A content analysis of the news stories of WikiLeaks founder, in the Guardian newspaper in UK; "Hero for freedom of information" or " Hi-tech terrorist"?

Document Type : Original

Authors

1 Department of European Studies, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of European Studies, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

When the classified documents from the Afghan war were released by the WikiLeaks on July 25, 2010, there was much debate about the impact of these documents and the accuracy of their release. But in addition to these debates, much attention was focused on the whistleblowing website’s founder, Julian Assange, who was released from Belmarsh Prison in the UK after about a decade of legal prosecution. The international press has portrayed Assange in various ways, such as a "hero for freedom of information" or a " hi-tech terrorist". The present study aimed at examining and analyzing how Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks, is represented in the UK newspaper, The Guardian. By employing a quantitative content analysis, the researchers attempted to see whether Julian Assange is framed in any particular way. The news stories of the Guardian were considered from Afghan War Logs news in July 2010 to August 2012 which was when Assange sought asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, shortly after his collaboration with the Guardian in publishing the leaks ended. The findings of the study revealed that; first, the dominance of the news value of prominence indicated that the news stories have focused on Assange and the personal events or issues related to him instead of those related to the release of the secret documents. Secondly, the researchers observed that Assange has been portrayed in the frame of the legal proceedings at the courts and the controversial conflicts such as rape allegations in Sweden, asylum request and his fight against extradition to the US. Finally, examining the adjectives mentioned in the news led to the conclusion that the representations of Assange have been mainly negative in the Guardian newspaper.

Keywords

Main Subjects

حوزة موضوعی: بریتانیا، آمریکا

Scope: UK, US

 

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Journal of Countries Studies
Volume 3, Issue 3
2025
Pages 509-528

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History

  • Receive Date: 04 January 2025
  • Revise Date: 21 January 2025
  • Accept Date: 27 January 2025

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