Kuwaiti News Coverage of Bidoons

Abstract

The study aims to uncover the method of Kuwaiti press coverage of the Bidoon crisis and to investigate the most prominent topics covered about this crisis. The study uses a framing analysis to examine how newspapers frame this issue. The Bidoon's issue is one of the most prominent and controversial humanitarian issue in Kuwait. This paper focuses on news coverage, framing and news attention of Bidoons in Kuwait during the period from 1/1/2018 to 1/1/2020. Using a content analysis of two Kuwaiti newspapers Alanbaa and Alqabas, this study analyzed 231 articles. The paper poses the question how does newspapers frame Bidoons and what are the main topics covered. The results confirm that 87.4% of the coverage of Bidoons was in the form of news articles and the top used frame was the services frame (access to and use of state services by Bidoons) followed by security frame.