Topic Modeling of Conflict Reports in National Daily Newspapers

Abstract

This study aims to examine the subject and characteristics of conflict reports in major national daily newspapers in Korea. This study is intended to understand which aspects of the news media coverage focuses on between the positive function and the negative function of the conflict. Specifically, conflict-related news articles reported in major national daily newspapers from 2010 to 2022 were analyzed using topic modeling. From the results, major topics such as policy/diplomatic conflict, government and local government conflict, international trade conflict, and political conflict were derived. The conflict reports in major national daily newspapers focused on the government's internal and external conflict and political conflict. There was also a characteristic of reporting on specific conflict events by year. This reveals that news reports on conflict emphasize the negative function of conflict that can produce social division and confrontation. In conclusion, this study notes that it is time to consider and improve the role of the news media in preventing conflict and aiming for social integration.