Analyzing the newspapers’ coverage of sustainable development goals in UAE

Khalaf Tahat 1 2 * , Ahmed Mansoori 1, Dina Tahat 3, Ahmad Qablan 4, Ismat Haddad 2
More Detail
1 Department of Media & Creative Industries, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE
2 Department of Journalism, Yarmouk University, Irbid, JORDAN
3 Department of Applied Sociology, College of Education, Al Ain University, Al Ain, UAE
4 College of Education, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 14, Issue 3, Article No: e202439. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/14710
OPEN ACCESS   549 Views   437 Downloads   Published online: 11 Jun 2024
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

This study examines how United Arab Emirates (UAE) national newspapers reported on sustainable development goals (SDGs) following the country’s announcement that it would host COP28 climate change summit in 2023. We analyzed the content of a systematic random sample of news articles published in leading Arabic and English language newspapers over a one-year period. Results indicate that sustainable development issues, particularly related to the environment and economy, were covered widely and mostly positively, and were framed in the context of achievements rather than challenges. We also observed significant differences in SDG reporting between the two newspapers selected for our study. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Keywords: sustainable journalism, content analysis, UAE, global south, SDGs, news framing

CITATION

Tahat, K., Mansoori, A., Tahat, D., Qablan, A., & Haddad, I. (2024). Analyzing the newspapers’ coverage of sustainable development goals in UAE. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 14(3), e202439. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/14710

REFERENCES

  • Abdul Aziz, A. (2003). Media and its role in achieving environmental security. Naif Academy for Security Sciences.
  • Ajwa, A. (2004). Media and development issues. World Books.
  • Allam, R. (2024). The economics of media in the Arab world: A case study of Egypt. In U. Rohn, M. B. Rimscha, & T. Raats (Eds.), De Gruyter Handbook of Media Economics (pp. 279-290). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110793444-019
  • Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. K. (2010). Mass communication theory: Foundation, ferment, and future. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
  • Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communication research. Free Press.
  • Bilal, M. (2017). Comparative analysis of coverage of SDGs issues: “A case study of Dawn and the Hindu in 2016-2017” [Unpublished MSc thesis]. University of the Punjab.
  • Darwish, E. B. (2017). The effectiveness of the use of social media in government communication in UAE. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 10(1), 41-63. https://doi.org/10.1386/jammr.10.1.41_1
  • Dauada, S., & Hasan, N. (2018). Framing the sustainable development goals in Malaysian Online News. The Journal of the Southeast Asia Research Center for Communication and Humanities, 10(1), 1-24.
  • Entman, R. E. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x
  • Entman, R. M. (2004). Projections of power: Framing news, public opinion, and US foreign policy. University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226210735.001.0001
  • Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center Report. (2018). UAE numbers. https://u.ae/-/media/International-reports/UAE_Numbers_English-2018.pdf
  • Golan, G. (2013). An integrated approach to public diplomacy. American Behavioral Scientist Journal, 57(9), 1251-1255. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213487711
  • Jenaibi, B. A. (2015). E-collaboration, public relations and crises management in UAE organizations. International Journal of E-Collaboration, 11(3), 10-28. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijec.2015070102
  • Jenaibi, B. A., & Mansoori, A. A. (2022). Use of social media in teaching high school students: A case of United Arab Emirates. Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 9(2), 158-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/23477989211017567
  • Kirat, M. (2007). Promoting online media relations: Public relations departments’ use of Internet in UAE. Public Relations Review, 33(2), 166-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2007.02.003
  • Kirat, M. (2012). Journalists in the United Arab Emirates: A study of their professional orientations. In D. H. Weaver, & L. Willnat (Eds.), The global journalist in the 21st century (pp. 458-469). Hampton Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003070740-40
  • Kumar, S. (2015). Different dimensions of media. Kanishka Publications.
  • Mahmoud, S. (2008). Environmental media. Dar Al Fajr Publishing and Distribution.
  • Mansoori, A. (2017). Newsroom convergence of print and online media: A study of the Gulf News and Al-Ittihad in UAE [PhD thesis, United Arab Emirates University].
  • McChesney, R. (2000). The political economy of communication and the future of the field. Media Culture & Society, 22(1), 109-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/016344300022001006
  • McChesney, R. (2008). The political economy of media enduring issues, emerging dilemmas. Monthly Review Press.
  • McCombs, M., Llamas, J. P., Lopez-Escobar, E., & Rey, F. (1997). Candidate images in Spanish elections: Second-level agenda-setting effects. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 74, 703-717. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769909707400404
  • McQuail, D., & Deuze, M. (2020). McQuail’s media & mass communication theory (7th edn.). SAGE.
  • Ministry of Climate Change & Environment UAE. (2023). Sustainability development goals. https://www.moccae.gov.ae/en/about-ministry/about-the-ministry/sustainability-development-goals.aspx
  • Nilsson, M., Griggs, D., & Visbeck, M. (2016). Map the interactions between sustainable development goals. Nature, 534(7607), 320-322. https://doi.org/10.1038/534320a
  • Norris, P., Kern, M., & Just, M. (2003). Framing terrorism: The news media, the government and the public. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203484845
  • Nuaimi, S. A. (2010). Journalism’s treatment of environmental issues in Emirati society [Unpublished MSc thesis]. Alexandria University.
  • Oueiss, E., & El-Khoury, J. (2023). Media strategies for promoting sustainable development goals. Arab Media & Society, 34, 1-20.
  • Palen, J. A. (1999). Objectivity as independence: Creating the society of environment journalists, 1989-1997. Science Communication, 21(2), 156-171. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547099021002004
  • Pindiga, H. I., & Sa’ad Abdullahi, B. (2021). Communicating development: News coverage of SDGs in the Nigerian Press. In M. J. Yusha’u, & J. Servaes (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of international communication and sustainable development. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69770-9_24
  • Rashid, A. A. (1999). Communication interaction between the public and the press in the United Arab Emirates during the years 1996-1997 [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Cairo University.
  • Scheufele, D. A. (2000). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 103-122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1999.tb02784.x
  • SDGs Index. (2018). SDGs index and dashboard report. https://www.sdgindex.org/reports/sdg-index-and-dashboards-2018/
  • Suwaid, I., & Taya, S. (2016). Emirati media, origin and development. Scientific Journal of Public Relations and Advertising Research, 8, 437-467.
  • Talabi, F. O., Tokunbo, A., & Sanusi, B. O. (2020). A content analysis of newspaper coverage of sustainable development goals campaign. University of Nigeria Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication Studies, 24(1), 23-34.
  • Tankard, J. W. (2001). The empirical approach to the study of media framing. In S. D. Reese, O. H. Gandy, & A. E. Grant (Eds.), Framing public life (pp. 95-106). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
  • United Arab Emirates National Committee on Sustainable Development Goals. (2017). The UAE’s National Committee on SDGs. https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/leaving-no-one-behind/uae-and-the-sdgs/the-uae-national-committee-on-sdgs
  • Wiest, J. B., & Eltantawy, N. (2012). Social media use among UAE college students one year after the Arab Spring. Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 5(3), 209-226. https://doi.org/10.1386/jammr.5.3.209_1
  • Yassin, A. B. (2014). UAE press trends towards environmental issues and problems applied to gulf newspapers, Al Bayan, Al Ittihad. Journal of Public Relations Research Middle East, 3(1), 147-192.