"If A Problem Cannot Be Solved, Enlarge It": an ideological critique of the "Other" in Pearl Harbor and September 11 New York Times coverage

Abstract

This study uses the theoretical approach of cultural materialism, suggesting that cultural artifacts such as newspaper articles offer useful documentary evidence of representations and misrepresentations of lived experience. It compares the rhetorical strategies in New York Times news articles, editorials, columns, and advertisements used to frame Japanese-Americans in the first four months following Pearl Harbor with those used to describe Muslim and Arab-Americans following September 11. This research suggests that strategies used to frame these groups as the "Other" encourage the emergence of a specific ideological vision in the news coverage which has cultivated a climate of fear in United States citizens.