One woman, many headlines : a comparative study of media coverage of Tawakkol Karman by Arab and Western media -

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the representation of Tawakkol Karman – a Yemeni journalist, activist, and Islamist opposition leader – before and after she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Using content analysis of newspapers, and selected social media, from the Arab and Western press the first part of the research project asks how the Arab and Western press covered the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Karman. In the second half, it attempts to give an answer to the question of whether the coverage of Karman influenced the ongoing conversation on gender in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab uprisings. While both Arab and Western press praised Karman for her achievements, it is clear that the Arab and Western press were focused on different achievements and covered her actions during 2011. In the West, reporting framed her a women’s rights activists, closely following the script provided by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee who selected Karman and two Liberian women’s rights activists “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work Overnight, the Western media cast a spotlight on Karman, the first Arab woman and, at the time, the youngest recipient ever of the Nobel Peace Prize and the international, primarily English-speaking, women’s movement claimed it as a victory for women. Western coverage of Karman, who represented a feminine face of “Arab Spring,” overshadowed her co-Laureates, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee. The Arab press, however, and Karman herself, interpreted the Nobel Peace Prize differently. In Yemen, Karman, was already a household name as an opposition protester seeking to oust Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Nobel Peace Prize, according to the Arab media, symbolized the West’s acceptance of her struggles against such oppression. Using Karman as a case study, I hope to contribute to a growing dialogue about