapers also favored the peace process and focused on solution of the issue by engaging multiparties. The findings of this study are quite in line with the existing scholarship that media adopt peace journalism approach during peace process. Also, the media of different countries framed the situation according to their set policies and interest while presenting their national matters.