Coverage of the agreement between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq on the websites of Iraqi television channels, for example, Kurdistan24 and Iraqi News

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate and analyze the news coverage of the political agreement concluded between the Kurdistan region and Iraqi government in 2023, as a political issues, on the websites of both the Kurdish (Kurdistan24) and Arabic (Iraqi News) satellite channels, in terms of the use of forms of description and the use of the survey method that was carried out. Through it, content analysis is applied through the content analysis form tool, for the purpose of knowing the contents of the media clips that illustrate this survey. This is done by taking a non-random, intentional sample using a comprehensive inventory method of the news on the websites of the two signatories in the month of April 2023. The sample size was (171) news stories regarding the subject of the agreement. From this perspective, the analyzes reached a set of results, including: The websites of the two channels differ in their coverage. For the news of the agreement between the Kurdistan region and Iraq, they only cover the important political events in depth except superficially. However, the Kurdish channel’s website, within the framework of the agreement, focuses on the issue of the budget, employees‌ salaries, and sending financial dues to the region. In contrast, the Arab channel’s website focuses on covering the agreement from the perspective of handing over the region’s Oil to the central government. On the other hand, both sites focused on the type of Follow-up coverage in terms of timing and complex news coverage in terms of form regarding the news of the conclusion of the agreement. Finally, the two satellite channels‌ websites will not benefit from new media technologies and materials such as (graphics, video, and photo albums) in the process of covering the news of the region’s agreement with Iraq.