A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MEDIA FRAMING OF THE 2023 EOC SCHISM: NEWS BY OMN AND ESAT IN FOCUS

Abstract

The media plays a pivotal role in shaping public perception and understanding of the events. In the context of religious crises, media framing becomes particularly significant. This study presents a comparative analysis of media framing of the 2023 Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC). The main objective was to analyze how the media in Ethiopia framed the church‟s‟ Schism from a comparative perspective. Two private-owned media outlets, ESAT Television and OMN Television, were purposefully selected to examine their use of frames in reporting the dispute between the EOC and a breakaway group of archbishops who formed a separate synod in the Oromia region. The study analyzed 54 news stories (27 from ESAT and 27 from OMN) posted between January 22, 2023, and February 16, 2023. Framing theory and agenda setting were employed as the theoretical framework, and a qualitative content analysis approach was used to address the research objective. The findings indicate that both media outlets used various framing techniques, but vii with distinct differences. ESAT predominantly employed a conflict frame, censorship, human interest frame while OMN used Solidarity, attribution of responsibility, cultural frame. ESAT also used attribution of responsibility as the second dominant frame, whereas OMN used it as the third dominant frame. Censorship frame was the fifth dominant frame in ESAT's coverage, and policy frame the fourth in OMN's. Additionally, ESAT utilized Conflict between religious factions and security forces Frame as the third dominant frame, which was absent in OMN's reporting. The study also found that the two media outlets relied on different sources of information in their news reports. ESAT primarily used direct quotes from the Holy Synod and government office notices, while OMN largely sourced information from the alleged “new synod” spokesperson and Oromo scholars and experts.