Reporting on Women Waging Jihad in Syria and Iraq: Assessment of Gendered Media Frames

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Reporting on Women Waging Jihad in Syria and Iraq:

Assessment of Gendered Media Frames

Master Thesis

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Marieke Werink

S1396854

12-01-2020

Crisis and Security Management

Dr. T. Abbas

D.J. Weggemans

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Abstract

A considerable part of the foreigners traveling to Syria and Iraq to join terrorist organization ISIS between 2012 and 2018 are said to be women. Western media have a special interest for women engaging in violent behaviour or terrorism, as this is seen as something we would not expect of them. Evaluating the ways in which the women of ISIS are presented in Dutch media shows that different frames are used to report on these women. While Dutch media mostly display ISIS women through frames that make them seem victims, innocent and caring, there are also frames through which these women are displayed as extremely dangerous and violent. By presenting violent behaviour of ISIS women as something out of the ordinary and assigning women involved therein to another group than ‘normal’ women, traditional stereotypical views on the role of women can be left intact. Looking at what has been written on women waging jihad in a sample of Dutch newspaper articles, both stereotypical perceptions on the role of women and Orientalism play a role in the discourse used to present ISIS women to the public.

The frames used in Dutch media have an effect on the perceived agency of the women reported on. Different frames ascribe different degrees of agency to the women. The most prevalent frame, that of the ‘jihad bride’ is one that robs its subjects of their agency by depicting the women as merely an extension of their husbands, rather than as independent actors. Through the naïve girl frame and the victim frame, women are also seen as not being able to make independent decisions or carry responsibility for their actions either because they were forced or manipulated into joining ISIS. As a result, the agency of these women is limited and gendered stereotypes are reproduced. Conversely, the violent women frame and the terrorist frame do assign agency to the women involved, by asserting that they are responsible for their choices and actions.

Both frames and perceived levels of agency possibly have an effect on public opinion regarding treatment of ISIS women. This research therefore contributes to the growing field of research on foreign fighters and on the framing of women who join ISIS more specifically, in order to better understand the creation of images of women, their agency, and their role in violence and terrorism.

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List of tables

Table 1: Frames and Propositions, as Adapted from Semetko & Valkenburg………...14

Table 2: Frames and Propositions……….16

Table 3: Frames Present in Volkskrant Articles………19

Table 4: Frames Present in Telegraaf Articles………..20

Table 5: Frames Present in NRC Articles………..20

Table 6: Total of Frames Present in All Newspapers………21

Table 7: Use of the Term ‘jihad bride’ in Volkskrant Articles………...21

Table 8: Use of the Term ‘jihad bride’ in Telegraaf Articles……….22

Table 9: Use of the Term ‘jihad bride’ in NRC Articles………22

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Chapter 1: Introduction

The recruitment of women by ISIS happened on an “unprecedented scale” (Vale, 2019: 2). Estimates differ, but roughly 16 percent of foreigners who joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq are said to be women (Vale, 2019). Historically, women are often considered to be the ‘weaker sex’ (Sjoberg and Gentry, 2015) whose role in terrorist organizations is examined only scarcely (Borum & Fein, 2017). The media often display women leaving the West to join ISIS in Syria or Iraq as vulnerable victims (Strømmen, 2017). In academic circles, however, there are also authors that assert that attention should be paid to the agency of women in their decision to join ISIS. Among these are scholars who claim that women join the organization for largely the same reasons as men (Bakker & de Leede, 2015; Loken & Zelenz, 2017). These two different ways of looking at women joining ISIS show a discrepancy between the assumed agency of these women and the image created by the media.

Generally, women are said to be underrepresented and misrepresented in media reporting (Armstrong, 2004). Furthermore, the roles that women fulfil within armed conflict are seldom explored within existing scholarly literature (Borum & Fein, 2017). Although recently more attention has been paid to women in terrorism and terrorist organizations (see, amongst others, Bakker & de Leede, 2015; Bloom, 2011; Brown, 2011, Strømmen, 2017), even fewer even fewer literature exists on this topic. The current research attempts to combine these two under-explored topics by looking at the way Dutch media report on women joining ISIS. In times in which both the media and political actors grapple with the question of what actions should be taken concerning females returning from ISIS territory, it is important to take a step back and analyse the way these women are being framed within the media. Presenting an issue in a certain way through media reporting thereon is referred to as ‘framing’ or ‘framing theory’. Media frames can possibly have societal consequences through internalization by the public of perspectives that the media ‘feeds’ them (Entman, 1993). The question guiding this thesis will therefore be: ‘What frames are observable in Dutch media

reporting on women traveling to ISIS territory and how does this affect the perceived agency of these women?’

The relevance of the proposed research is twofold. Firstly, the concept of ‘framing’ is considered to constitute “[o]ne of the most fertile areas of current research in journalism and mass communication” (Riffe, 2004: 2). As most individuals are continuously confronted with mass media all around them, it is important to get a good grasp of the way media reports influence the general public (Silverstone, 1999). The starting point of framing theory is that the understanding of an issue by the public is based on the way that the subject concerned is defined through media reporting (Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007: 11). The study of frames

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thus becomes relevant in an attempt to understand the effects that frames possibly have on the understanding of such issues by the public.

Secondly, newspapers arguably have the strongest agenda-setting power compared to other media outlets (Walgrave, Soroka, & Nuytemans, 2008). Combining this with the recent media attention for the possible repatriation of women and children from camps in Syria and Iraq to Western countries, makes that an investigation into the framing of women joining ISIS becomes increasingly relevant as well. The Dutch government does not actively repatriate women and children living in refugee camps in Syria or Iraq, although this policy has led to criticism from, amongst others, the child ombudsman (Sandelowsky & Liefaard, 2019). As Turkey has decided to send ISIS fighters back to Europe (Euronews & Reuters, 2019), the topic has been discussed frequently within Dutch media. The fear within both the media and policy circles is that individuals who joined ISIS return to Western states radicalized, with plans to commit terrorist attacks in their home countries (Bakker & Roy van Zuijdewijn, 2018; Roy van Zuijdewijn & Bakker, 2014).

It is important to be aware of what perspectives of women traveling to ISIS territory are broadcasted in Dutch media, as media frames will have consequences at the societal level (Vreese, 2005: 52). They might influence the way governments respond to these women. Inaccurate understanding of the framing process surrounding these women will mean that the phenomenon itself is misunderstood. As a result, measures to counteract female radicalisation and treatment upon return in Western countries might be based on false assumptions. Interventions of security services should be evidence based, and not based on the assumed role played by women as presented in the Dutch media, as such assumed roles can mask real intentions and radicalization pathways. It is therefore essential to understand the framing of these women in the media. This thesis contributes thereto by broadening the scope of existing research to include observations concerning the Dutch media landscape.

The approach that this thesis takes is an analytical approach, as it uses academic analytical frameworks and tools in an attempt to explain a certain phenomenon or development. It will examine frames within Dutch newspaper articles on women residing in- or attempting to travel to ISIS territory. By doing so, it aims to understand not only how journalists present these women to the general public, but also how different frames effect the perceived agency of these women. The argument that this thesis seeks to make is that Dutch media reporting often reflects stereotypical gendered perceptions of violence and extremism. Looking at what has been written on women waging jihad in a sample of Dutch newspaper articles, both stereotypical perceptions on the role of women and Orientalism play a role in the discourse used to present ISIS women to the public. As a result, women joining ISIS are perceived through extreme frames: either as innocent, naïve jihad brides,

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or as violent masterminds that form a deviation from the norm of what is traditionally expected of women. It furthermore argues that the way women are portrayed has an effect on the levels of agency that these women and girls are perceived to enjoy.

This thesis comprises six chapters, of which the introduction is the first. Chapter two will start with an explanation of the main concepts used throughout the research. Then, it will turn to the theoretical lens used to assess the phenomenon of women traveling to ISIS territory, namely framing theory. After that, chapter two will go into perceptions on the role of women in violence and conflict and media reporting thereon. By laying out what has been written on these topics, the gap that this research will attempt to fill is identified. In chapter three the research design will be explained, including a justification of the conceptual model, methods of data collection and analysis. Then, a number of limitations that the research faces will be identified. In chapter four, the collected data will be presented, which will then be analysed and discussed in chapter five. Finally, this thesis will end with a conclusion, including implications of the research, practical recommendations and possible avenues of further research.

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Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework

Introduction

The following chapter will start by defining the issue of women traveling to ISIS territory. It will then explain what framing theory entails and what the role of journalists is in this process. Thirdly, the problems associated with framing theory and the way women and (female) foreign fighters have been framed will be explored. Finally, the gap in knowledge and the potential added value of the current research are identified.

Women Joining ISIS

Definitions of the term ‘foreign fighter’ differ. Malet (2013: 9) defines the phenomenon as “non-citizens of conflict states that join insurgencies during civil conflicts”. Hegghammer (2010: 57-58) expands his definition by asserting that a foreign fighter is someone who “(1) has joined, and operates within the confines of, an insurgency, (2) lacks citizenship of the conflict state or kinship links to its warring factions, (3) lacks affiliation to an official military organization, and (4) is unpaid”. This definition is relatively broad and allows for differentiating between foreign fighters and other violent individuals who cross borders (Hegghammer, 2010). A woman who travels abroad to perform supportive tasks such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children does not necessarily qualify as a foreign fighter as she does not join the insurgency by fighting. Although there are exceptions where women take up the arms to fight (Gan, Neo, Chin & Khader, 2019), this thesis does not use the term ‘female foreign fighter’. Instead, it refers to women traveling to these countries to perform either supportive tasks or fight by using the phrases ‘women waging jihad in Syria or Iraq’, ‘women joining ISIS’ or ‘women traveling to ISIS territory’, so as to capture the entire group of women and not exclusively the women who are engaged in violent activities.

Framing Theory

Presenting an issue in a certain way through media reporting thereon is referred to as ‘framing’. Framing has to do with “the process by which people develop a particular conceptualization of an issue or reorient their thinking about an issue” (Chong & Druckman, 2007: 104). Framing itself is not a new issue. A range of authors have taken part in explaining the process of framing, including Chong & Druckman (2007), Entman (1993), Goffman (1974), and Scheufele (1999). ‘Framing’ as a concept is used differently by different scholars (Scheufele, 1999). Some see the term as constituting “a scattered conceptualization” (Entman, 1993: 51), missing a clear conceptual definition of the process. There is no broad agreement on what framing entails. It is therefore important to specify how the concept will be approached throughout this research. When focussing specifically on mass media, media outlets should be seen as “builders of reality” (Brown, 2011: 708), where stories and the way these are presented have an impact on how readers perceive reality. In line with Scheufele (1999), this research sees the setting of frames by mass media as a

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social constructivist move, whereby “[m]ass media actively set the frames of reference that readers or viewers use to interpret and discuss public events” (p. 105). Media reporting constitutes an interplay between those developing and presenting the message, and the individuals receiving that message (Scheufele, 1999). Put this way, a frame serves two purposes: for the readers it constitutes a way to comprehend events, and for media outlets it is a way to determine how the public should view certain issues. Frames in the news simultaneously construct reality and are part of that same reality (Tuchman, 1978: 193).

Within framing theory, media communication is seen as a dynamic process that consists of a number of stages: “frame-building, frame-setting and individual and societal level consequences of framing” (Vreese, 2005: 52). Frames constitute manners to turn abstract events into something that the public can understand (Sheufele, 1999). Media thus provide ways to make sense of events: “[t]o frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation” (Entman, 1993: 52). Such frames interact with perceptions and beliefs already held by the public to form and image of the event at hand. As a result, readers are presented with “a version of reality built from personal experience, interaction with peers, and interpreted selections from the mass media” (Neuman, Just, & Crigler, 1992: 120).

It is important to differentiate between agenda setting and framing, as the two processes are often conflated (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Agenda setting is the process of selecting those problems that deserve attention from the public and government (Entman, 2007). It refers to practices by which media report on specific issues more regularly than on others, making that the public perceives such issues as especially important (Coleman, McCombs, Shaw, & Weaver, 2009). This is different from framing, as framing is not about selecting what items deserve the attention of the public through reporting on them, but merely about the way in which such reporting is carried out.

Hard News, Soft News and Framing

Tuchman (1972) divides news into two categories: ‘hard news’ and ‘soft news’. Hard news is news with a high priority and newsworthiness that should be published urgently. Soft news is news that demands less urgent publication, such as background stories. Lehman-Wilzig and Seletzky (2010) add a third category to this distinction, namely ‘general news’. This third category includes news of the intermediate type, that “should be published but not necessarily immediately” (p. 47). Framing links to this categorization, because one of the functions of a frame is to dictate the level of importance of news. In other words: “some aspects

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of an issue or an event can be made more salient by the way they are framed” (Gherghel & Paraschiv, 2012: 115).

Reporting on soft news tends to have a “greater propensity to emphasize the potential for bad outcomes” (Baum, 2004: 313). When compared to hard news, soft news also focusses more on specific individuals or small groups and uses matching frames, directing attention to the broader context of news. Hard news, on the other hand, is more frequently reported on by using frames that “cover the broader implications or consequences of policies” (Gherghel & Paraschiv, 2012: 111). Framing matters, because “news is not hard or soft, by its topic, but by the way it is built” (Gherghel & Paraschiv, 2012: 114). That is to say; it is not solely the issue itself that makes whether news should be considered hard, soft, or general. The way the media frame those issues that they report on also has its influence. Framing can make soft issues harder, and hard issues softer. However, one does have to recognize that not all issues can be framed so as to influence the category that issues fall into. An issue like a change in the foreign exchange rate, for example, is not likely to be framed in such a way as to influence whether it should be considered hard or soft news (Gherghel & Papaschiv, 2012).

The Role of the Journalist

Journalists do not only choose subject matters and situations for publication, but they also play a role in how such publications are communicated to the broader public (Brüggeman, 2014). Doing journalism is making sense of the world: it is a way of interpreting what is happening in the world, and then communicating this to the public. Journalistic framing concerns the ways in which journalists generate news stories that hold certain frames and exclude others (Brüggeman, 2014). Framing is not necessarily a conscious activity; often journalists are not aware of how their personal frame of reference influences the frames they disclose through their writings. Frames allow journalists to analyse and categorize materials quickly, so as efficiently communicate information to their public (Gitlin, 1980).Journalists use frames as a way to cope with large amounts of data, through deciding how to communicate this to the broader public (Tuchman, 1978).

Another stage where journalists can have an influence on the creation of frames concerns the selection of sources (Zoch & Turk, 1998). By using specific sources and excluding others, journalists influence the type of information that is transferred to their readers. In her research on choice of information source, Armstrong (2004) found that a gender bias exists in the selection of sources by journalists. She furthermore found that “males were portrayed more advantageously than females” (p. 150) and that the way journalists select their sources adds to this situation. Completely neutral journalistic reporting is therefore impossible and a

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journalist will always contribute to the creation of social reality (Tuchman, 1978). Journalistic publications will hence inevitably display frames set by the creator of a given news piece.

In addition to source selection, Entman (2007) claims that the process of framing is informed by “rules and norms that guide their [the journalists and journalistic institutions] processing of information and influence the framing of media texts.” (p. 166). Frames present in the media are not solely the result of individual frame-setting by journalists, but reflect broader “collective sense-making within the newsroom” (Brüggemann, 2014: 65). It is thus both the journalist’s individual frame of reference and the larger system in which they operate that influences the construction of media frames.

Frame setting in journalistic pieces is a two-way street. On the one side, journalists have the possibility to influence public opinion through the way they frame news items (Entman, 1993). Simultaneously, in the construction of the frames they use, “the journalists are guided by the foremost societal construction of the issue (i.e. cultural resonance)” (Berbers et al., 2016: 813). If one wants to examine and understand the complete process of framing, one should thus not exclusively focus on the frame itself. Further attention should be paid to broader processes and dynamics in the creation of these frames.

The Problem of Framing

As previously determined, frames are an inevitable part of journalistic reporting. Though unavoidable, frame setting in the media can have problematic consequences. Frames and images created and recreated in the media can bring about stereotypes of individuals, communities and societies that persist throughout time. In this way, entire groups of people are framed as having certain characteristics or belonging to a particular category (Powell, 2011). An example of this is the “[c]onsistent linking of Muslim with terrorism and a larger threat from Islam” (Powell, 2011: 107), which in turn influences public opinion. As a result, “U.S. citizens live in a culture of fear perpetuated by media coverage of events causing us to fear things or people that really are less of a threat than others.” (p. 107). Media frames thus possibly have societal consequences where the public internalizes a perspective that is presented to them through popular media (Entman, 1993).

These dynamics have to do with the idea of Orientalism (Douai & Lauricella, 2014) as described by Said (1978). In the ‘Orientalist’ way of thinking, the ‘Oriental’ is characterized as the strange ‘other’ and is contrasted- and seen as secondary to the ‘Occident’, or the West. Orientalism is perceived as “a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient” (Said, 1978: 3). The Orientalist discourse highlights the asymmetrical relationship between the Occident and the Orient in contemporary media reporting on Islam (Douai & Lauricella, 2014). For instance, an article by Douai and Lauricella (2014)

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explains how media in the West cover Shia-Sunni tensions through ‘othering’ the Islam, reproducing the Orientalist discourse. They explain that in the Orientalist discourse present throughout the sources they examined, the Islam in is entirety is presented as ‘different’ and ‘other’. The media thus have a role to play in assigning individuals to presupposed groups, solely based on one aspect or component of their identity. Framing links to this process, as frames help create images and ways of perceiving subjects that determine how readers are to understand specific issues.

Gender and Framing of Women

Gender is usually perceived as a central part of a person’s identity (Brunner, 2008). Gender should be differentiated from sex: whereas sex refers to biologically determined differences between men and women, gender refers to a range of culturally constructed and determined characteristics relating to masculinity and femininity (Tickner, 1992).

Gendered perceptions of violence and extremism bring with them certain ways of framing the expected behaviour of the two genders. Stereotypical frames include the image of women as peaceful caretakers and men as violent oppressors (Russel, 2013: 2). When it comes to gender roles, discourse has traditionally focussed on “images of women as pure, maternal, emotional, innocent and peace-loving” (Sjoberg & Gentry, 2015: 2). Women are, explicitly or implicitly, seen as peaceful “by virtue of their place on the sex hierarchy, their roles as mothers, [and] their assumed need for protection” (Sjoberg, 2013: 177). In a like manner, Steans (2006) illustrates how women are portrayed as peaceful and men as violent, solely based on gendered assumptions.

Such perceptions are, however, challenged by a range of authors. Later strands of feminism focus more on the agency of women, permitting a view in which women are more than helpless victims. These views are grouped under the label of post-structural feminism (Cannon, Lauve-Moon, & Buttell, 2015: 671). Post-structural feminist see gender as something performative, created by means of social construction (Butler, 1998: 522). Variation and difference among and between women is highlighted. Ideas of women as inherently peaceful are perceived as constituting stereotypical views that paint an inadequate picture of reality (Steans, 2006: 9). These perspectives furthermore assert that the stereotypical image that associates women with peaceful and helpless virtues is used as a way to deny women their agency by presenting them as helpless victims, subordinate to men (Tickner, 1992: 68).

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Reporting on Women and Conflict

In the media, Women going to Iraq and Syria to join ISIS are often referred to using narratives including ‘jihadi brides’ and ‘naïve girls’ (Gaub & Lisiecka, 2016; Strømmen, 2017), where frames mirror stereotypical expectations that portray women as peace-loving and nurturing, and men as violent and brutal. Through the stereotypical image of women as inherently more peaceful than men, women are seen as less threatening than their male counterparts (Strømmen, 2017). Whenever the behaviour of women does not fit within this traditional pattern of expectations, special attention is paid to such instances. For example, a terrorist attack committed by a female receives eight times the attention that a comparable attack committed by a male would receive (Bloom, 2011). In times of war and conflict “intensified stereotypes of victims, villains and heroes” (Brown, 2011: 706) are present within mass media reporting.

Although the general tendency in the media is to report on women using frames reflecting stereotypical images of females (Strømmen, 2017), there are also authors that use more extreme frames. They portray women being involved in violet acts as more violent or evil than their male counterparts. De Graaf (2012), for example, explicitly goes into the large role that a number of women have played in different cases of terrorism or murder. MacDonald (1991) even asserts that female terrorists are more dangerous then men, which explains the title of her book: Shoot the Women First. Bloom (2011) specifically highlights “[t]he common assumption […] that female terrorists must be even more depressed, crazier, more suicidal, or

more psychopathic than their male counterparts” (p. 33). Sjoberg and Gentry (2015) assert that by presenting

violent women as abnormalities, as being either “bad or mad” (pg. 36-37), their diversion from the norm is rationalized. This line of thought indicates that violent women are ‘different’ from normal women and that something is wrong with them. Therefore, although violent women do exist, the stereotypical representation of women as peaceful can be maintained (Sjoberg & Gentry, 2015).

The Netherlands General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) indicates that a growing number of the Dutch foreign fighters are female, and that they too can pose a threat when returning to the Netherlands (AIVD, 2018). De Roy van Zuijdewijn (2017), basing her analysis on a 2016 AIVD report, indicates that 44 per cent of Dutch citizens residing in Syria in 2016 were female. The AIVD furthermore notes in a 2017 publication that the threat of jihadi women should not be underestimated (AIVD, 2017). This shows that within both academic- and policy circles there is at least some attention for the possible threats posed by females traveling to ISIS-controlled areas.

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Agency

Entman (1991), in his examination of the media coverage of the downing of two different planes, identifies ‘agency’ as one of the factors that has an influence on how a text is perceived by its readers. The level of agency that is assigned to different actors will have an impact on the way readers process the information in that text, “influencing both political decision making and public opinion.” (Scheufele, 1999: 111).

When it comes to reporting on violence and conflict, “the stereotyping of women (not just Muslim women) as victims, passive and largely marginal actors in ‘serious’ news stories” (Brown, 2011: 707) occurs consistently throughout different media outlets. Naaman (2007), in her research on Palestinian female suicide bombers, concludes that “Western media grapple with the deviation from traditional womanly roles is by adopting a thesis that female suicide bombers are a victim of patriarchy.” (p. 943). In other words: media do not seem to accept the idea that in times of conflict, women could perform violent acts out of their own choice. By reporting in this way, women are denied of their agency as it seems as if they are not able to act independently and make their own choices.

The same process extends into reporting on women joining ISIS. Kollárová (2016) argues that within Western media, the image of the women of the Islamic State that exists is one in which they are not seen as acting for themselves. Images of women as weak and subordinate are combined with Orientalist discourses ‘othering’ Islamic women, creating an image that presents Western women as ‘superior’ to Islamic women. Islamic women are not able to fully exercise their agency because of the mark that “patriarchal oppression” (p. 144), has left on them, whereas Western women are presented as free, powerful agents. In order to better understand Western media reporting and policies stemming therefrom, Kollárová (2016) asserts that “a more detailed deconstruction of images of Muslim and Western women engaging in violence is important” (p. 144) by paying attention to Orientalist discourse when examining these subjects and their agency.

Gap and Added Value

As evident from the previous discussion, the issue of framing has received considerable attention. Examples of stereotypical reporting in previous research exist, both on Islam and women. There has also been past research looking at framing of foreign fighters (Boyle & Mower, 2018). In their research focussing specifically on the news framing of the ‘Syria fighters’ in Flanders and the Netherlands, Berbers et al. (2016) conclude that the media outlets they looked into often problematize the foreign fighter phenomenon through frames like the ‘terrorist frame’. Another outcome of their research is that “[j]ournalists usually provide hints on which frame is most appropriate to interpret a situation, thereby delegitimizing the less problematic frames” (p. 813), indicating the importance of the role of the journalist in the construction of news frames.

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The focus of Berbers et al. (2016), however, is on male foreign fighters and there is no attention for possible differences between the framing of males and females. What lacks here is attention for the specific framing of ISIS’ women, as this might differ from that of men.

Another study that links to the one undertaken in this thesis is that of Owe (2017). In her research, she does specifically examine how ISIS women are portrayed in Scandinavian and British media. She finds that five discourses or frames persist throughout reporting on women traveling to Syria and Iraq: “that of ‘the mother and wife’, ‘the religious woman’, ‘the brainwashed schoolgirl’, the warped woman’ and ‘the political woman’.” (p. 61). However, her research is limited to Scandinavian press. Although her findings might be relevant for the Netherlands, as the media landscape is comparable (Humphreys, 1996), one cannot simply take her conclusions and transfer them to the Dutch context.

Thus, to this date there has not been research into the framing of Islamic women when in Dutch media outlets. The current research attempts to fill this gap. It furthermore attempts to see what the effect of framing is on the perceived agency of the women that is reported on. The recent increased attention for the return of women from ISIS territory to the Netherlands as a result of Turkey’s policy to send ISIS-women in refugee camps back to their country of origin (Euronews & Reuters, 2019) further adds to the relevance of this research.

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Chapter 3: Research Design/ Methodology

Introduction

This chapter will explain what procedures are followed in order to obtain an answer to the research question. The focus of this study will be on newspaper publications specifically because newspapers have the strongest agenda-setting power when compared to other media outlets (Walgrave et al., 2008). It focusses on Dutch newspapers as research into framing of women joining ISIS in the Dutch media has, to date, not been undertaken. By looking at Dutch media coverage of women joining ISIS, this research aims to identify the frames that are used to present these women within the different articles. Then, taking into account previous work on women, gender, conflict and agency, implications of frames on the perceived agency that these women possess are evaluated. In doing so, different discourses concerning the roles that these women fulfil become apparent and differences in reporting among newspapers are shown.

Basic Research Design

Research is undertaken in the form of qualitative research, by use of critical discourse analysis. Through the combination of the collection of data in the form of literature-based research and discourse analysis, it is possible to get a comprehensive grasp of the issue while preserving a certain level of objectivity (Van Gorp, 2010). In order to examine the different ways of perceiving women in ISIS, an instrument based on ideas previously used by Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) will be used that is explained later in this chapter.

The research makes use of secondary sources, as it will base its analysis on media documenting different cases of women who (attempt to) travel to ISIS territory. To further develop the theoretical lens used throughout this research and in order to operationalize the variables that the proposed research will employ, secondary sources in the form of scholarly articles are used, obtained through the Leiden University database.

Sample Selection

Data is collected by means of a Nexis database search. A sample consisting of a number of newspaper articles, is collected from Dutch newspapers de Volkskrant, a “left-leaning quality newspaper”, de

Telegraaf, seen as a “popular newspaper” and NRC, “a right-leaning quality newspaper” (Berbers et al.,

2016: 803). 15% of the Dutch population is reported to be a reader of de Telegraaf, as opposed to 7% of the population reading de Volkskrant and 4% NRC (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Articles are thus gathered from both mass- and quality newspapers, as this means covering a representative selection of what has been written about women (who intend to) travel to ISIS territory. It also means that a diverse spectrum of political orientation will be included.

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The timeframe used is between January 1st 2012 and December 31st 2018. The number of foreign fighters going to Syria to fight started to rise exponentially from end-2011 on (Bakker, Paulussen, & Entenmann, 2014), making this a suitable moment to start the inquiry. No differentiation has been made between types of articles. Instead, they have been analysed collectively. This has allowed for a grasp of the full newspaper landscape because readers of an (online) newspaper are similarly confronted with news articles, as well as opinion pieces and background stories (Owe, 2017).

The Search

Articles have been selected by making use of keywords. These keywords have been determined through reviewing relevant literature (Brunner, 2008; Douai & Lauricella, 2014; Graaf, 2012; Strømmen, 2017; Windsor, 2018). The search: (‘vrouwelijke jihadist’ OR ‘Nederlandse strijdsters’ OR ‘Nederlandse moslima’s’ OR ‘Nederlandse moslima’ OR ‘jihadreizigsters’ OR ‘jihadiste’ OR ‘jihadbruid’ OR ‘vrouwelijke Nederlandse radicalen’ OR ‘vrouwelijke Nederlandse jihadisten’ OR ‘Syriëgangster’ OR ‘Nederlandse jonge vrouw’) AND ('Syrië' OR 'Syrisch' OR 'Syrische' OR 'Iraq' OR 'Irakees' OR 'Iraakse'),1 limited to the timeframe mentioned, yielded a total of 801 results, excluding double-published articles. Of these, 17 articles were published in de Volkskrant, 25 articles in de Telegraaf and 12 articles in NRC, making the number of articles obtained from the selected newspapers 54 in total.

For practical reasons, a random sample of 18 of these articles was selected to be analysed, making up one-third of the total number of collected articles. This was done in the same proportion as the originally gathered data to ensure representativeness of the sample. That means that 31,5% of the analysed articles are articles published in de Volkskrant, 46,3% in de Telegraaf and 22,2% in NRC. As a result, 6 articles from de

Volkskrant, 8 from de Telegraaf, and 4 from NRC have been analysed (see Annex 1: List of Newspaper

Articles and Appendix: Coded Newspaper Articles).

Operationalization of Research

- Critical Discourse Analysis

The collected data has been analysed through critical discourse analysis. Critical discourse analysis is a qualitative approach. The method is used to study the way in which language is used in texts and contexts (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). It will therefore help to explore the presence of frames within the different

1_{In English: (‘female jihadist’ OR ‘Dutch fighter (f)’ OR ‘Dutch Muslims (f)’ OR ‘Dutch Muslim (f)’ OR} ‘jihadtraveler (f)’ OR ‘jihadi (f)’ OR ‘jihadbride’ OR ‘female Dutch radical’ OR ‘female Dutch jihadi’ OR ‘Syriatraveler (f)’ or ‘Dutch young woman’) AND (‘Syria’ OR ‘Syrian’ OR ‘Iraq’ OR ‘Iraqi’ OR ‘Iraqi (f)’)

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news articles. As this research focusses on the use of language from a constructivist point of view, i.e. by looking at how language is used to create a certain image of a group of people, it is most appropriate for the current study. Secondly, the method is used in a critical sense, as it attempts to shed a light on uneven power relations (Stump & Dixit, 2013) by focusing on how subjects (here: ISIS women) are positioned as opposed to both men and Western women.

In order to go from abstract concepts such as media frames and gender stereotypes to real world examples thereof, instruments will have to be used to transfer these concepts to the empirical world. To do so, this research makes use of an instrument based on ideas previously used by Semetko and Valkenburg (2000). They developed a set of indicators “for studying developments in the news over time and similarities and differences in the ways in which politics and other topics of national and international importance are framed in the news in different countries.” (p. 94). Through an extensive literature review, they identified the most common frames used in media outlets. These frames include the human interest frame, the economic consequences frame, the conflict frame, the morality frame, and the responsibility frame. The instrument is made up of twenty propositions, that each are connected to one of the five frames previously mentioned (see table 1). By answering the propositions, values are assigned to the articles, determining whether frames are present or not (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000).

Framing items Propositions

Human interest frame - Does the story provide a human example or “human face” on the issue? - Does the story employ adjectives or personal vignettes that generate feelings of outrage, empathy-caring, sympathy, or compassion?

- Does the story emphasize how individuals and groups are affected by the issue/problem?

- Does the story go into the private or personal lives of the actors?

- Does the story contain visual information that might generate feelings of outrage, empathy-caring, sympathy, or compassion?

Economic frame - Is there a mention of financial losses or gains now or in the future? - Is there a mention of the costs/degree of expense involved?

- Is there a reference to economic consequences of pursuing or not pursuing a course of action?

Conflict frame - Does the story reflect disagreement between parties-individuals-groups-countries?

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- Does the story refer to two sides or to more than two sides of the problem or issue?

- Does the story refer to winners and losers?

Morality frame - Does the story contain any moral message?

- Does the story make reference to morality, God, and other religious tenets?

- Does the story offer specific social prescriptions about how to behave? Attribution of responsibility -Does the story suggest that some level of gov’t has the ability to alleviate

the problem?

-Does the story suggest that some level of the government is responsible for the issue/problem?

-Does the story suggest solution(s) to the problem/issue?

- Does the story suggest that an ind. (or group of people in society) is resp. for the issue-problem?

- Does the story suggest the problem requires urgent action?

Table 1: Frames and propositions, as Adapted from Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000: 100.

This instrument can be used to examine if certain types of frames are discernible in a news article (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). While it is helpful in examining general frames present in articles, it will have to be adjusted to fit the current research. This research focusses specifically on the way females are framed and not on general frames.

In order to determine “relationship between the abstract frame and the pattern of elements in the news text that are able to evoke the core side of the receiver” (Van Gorp, 2010: 90), the present study combines inductive and deductive framing analysis. A range of relevant factors pertaining to ways of presenting women mentioned in previous studies (Brunner, 2008; Graaf, 2012; Naaman, 2007; Owe, 2017; Russel, 2013; Scarione, 2016; Sjoberg, 2013; Strømmen, 2017; Windsor, 2018) have been identified through literature research and are taken as framing items. Then, through further literature research on women and terrorism, Islam and ISIS, propositions were developed to identify keywords or propositions in the context of framing analysis (Brunner, 2008; Douai & Graaf, 2012; Gaub & Lisiecka, 2016; Kollárová, 2016; Douai & Lauricella, 2014; Loken & Selenz, 2017; Owe, 2017; Strømmen, 2017; Vale, 2019; Windsor, 2018). Through deductive reasoning during the coding process, additional aspects have been added in order to get a comprehensive grasp of the issue (Berbers et al., 2016). Combining these has led to the following framing items and propositions that can be used to determine if such frames are indeed present in the articles.

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Framing items Propositions

1. Jihad bride frame - Does the article refer to marriage as a reason for the woman/girl to travel to IS grounds?

- Does the article refer to caretaking tasks being executed by the woman/girl?

- Does the article make reference to God and other religious tenets? 2. Naïve girl frame - Does the article suggest that the woman/girl was mislead, seduced,

lured and/or brainwashed in order to travel to IS territory?

- Does the article mention that the woman/girl was not aware that she would travel to IS territory?

- Does the article suggest that the woman/girl has a wrong (idealized) image of what awaits her in IS territory?

3. Victim frame - Does the article suggest that the woman/girl was taken to IS territory against her will?

- Is there a mention of force on part of a male family member/husband of the woman/girl to join ISIS?

- Does the story suggest that the woman/girl is in IS territory against her will and wants to leave?

4. Terrorist frame - Does the article refer to the use of organized violence by non-state female actors?

- Does the article mention that the woman/girl is accused of plotting attacks or planning to plot attacks?

- Does the article use specific words such as ‘terrorist’, ‘terrorism’, or ‘terrorist attack’ to refer to the woman/girl?

- Does the article mention fears associated with the return of the woman/girl?

5. Violent women/black widow

- Does the article refer to the woman/girl as being extremely violent? - Does the article refer to revenge for the death of a loved one as one of the motives of the woman/girl?

- Does the article mention the use of force by the woman/girl?

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The prevalence of frames within the different articles and newspapers is identified through these propositions. Articles are coded as containing a frame if the text includes a direct reference to the framing category, or a positive answer to one of the propositions belonging thereto. One indicator is seen as sufficient to code a frame as present (Berbers et al., 2016).

- The Identification of Frames

The propositions presented in table 2 have been used to identify frames within each article. All articles were read and if the answer to one of the propositions from table 2 was positive, that word or phrase was highlighted, indicating that a frame was identified. Furthermore, during the coding process additional aspects were added to the list of propositions to ensure that all frames were identified and categorized. Issues that appeared frequently within the content of different articles, but that did not correspond directly to one of the propositions were reviewed carefully (Krippendorff, 2004). For example, one of the articles from de

Telegraaf literally states that a girl “only wants to date Muslim boys” (Schoonhoven, 2017, January 7).

Although this is not explicitly about marriage, the underlying thought is that the girl wants to marry a Muslim guy and travel with him to ISIS territory and therefore this instance is coded as corresponding to the jihad bride frame.

Limitations

The current research faces a number of limitations. The first of these concerns internal validity. Internal validity has to do with inference: whether the studied outcome indeed has been the result of a specific cause (Yin, 2003: 35). Such internal validity is difficult to proof in the current research, as it is hard to establish the connection between writing on a subject in a certain way, an abstract frame within a newspaper article (Van Gorp, 2010: 90). This problem can be limited by following strict and predetermined analysis techniques, and providing as much transparency as possible concerning the steps followed. This then allows for insights into how outcomes have been obtained, increasing the possibility that research can be repeated by others (Van Gorp, 2010). Moreover, in order to manage the large amounts of data that the current research might yield, careful examination is necessary to determine what is and what is not relevant in answering the research question (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007).

A further limitation involves the choice for critical discourse analysis, as this data analysis method is largely based on the interpretation of the researcher. The embeddedness of the researcher in data collection and analysis should be recognized (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007). In order to limit this possible pitfall, research has to be undertaken in a transparent way. Recording and justification of all steps taken is vital. Reliability is thus increased by transparently documenting the procedures followed throughout the research (Yin, 2003).

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Furthermore, elements of the different frames may partly overlap. This makes the division into different frames at times seem somewhat artificial. This limitation can be overcome by clearly indicating what part of the text is coded as belonging to a specific category.

Finally, the limited extent of this research means that only a limited number of articles can be analysed. This has effects on the prospect of obtaining outcomes that hold true for other cases as well (Mills, Durepos & Wiebe, 2010). Reliability, or “the extent to which results are consistent over time and an accurate representation of the total population under study” (Joppe, 2000) is thus affected. The reliability of the outcomes of this research is therefore limited. This can partly be overcome by ensuring the representativeness of the sample that is examined (Mills, Durepos & Wiebe, 2010). A similar concern arises when taking into account the scope of the research, that is limited to the Dutch situation. This means that the outcomes might apply to the Dutch context, but are not necessarily transferable to other Western countries. Overcoming this limitation would mean doing a similar analysis in other countries, like Owe (2017) did when looking specifically at Scandinavian press.

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Chapter 4: Analysis

Introduction

This section will analyse the results of the search for frames within the different articles. The unit of analysis in this study is the individual article. The present study examines how Dutch newspapers de Volkskrant, de

Telegraaf and NRC (both NRC Handelsblad and NRC.NEXT) covered female foreign fighters during the

period of 2012-2018. The study analysed a total of N=18 news articles that addressed female foreign fighters and their motivations to travel abroad to ISIS territory. This chapter will start by setting out how often each of the frames is present in the analysed articles. It will subsequently go into differences in reporting among newspapers, focussing on the use of frames, the volume of reporting, and the purpose of the articles. Such differences are then examined in the light of the political orientation and intended audience of the respective papers. Finally, the presence of multiple frames within the same article is discussed.

The Frames

Annex 1 contains the list of newspaper articles making up the sample. The analysed articles can be found in the appendix to this thesis. Tables 3, 4 and 5 show how often each of the frames is present in the articles of the sample.

For the analysed articles, the majority of the articles from de Volkskrant seem to be merely informative, with the intent of informing the public on specific cases of women attempting to travel to- or returning from ISIS territory (ANP, 2013, December 21; Groen, 2017, May 5; Groen & Khader, 2014, November 10). They furthermore report on personal stories of women who want to return to the Netherlands (Es, 2017, October 17) or are general pieces informing on the current state of affairs (Es, 2017, October 14; Bahara, 2018, September 27). Article nr. Jihad bride frame Naïve girl frame Victim frame Terrorist frame Violent women frame 1 1 - - 1 - 2 7 6 4 2 3 3 2 - - 3 10 4 - 4 1 1 - 5 3 1 2 1 - 6 - - 1 2 - TOTAL 13 11 8 10 13

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De Telegraaf, on the other hand, is focussing more on the danger that these women pose (Olmer, 2015,

March 31; Marbe, 2017, October 20; and Klerks, 2015, January 13; Dam & Schoonhoven, 2018, February 1). Its articles furthermore frequently question the good intentions or truthfulness of the stories of the returned women (Schoonhoven, 2018, November 16; Olmer, 2015, April 11; Schoonhoven, 2017, January 7). De Telegraaf thus seems to want to warn its readers for the risks concerning ISIS’ women.

Article nr. Jihad bride frame Naïve girl frame Victim frame Terrorist frame Violent women frame 1 5 - 1 3 - 2 1 - 2 3 - 3 4 1 - 1 7 4 3 - - - 1 5 2 - - - 1 6 - 2 2 1 - 7 1 - - 7 3 8 2 4 3 6 3 TOTAL 18 7 8 21 15

Table 4: Frames Present in Telegraaf Articles

The NRC, in its reporting, seems to be somewhere in-between the two other newspapers. Some of the analysed articles want to warn the general public (Ramadan, 2016, September 17), whereas others report on a general state of affairs (Beerekamp, 2014, November 25), and yet others report on individual stories of women (Kamermanen & Stoter Boscolo, 2015, March 21; Oostveen, 2014, June 23). The diverging functions that the articles aim to fulfil, result in different frames through which the public is confronted with the issue of women and ISIS.

Article nr. Jihad bride frame Naïve girl frame Victim frame Terrorist frame Violent women frame 1 6 4 4 - 2 2 1 - - - - 3 1 1 - - 2 4 1 1 - - 1 TOTAL 9 6 4 - 5

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In table 6, the frames present in all articles have been added up. This provides an overview of not only how often each frame is present within the different newspapers, but also which frame is to be observed mostly overall. It shows that the jihad bride frame is most present, followed by the violent women frame, the terrorist frame, the naïve girl frame, and the victim frame.

Newspaper Jihad bride frame Naïve girl frame Victim frame Terrorist frame Violent women frame Volkskrant 13 11 8 10 13 Telegraaf 18 7 8 21 15 NRC 9 6 4 - 5 TOTAL 40 24 20 31 33

Table 6: Total of Frames Present in All Newspapers

Differences in Reporting among Newspapers

Differences in Frames Used

The newspapers use the respective frames to varying degrees. When combining the frames used in all articles, the jihad bride frame is adopted most frequently (see table 6). For de Volkskrant and NRC, the jihad bride frame is the frame that is employed most. For de Telegraaf, it is the second most prevalent frame, after the terrorist frame.

The current research codes articles as containing the jihad bride frame even if the term ‘jihad bride’ is not literally used. Mention of marriage or the search for love as motivation to travel abroad is seen as indication of the presence of the jihad bride frame. Even in cases where the term itself is not introduced literally, the reader might be left with the impression that the woman or girl travelled abroad to marry an ISIS fighter. Although the jihad bride frame is present in the majority of the articles, the specific term ‘jihad bride’ is not. While de Volkskrant only uses the term twice (in one out of the six articles), NRC uses the term four times (once in each article) and the Telegraaf seventeen times, where only two out of eight articles do not contain the term (see tables 7, 8 and 9).

Article nr. Nr. of times term ‘jihad bride’ is used

1 - 2 2 3 - 4 - 5 - TOTAL 2

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For de Volkskrant, only the second article (Es, 2017, October 17) uses the term ‘jihad bride’. The other articles do not contain the term.

1 3 2 1 3 9 4 1 5 1 6 - 7 - 8 2 TOTAL 17

Table 8: Use of the Term ‘jihad bride’ in Telegraaf Articles

De Telegraaf uses the term ‘jihad bride’ more frequently. Especially the third article (Marbe, 2017, October

20) employs the term often. Two of the articles (Colijn & Olmer, 2015, March 25; and Dam & Schoonhoven, 2018, February 1) do not contain the term. The first of these two does contain the jihad bride frame as it mentions how a girl fell in love with a ‘jihadist’, together with whom she travelled to the caliphate. Although the literal term is not used, the reader is left with the impression that the girl mainly undertook the trip because of marriage.

1 1

2 1

3 1

4 1

TOTAL 4

Table 9: Use of the Term ‘jihad bride’ in NRC Articles

The NRC uses the term ‘jihad bride’ once in every article. When comparing this to how often the jihad bride frame itself is discernible, the largest disparity is in the first article (Kamermanen & Stoter Boscolo, 2015, March 21). That article contains the term ‘jihad bride’ once, while the jihad bride frame is distinguishable six times. This shows that the article holds many references to women traveling to ISIS territory to get married, although this is not literally expressed in so many words.

Table 10 shows a comparison of how often the jihad bride frame and the term ‘jihad bride’ are used in the different newspapers.

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Jihad bride frame Term ‘jihad bride’

Telegraaf 18 17

Volkskrant 13 2

NRC 9 4

Table 10: Comparing the Use of the Term ‘jihad bride’ and the Jihad Bride Frame

Table 10 indicates that for de Telegraaf, the jihad bride frame most often coincides with the use of the term ‘jihad bride’. De Volkskrant en NRC show a larger discrepancy between the two. This indicates that the latter two newspapers, in employing the frame, are perhaps more careful in choosing their words to communicate their intended message. De Telegraaf is more sensationalist and right-wing oriented than the other two newspapers (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000), and therefore more likely to use popular and polarizing language in their reporting (Berbers et al., 2016), including the term ‘jihad bride’. Differences in the use of the term ‘jihad bride’ in reporting can furthermore be traced back to the political orientation of the analysed newspapers. De Volkskrant is oriented more towards the left of the political spectrum, while

de Telegraaf is positioned on the right side and NRC somewhere between the other two newspapers (Berbers

et al., 2016). The use of the term ‘jihad bride’ comes with a somewhat negative connotation, where women joining ISIS are presented as naïve and maybe even immoral (Owe, 2017). Such cases are instances of negative reporting, problematizing the Islam. The Islam and immigration are topics that are reported on in unfavourable ways in right-wing newspapers (Berbers et al., 2016), explaining why a term that is negatively associated with Islam is used so frequently in de Telegraaf

The second most employed frame is the terrorist frame. The analysed articles from NRC do not contain the terrorist frame, whereas this frame is present in all Volkskrant articles and almost all Telegraaf articles (see tables 3, 4 and 5). Although de Telegraaf and de Volkskrant are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the articles from both newspapers frequently employ the terrorist frame. The NRC, laying between the two other papers, does not employ this frame. Therefore, this difference cannot be explained in terms of political orientation of the newspapers. Albeit outside the scope of the current research, the difference in presenting women through the terrorism frame among different newspapers might be an interesting starting point for future research.

Volume of Reporting

When looking at the number of articles, what immediately becomes clear is that the issue of women in ISIS is reported on mostly in de Telegraaf. The original search resulted in 801 articles, of which 25 from de

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Telegraaf, as opposed to 17 in de Volkskrant and 12 in NRC. The volume of news coverage thus differs.

One explanation for this difference concerns the political orientation and expected public of each of the newspapers. Whereas de Volkskrant and NRC are more leftist and ‘serious’ newspapers, de Telegraaf is situated on the right side of the political spectrum and is seen as a more sensationalist newspaper (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Certain issues would “more easily pass the ‘news threshold’”, for one newspaper than for the other (Berbers et al., 2016: 814). Semetko and Valkenburg (2000: 103), in their research on the framing of European politics, assert that

“the more sensationalist the newspaper, the more attention was paid to crime news and nonpolitical news, whereas the more sober the newspaper, the more attention was paid to foreign news, news about Europe, and political and economic news”

De Telegraaf, being a more sensationalist newspaper, can thus be expected to be more likely to report on ‘less sober’, sensationalist news. The larger volume of reporting on women in ISIS of de Telegraaf, when compared to de Volkskrant and NRC, might thus be explained by looking at the sensationalist nature of the topic and the political orientation of the three newspapers (Boyle & Mower, 2018).

Purpose of the Article

Different articles do seem to have different functions. Some of the analysed articles are merely focusing on informing the public, whereas others appear to have the intention of warning the public for the dangers that returning women might pose. The different intended purposes of the articles influence the way journalists write on the issue of women in ISIS, resulting in different frames through which the issue is presented to the public (Berbers et al., 2016). News articles will, to some degree, always mirror the viewpoint of its writer (Brüggeman, 2014). Role conceptions, or the self-perceived role that journalists have in reporting news to the wider public, influences the way they report on issues (Van Dalen, De Vreese, & Albæk, 2012). According to Lehman-Wilzig and Seletzky (2012), reporters writing for quality newspapers will adhere more strictly to journalistic norms such as fact checking and triangulation of data than journalists writing for popular newspapers. This would result in more neutral and objective reporting in quality newspapers when compared to popular newspapers.

As previously mentioned, the sample of articles has been analysed without differentiating between types of articles. The sample contains a number of opinion pieces from de Telegraaf on the subject, while this is not the case for the other two newspapers. In these opinion pieces, the personal opinion of the writer is clear, often talking negatively about returning female Syria-travellers. The latter two newspapers seem to be

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reporting in a more neutral sense. Especially de Volkskrant, but to some degree also NRC, often uses multiple sources in its articles so as to shed light on more than one perspective. As a result, readers are confronted with not just one way of perceiving the issue, but are allowed to make up their own mind by taking into account multiple ways of framing these women. In all six articles in de Volkskrant, other people (family, experts or the girls themselves) are literally being quoted. For de Telegraaf, this is the case in four out of eight articles and in NRC, three out of four. This shows that within de Telegraaf, there is more space for the personal opinion of the writer as opposed to expertise or experiences of those involved.

Although within newspapers different kinds of articles have appeared, there does seem to be a general tendency of de Telegraaf to report more negatively on women joining ISIS than NRC and Volkskrant do. The former newspaper tends to use more negative connotations when talking about the Islam. It often presents the religion through frames problematizing it, focusing on negative stories. The NRC and de

Volkskrant, on the other hand, seem to report in a more ‘serious’ manner on the issue. Although reporting

in these newspapers has a similar negative connotation when discussing the issue of women and ISIS, reporting seems more neutral. As de Telegraaf is oriented more towards the right-side of the political spectrum than the other two, it is expected that topics including the Islam and immigration are reported on more unfavourably than in the other two newspapers (Berbers et al., 2016). As a result, popular and quality newspapers might report differently on the same topic (Bakker & Scholten, 2011).

‘Hard News’ and ‘Soft News’

When looking at the examined articles, most stories are background stories rather than ‘breaking’ news. They would therefore qualify as either ‘soft news’, which would include human-interest stories, or ‘general news’, including events from a continuing story or news that should be published, but not necessarily immediately (Lehman-Wilzig & Seletzky, 2010).

The general consensus among academia is that quality newspapers focus more on background stories and evaluations of underlying rationale when compared to popular newspapers (Lehman-Wilzig & Seletzky, 2012). This would mean that de Volkskrant is expected to report more ‘seriously’, with more attention for the context in which news takes place than de Telegraaf would. Contextual reporting would qualify as ‘soft news’. NRC is expected to fall somewhere in the middle of the other two newspapers. In the case of reporting on women traveling to- or returning from IS territory, this is not necessarily the case. Almost all analysed articles would qualify as background stories, so there is no real difference between the three different newspapers from which the articles were collected.

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Multiple Frames

As visible in tables 3, 4 and 5, more than one frame is present in the majority of the articles. Some articles switch between ways of presenting ISIS women, depending on who is allowed to speak. In one article women themselves are given the floor, proclaiming to be innocent victims (victim frame). That same article also quotes Dutch security services that warn about the danger that these women might pose when returning in terms of possible terrorist threat (terrorist frame) (Schoonhoven, 2017, January 7). Different actors are quoted, ranging from the girls themselves to their families and from researchers to security experts. A multiplicity of stories can be present within the same article, making that articles contain more than one frame.

There are also links between the frames that facilitate switching between them. A woman who is presented as posing a terrorist threat (terrorist frame) might at the same time be seen as a violent mastermind due to the violent nature of the act that she is expected to carry out (violent women frame). Furthermore, the victim frame can be complementary to the naïve girl frame. Within the naïve girl frame, the girl is presented as innocent, brainwashed and lured to ISIS territory under false pretences (Owe, 2017). By doing so, the woman or girl is seen as a victim and as someone who is in need of saving. There is a difference between the latter two frames, however. In the naïve girl frame the choice to join ISIS was in the hands of the girl, although external influences make that the decision was not necessarily a conscious one. In the victim frame, on the other hand, the girl has not had a choice whatsoever. She is presented as not having been in the position to make a decision herself, or at least claims to not have been. Finally, the jihad bride frame links to the naïve girl frame and the victim frame, as naïve girls might be lured into becoming jihad brides, or a girl might become a jihad bride as the result of being a victim of the circumstance that she is in.

Reporting on Women Waging Jihad in Syria and Iraq: Assessment of Gendered Media Frames