A Fuzzy Logic Approach to Changing Media Frames of Arafat and Sharon Following the Cataclysmic Events of Sept. 11, 2001

ABSTRACT

U.S. perceptions of the world shifted on Sept. 11, 2001. The changed U.S. understanding of the world clearly is tied to events. However, given the power of mediated messages of traumatic events to reshape media consumer’s interpretation of reality, Americans post-Sept. 11 understanding also may be tied to changes in media presentations of news events and actors. To assess the extent to which U.S. media portrayals of the world changed after Sept. 11, the authors scrutinized one global elite newspaper’s portrayals of two Middle East leaders engaged in chronic violence and acts of terror. Using categorical variables to represent different media frames and employing fuzzy logic cluster analysis, the authors determined that The New York Times’ portrayal of Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat changed following the Sept. 11 catastrophe.