A Study of Differences in Media Coverage of News Reports-An Example of Iranian Players' Refusal to Sing the National Anthem During the 2022 World Cup

Abstract

The news of Iranian players refusing to sing the national anthem for the 2022 World Cup has attracted widespread attention. As its background, Iran’s domestic protests have once again become the focus of media. There are obvious differences in the reports of different media on this news and its background. In order to clarify the differences in the news reports of different media and the reasons behind them, this article selects three media: RT, Al Jazeera and BBC, as examples, using the method of critical discourse analysis to analyze their news texts from multiple angles such as coverage framework, reporting perspectives, word choice, and reporting content. Finally, it turns out that RT is more inclined to support the Iranian authorities' downplaying of the protest conflict, while the BBC is more inclined to emphasize the seriousness of the protest and conflict and criticize the Iranian authorities. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera presents the protests and conflict but avoids excessive emphasis on them and avoids excessive criticism of the Iranian authorities. With further analysis, this article finds out the reasons behind these differences lie on different national interests and ideological factors.