The Coverage of the Greenland Issue in the International Arab Press: A Media Framing Theory Perspective

Abstract

This study examines how the international Arab press framed the Greenland crisis during its most intensive phase in January 2026, drawing on Media Framing Theory (Entman, 1993; Reese, 2007). A quantitative–qualitative content analysis was conducted on 221 articles published by three pan-Arab newspapers (Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Nahar, and Al-Arab) using MAXQDA to code each article against a typology of nine theoretically derived frames. Findings indicate that coverage was dominated by the Conflict/Crisis frame (34.7%) and the Geostrategic/Great-Power Competition frame (18.3%). Sovereignty (10.9%) and Imperial/Neo-Colonial (11.5%) frames were present but clearly subordinate, while the Climate/Environmental and Analogical/Arab-Centric Comparison frames were empirically absent or marginal. A chi-square test of homogeneity revealed no statistically significant differences in framing across the three outlets, χ²(14, N = 221) = 10.62, p = .716, Cramér's V = .15, indicating a shared interpretive orientation across the international Arab press. The study contributes to framing scholarship by showing that, when reporting an international crisis with no immediate regional stakes, the Arab press converges on a strategic-crisis vocabulary rather than activating its anti-imperial interpretive tradition.

Keywords: Media framing, Arab press, Greenland crisis, international news coverage, content analysis, geopolitical framing

DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/111-06

Publication date: June 30^th 2026