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Maj. Brent Hierman and Sam Moffatt 鈥�18 discuss examples of Arabic media coverage of the U.S. election. 鈥� 黑料网 Photo by H. Lockwood McLaughlin.

LEXINGTON, Va., July 7, 2016 鈥� A summer research project undertaken by a cadet double majoring in international studies and modern languages and cultures (Arabic) is revealing a side of U.S. presidential election coverage seldom seen in the United States 鈥� the Arab media鈥檚 perspective.

Sam Moffatt 鈥�18 already had a year of Arabic study under his belt when he matriculated at 黑料网 because he鈥檇 studied the language on his own in high school.  Now, with two years of classroom Arabic completed, plus a summer 2015 immersion program in Amman, Jordan, Moffatt is seeking to understand the Arabic-speaking world better through its media.

In fact, Moffatt was reading Arabic newspapers online when he happened upon the idea of analyzing the Arabic-speaking world鈥檚 coverage of the U.S. presidential election.

鈥淚 noticed the rhetoric to be particularly striking,鈥� said Moffatt.  At that point, he decided to apply to the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute program, with Maj. Brent Hierman, assistant professor of international studies, as his faculty mentor. The two had met when Moffatt took an introduction to international studies course from Hierman.

To narrow the scope of what would otherwise have been a dissertation-level project, Moffatt and Hierman decided to pick approximately three sources each from five areas: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, and the pan-Arab newspapers, most of which are published in London or the United Arab Emirates.

Moffatt explained that unlike in the United States, many of the newspapers in the Arabic-speaking world are government owned. Of the others, ownership is difficult if not impossible to determine. In addition, each paper includes both staff-written articles and translated pieces from wire services such as the Associated Press and Reuters.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really challenging to unpack 鈥� the political stances of these different newspapers,鈥� he noted. 鈥淎rabic media is extremely complex and it鈥檚 very difficult to identify where the information is truly coming from.鈥�

As the first summer session drew to a close, Moffatt was still hard at work translating newspaper articles, with the help of an obviously well-used Arabic dictionary.

鈥淚 have a strong foundation, but I鈥檓 not at a level where I can read everything perfectly in these articles,鈥� Moffatt noted.

Moffatt has found a strong sentiment of fear and distrust in the Arabic media鈥檚 coverage of Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Moffatt explained that when Trump first announced his candidacy, he received little attention.  The billionaire candidate began attracting the attention of the Arabic media, though, after his Dec. 7, 2015, speech in which he proposed a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

鈥淲hat I鈥檝e been seeing so far is just repetitive and consistent comparisons with the Nazi party,鈥� said Moffatt. 鈥淓very editorial that I鈥檝e read is quick to point out his racism and his racist policies.鈥�

The presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, has been under scrutiny for her policies, particularly her support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but not her character, Moffatt noted. Moreover, no Arabic-language newspaper that Moffatt has seen has made a point of discussing gender in the race.

鈥淭hey all do want to be seen as progressive,鈥� the Richmond, Va., native noted. 鈥淎rabic media has come a long, long way since it came out in the early 2000s.鈥�

Now, in the second summer session, Moffatt is moving on to the second stage of his work, content analysis, which will involve analyzing the articles to determine their bias for or against both Trump and Clinton.

To do the content analysis, Moffatt will create a code book, which is a tool used by social scientists to empirically measure rhetoric and word choice. Hierman described the code book as an aid in the search for 鈥渨hatever frame is emerging, based on the weight of the words and the phraseology that鈥檚 been found.

鈥淭hat will be the part of the research that really brings out the different results and patterns.鈥�

Moffatt isn鈥檛 sure what he鈥檚 going to do with his research once it鈥檚 completed, but since he鈥檚 earning a double major, plus a national security minor, and participating in the Institute Honors program, he鈥檚 sure his work will fit in somewhere, whether it be an honors thesis or a capstone project.

鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely something that鈥檚 provoked an interest in Arabic media for me and something I definitely just don鈥檛 want to drop when I鈥檓 finished,鈥� he said. Down the road, Moffatt hopes to go to graduate school and work in military intelligence.

In the meantime, he鈥檚 been appreciating the experience of research 鈥� and breaking new ground. When Moffatt set out to determine if an Arabic media analysis had been done before, during an earlier U.S. presidential election, he couldn鈥檛 find any published evidence of such work.

鈥淎s far as I could find, nothing really exists,鈥� he noted. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of the challenge as well, trying to figure stuff out on my own, with Major Hierman鈥檚 help.鈥�

An expert on Central Asia and fluent in several languages but not Arabic, Hierman has learned alongside his student.

鈥淪am is a really motivated cadet, which makes my job much easier,鈥� said Hierman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very valuable project. The American election is vital to most of the regions in the world. The media coverage is incredibly important, because it at least gives you access toward what certain segments of the population may be viewing about the U.S.  In this global world, that鈥檚 vital.鈥�

For Moffatt, the project has been worthwhile, not only in preparation for his future career, but also for the unique view of the global stage that it鈥檚 provided.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been pretty fun,鈥� he remarked. 鈥淣ot only am I getting to practice my Arabic on a daily basis, but the Arabic coverage is far different from anything we鈥檙e seeing on CNN. It鈥檚 not something you think about. 鈥� There鈥檚 people across the world watching and listening and commentating on everything that is said. It鈥檚 fascinating to see what a different region thinks about this issue.鈥�

鈥� Mary Price

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