Comparative quantitative and qualitative content analyses of coverage of Hizb ut-Tahrir in German, British and Kyrgyz quality newspapers in 2002-2007

Abstract

This dissertation studies coverage of Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami, the “Party of Islamic Liberation”, in German, British and Kyrgyz quality newspapers between 2002 and 2007. This Islamist organization is trans-national in its scope of influence and radical in its core ideology. In 2003 HT was banned in Germany for its anti-Semitic slogans and in Kyrgyzstan for instigating inter-ethnic conflicts. However, as of today HT operates legally and maintains its international headquarters in Great Britain. This empirical investigation employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to answer four main research questions: to what extent HT was newsworthy in Germany, Great Britain and Kyrgyzstan between 2002 and 2007; are there any patterns of how different newspapers cover HT in Germany, Great Britain and Kyrgyzstan; is there a difference in how liberal and conservative newspapers cover HT in Germany and Great Britain; and, what images of HT were created in these three countries with words and pictures. The sample consisted of 947 newspaper articles and 87 visual images that appeared in five German (Die Tageszeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt), five British (The Independent, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times, The Daily Telegraph) and one Kyrgyz (Vecherniy Bishkek) quality newspapers during 2002-2007.