Introduction: Foreign policy of states is among the issues which are sometimes selected and framed by domestic or foreign media. These media select their intended event among the foreign policy events of states. Then, they place the event in their intended framing advices and present their desired frames in that event. In fact, the media shape their audience’s attitude by creating a different meaning from an event. Thus, the media, as critical socio-political institutions, legitimize or delegitimize the foreign policy of governments by emphasizing their own specific frames of an event. In Iran, the specific task of the media differs based on criteria such as media ownership, financing, appointment of editors, as well as communication and media policymaking. However, some Iranian foreign policy events may salience and be reflected more obviously in the media due to their significance. The extensive cooperations with the People’s Republic of China within the framework of “The 25-Year Comprehensive and Strategic Cooperation Agreement” was among the foreign policy events of the I.R. of Iran, which attracted the attention of the domestic media. The present study aims to identify and understand the method of framing this foreign policy event in the news stories of Kayhan and Shargh newspapers during 2015-2023 by applying framing theory and model of media framing analysis presented by Robert Entman (1993).
Method: The qualitative approach and model of media framing analysis proposed by Entman (1993) were utilized in accordance with the objective and problem of the study. The qualitative content analysis was selected by the researchers as an appropriate method because this study seeks to identify, describe, and implement the frames applied in media content about a topic on small samples. In addition, the researchers did not intend to measure the phenomenon under study. Rather, they focused on understanding the cognitive process of framing the foreign policy issue under discussion and identifying the frames in the news stories of Kayhan and Shargh newspapers during 2015-23 in order to show how these media shared their communication experiences in dealing with the topic under study with their audiences and aimed to present their own framing of the topic. The above-mentioned time frame was selected due to its correspondence with the chronology of the event under study, which covers the preliminary planning and initial discussions during 2013 to entering the process of implementing the document during 2021 onwards. The event under study was selected due to its significance in the foreign policy issues of the I.R. of Iran and its widespread reflection in the domestic media, especially in selected ones. The news stories in the media under study during the selected period were considered as the unit of analysis. The texts were identified by searching for keywords related to the topic on the websites of the aforementioned newspapers and their archives. Finally, 58 news texts from Kayhan (N=39) and Shargh (N=19) were entered as sample for coding out of 68 identified ones. The samples were selected due to their insight about the event under study and high consistency with the intended objectives.
Discussion and conclusion: The present study seeks to assess the method of priming and framing the political event under study in the news texts by the above-mentioned media. Regarding the method of priming the foreign policy event “The 25-Year Comprehensive and Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Iran and China”. Kayhan relied on foreign news sources in most of its news articles, while Shargh news sources were mainly devoted to domestic ones and only one citation to a foreign source was reported. Therefore, citing foreign sources was employed as a means of legitimizing the framing device in Kayhan with its right-wing or fundamentalist affiliation in favor of the political issue "I.R. Iran-China 25-year Comprehensive and Strategic Cooperation Agreement". However, domestic sources play a critical role in convincing the framing device in Shargh with its factional affiliation close to the reformist spectrum and critical of the foreign policy event under study. In fact, both of the above-mentioned media outlets do not rely on the domestic source of "people’s/public opinion" in demonstrating credibility. Critical and opposition representatives in the parliament of Islamic Republic of Iran and supervisory role of the parliament as representatives of the "people" in the context of "transparency" are cited in news sources of Shargh. However, none of the selected news texts in the two newspapers cite the "public opinion" in the form of "dialogue" or any other format as a domestic news source. In a pathological approach, the lack of citation of the domestic news source of "people’s opinion" in the coverage of the foreign policy event in question can stem from the media limitations in this regard, as well as the non-participatory nature of the foreign policy-making process of the I.R. Iran and domestic public opinion as the main absentees in this process. The results related to the framing process indicate serious differences in the components of the framing device of the two media outlets under study. In the framing device of Kayhan, the tone of all of the descriptions in the political issue of “The 25-Year Comprehensive and Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Iran and China”, was positive, and this agreement was represented based on the opportunities of both sides and challenge of the opponents. However, all of the specific definitions of the issue under study were considered as critical and negative in the framing device of Shargh newspaper. The results related to 39 Kayhan news texts revealed that the main frame of "Common Desire-Opportunity", along with five sub-frames of “Window of Opportunity, Competition, Strategic Triangle, Anti-Hegemonic Alliance, and Turning to the East” are present in framing of the issue under study. However, the framing of the event discussed in 19 Shargh news stories about the “The 25-Year Comprehensive and Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Iran and China”, included a main frame “One Party's Need/Urgency - Another Party's Opportunity” along with seven
sub-frames including “Transparency, Twenty- Minute Approval, Imbalanced Relationship, Loss, Urgency/Need, Chinese Repairing, and Imbalanced Turn”. The serious differences in the two media framing of the policy event “The 25-Year Comprehensive and Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Iran and China represent that no consensus is observed in the domestic media on this event. Framing of Kayhan with its fundamentalist factional affiliation is in line with the official views of the government, while Shargh with its reformist factional affiliation uses the framing to share its opposition to the "Look at East" foreign policy orientation with its audiences. The serious differences in the frames used in the two media outlets in representing the policy issue under study are considered as significant because they are regarded as the press organs of the ruling political factions in current Iranian domestic political scene due to the absence of a party system and lack of institutionalization of political parties. In this regard, framing consistent with official foreign policies highlights their propaganda role. In addition, framing inconsistent with official foreign policy in critical media outlets indicates a struggle among political elites who aim to create their own narrative of foreign policy issues, influence the foreign policy process through different framing and creation of diverse meanings, or at least show their opposition to the current policy trend.