Résumé :

Comment une presse démocratique peut-elle se positionner face aux incertitudes nouvelles de la scène internationale : en traitant équitablement tous les points de vue ? Ceux des petits comme des grands, sans exclusive ?

Face à cet objectif que lui fixe la norme démocratique , la presse ne peut que performer de façon inéale. Telle est l'hypothèse développée à partir de la couverture de la scène internationale par deux grands journaux quotidiens canadiens , La Presse et le Toronto Star , depuis le 9/11. Au surplus, cette hypothèse est tout à fait compatible avec les enseignements de la sociologie des médias et probablement pertinente pour l'ensemble de la presse occidentale.

Mots Clés : presse occidentale, monde arabo-musulman, objectivité, cadrage des nouvelles, scène publique.

Abstract :

How can the press in a democracy face of the climate of uncertainty in the international public forum ? Can it balance all points of view without discrimination? Those of the powerful and those of the weak as well?

So it must do by democratic standards. However, it does not necessarily do so, as it is revealed by a content analysis of international information in two outstanding Canadian dailies, La Presse and The Toronto Star , since 9/11. Such a conclusion comes with no surprise given the teachings of the sociology of the media and it is likely to apply to the Western press as a whole.

Keywords : Western press, Arabo-Muslim World, objectivity, news framing, public forum.

Extended Abstract :

Objective

How can the press in a democracy face of the climate of uncertainty in the international public forum ? Can it balance all points of view without discrimination? Those of the powerful and those of the weak as well?

So must it do by democratic standards. However, it does not necessarily do so, as it is revealed by a content analysis of international information from two outstanding Canadian dailies, La Presse and The Toronto Star, since 9/11. Given the teachings of the sociology of the media, such a conclusion comes with no surprise and is likely to apply to the Western press as a whole.

Method

The corpus consists of 660 articles taken from La Presse and The Toronto Star and treating questions such as 9/11, its consequences for the Canadian economy, the Israelo-Palestinian conflict, the wars in Afghanistan and Irak, the issue of immigration and refugees…

Three sets of actors perform on the Canadian public forum for the dialogue of civilisations: the "Us-in-the-West", the "Them-the-Muslims" who are less numerous, and the ambivalent actors - immigrants, refugees, Canadians of Muslim origin… - that appear very exceptionnaly.

Using the political competition model, as it was elaborated by Wolfsfeld [1997], I have pictured the dialogue of civilisations as a struggle over access and meaning between the three sets of actors. Unsurprisingly, the political competition model is more relevant to political economy and marketing of the media than to democratic standards.

Results

1st finding : in the strugle over access to the public forum, the "Us-in-the-West" wins and the "Them-the-Muslims" looses. The ambivalent actors do not take a significant part in the competition.

2nd finding : whenever given access to the public forum, the "Them-the-Muslims" remain minor actors in the struggle over meaning.

3nd finding : some public issues appear less discriminating than others. Such are the issues of peace and truth. However, international information is seldom framed by either peace or truth in the Canadian press.

4th finding : the balanced between the Us and Them is partially re-established when the information is processed in "The Muslim Elsewhere", where the "Them-the-Muslims" can be heard more often.