The role of the United States Congress in framing the image of Saudi Arabia.

摘要

This dissertation will look into the character of the relationship between the media and Congress on matters of foreign policy, specifically by focusing on the ability or inability of Congress to frame the media's portrayal of Saudi Arabia. It will also look at Projection of Power by Robert Entman in which he acknowledges the role of the government in influencing the media, but argues that it is not as strong as the effect of the media on government.; My research will compare between the New York Times articles, on one hand, and congressional hearings and floor statements, on the other hand, within two periods: the first from July 22, 2003 to July 22, 2004 and the second from July 22, 2004 to July 22, 2005. I have chosen these two periods because of the release of the 9/11 Commission report on July 22, 2004. My study will discover if there was congruence between the attitudes of the media and Congress towards Saudi Arabia during the first and second periods. Content analysis will be the principal analytical tool in helping me analyze my case.; My study will contend that during the first year, 2003-2004, there was mostly a lack of congruence between Congress and the media in their framing of the image of Saudi Arabia. While during the second year, 2004-2005, the study will contend to the contrary, that there was mainly a congruent relationship between the Congress and the media in framing the image of Saudi Arabia. These findings are contrary to my initial expectations. With regard to Entman's model, since my study found that there was an incongruent relationship between the media and congressional hearings during the first year and between the positive and negative articles-floor statements pairs during both years, this directly challenges Entman's theory, especially in the case of the articles-floor statements pairs. Entman's model gives the media the upper hand in its relationship with Congress based on the false assumption that there is always a congruent relationship between the two. In general, my conclusions agree with the findings of the third school of thought that argues that sometimes the media lead and sometimes Congress does.