Analysing U.S. Media Coverage of the 2017 Kurdish Referendum: CNN and Fox News as Case Studies

The 2017 Kurdish referendum in Iraq was the biggest milestone in Kurdish historical efforts toward self-determination and independence. It provoked a backlash from neighbouring countries, threatened to destabilize the Middle East, and was opposed by the international community, including the United States, an Iraqi-Kurdish ally since 2003. This study aims to analyze referendum media coverage by two major U.S. outlets, CNN and Fox News.Through qualitative content analysis, this study used purposive sampling to examine six articles, three from each news outlet. These articles represented and coincided with three major referendum milestones that the author determined to answer research questions. They were selected from the timeframe of September 18, 2017, when Iraq’s top court ordered the suspension of the Kurdish independence referendum, to October 25, 2017, a month after the referendum.The findings contribute to research on media representation, the framing of referendums, and literature on the Middle East, the media, and the 2017 Kurdish referendum. Finally, this MRP provides scholars with insights into how American media organizations cover global democratic events, primarily those occurring in stateless nations seeking self-determination.