Comparing war images across media platforms: methodological challenges for content analysis

Abstract

Although many news consumers see war images on multiple media platforms, scholars generally have studied those visuals a single medium at a time. This article discusses the challenges of conducting a quantitative content analysis of war images across print, broadcast and online media in a single research project. It details some of the obstacles the authors faced in their examination of visuals of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and offers suggestions for researchers studying images across multiple platforms.