International Comparison of Media Coverage on the Fukushima Crisis: A Comparative Content Analysis of News Media Coverage in Several Countries

The objective of this study is to examine how the international news media has covered the nuclear disaster in Japan and determine the differences in news framing of different international newspapers. Four theories; framing analysis, attribution theory, situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), and the cultural value system of Schwartz have been applied in this research, and eight hypotheses have been deduced. A quantitative content analysis approach has been taken in order to frame and analyze several international news articles published in the newspapers of Singapore, Germany, USA, UK, Japan and India addressing Fukushima Crisis. Out of the eight hypotheses deduced for this research, three were confirmed with restrictions, two were partially confirmed while three hypotheses were rejected. From the eight hypotheses that have been tested, three are confirmed with restrictions, two partially confirmed though also with restrictions, and three rejected, in which one of them under restriction. The study concludes that Schwartz's cultural values are not solely the factor that perhaps could explain the influence within the media system, regarding the difference of media coverage in each country or culture.