Before ‘Desert Storm’: a comparison of 1980 Iraq-Iran war coverage in four American and Arab newspapers

This article examines the content of major Iraq-Iran war stories as reported in the New York Times, Washington Post, An-Nahar, and Asharq Al-Awsat during 1980 - the time of the American hostage ordeal in Tehran. Articles were limited to major war stories. Each article was judged in terms of favorable, unfavorable or neutral/balanced references to Iran. In general, the analysis suggests that American press coverage of international news is more balanced, at least in some aspects, than many scholars think.