Peace journalism frames in The Guardian and its Facebook audience: A case study of Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan

When former U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei on August 2, 2022, China launched one of its largest military drills around Taiwan, escalating China-United States conflicts. This study analyzes the Guardian’s coverage of the controversial visit during three research periods. It examines the extent to which peace journalism frames were present in The Guardian’s news stories, as well as the Facebook comments posted in response to the newspaper’s articles. Quantitative findings reveal that the news coverage before, during, and after the visit was dominated by quotes from the United States (23.2%), Chinese (30.4%), and Taiwanese officials (25.4%), with minimal representation of activists (0.6%) and ordinary people (1.15%). Additionally, the newspaper’s articles prominently applied the solution (38.1%) and people (14.3%) frames. However, the study argues that such applications were influenced by developments on the ground and what was happening “here and now.” Interestingly, Facebook comments on The Guardian’s coverage showed a notable tendency to apply peace journalism frames (22.9%), with a strong emphasis on peace initiatives. More than half (55.5%) of the peace journalism-oriented comments applied the solution frame. Contrary to dominant literature, this study concludes that digital platforms may provide greater opportunities for audiences to consider nonviolent responses to conflicts.