Nepal's Maoists in the media : an analysis of the portrayal of the Maoist party in the CA elections coverage in two Nepali newspapers

Abstract

Denne oppgaven er en analyse av to Kathmandubaserte aviser, The Kathmandu Post og The Rising Nepals dekning av valget til ny grunnlovsgivende forsamling i april 2008. Analysen fokuserer på dekningen av Maoist partiet. Både kvantitativ innholdsanalyse og kvalitativ tekst analyse er brukt for vise hvordan de to avisene beskriver Maoistpartiet i nyhetsartikler, ledere og meninger. Analysen viser forskjeller mellom de to avisenes dekning, og at retorikken brukt til å beskrive Maoistpartiet , spesielt i Kathmandu Post bidrar til å portrettere Maoistpartiet som en trussel mot Nepal og det nepalske folk.

This thesis is an analysis of the coverage of the Constituent Assembly elections in April 2008 in The Kathmandu Post and The Rising Nepal, two English dailies published in Kathmandu, focusing on the coverage of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Combining quantitative content analysis and qualitative text analysis the thesis explores how the two newspapers portray the Maoist party in the days before the elections in news articles, editorials and op-eds. The analysis show significant difference between the news and views of the two newspapers and that the rhetoric used to describe the Maoist party, especially in the Kathmandu Post, contributes to portray the Maoist party as a threat to the Nepali state and its people.