Framing cooperation among regional economic powers: The South in global spheres of influence

Abstract

This study examined the coverage of the trilateral commission of India, Brazil, and South Africa (IBSA) in the national press of these three countries over a 6-year period. Even though this group has pre-dated the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) group and shares an affinity from political and economic standpoints, it has received little attention in media research. The goal of the study was to understand how news media framed the relationship among the IBSA member nations, and their individual and collective policy stances to their citizens. Each news source emphasized different areas of the cooperation; all three news sources expressed faith in IBSA to varying degrees, but also kept a close eye on the more recently formed BRICS. In sum, this study offers an exploratory view of cooperation among emerging regional economic powers located across and lobbying for the South in contemporary global spheres of influence.

Keywords

Democracy development framing global power politics press South–South

Introduction

The IBSA countries, India, Brazil, and South Africa (IBSA), are a relatively new consortium of nations that represent a conundrum—they are large developing countries and competitors in the global arena, yet are making attempts to become partners in South–South development, seeking economic and other leverages independent of the North. As Senona (2010) has pointed out in a recent study, South–South cooperation in itself is not new, but contemporary multilateral cooperative efforts bring together seemingly unlikely collaborators for purposes of development and change. Formed in 2003, the outcome of the IBSA cooperation remains to be seen but from the outset, definitions and self-definitions, plans, programs, and initiatives of such cooperative efforts are picked up by the news media.

The IBSA consortium pre-dates the larger Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) group of nations (with South Africa joining BRIC in 2010) and continues to hold annual meetings even as BRICS has been gaining prominence in both media and among analysts (e.g., Thussu, 2011; Wasserman, 2012) who follow this group's growing power. We are yet to see systematic news analysis of the older, still functioning IBSA consortium to understand representations of this unique cooperation for the general public. The consortium shares important political and economic characteristics across all member nations that is absent in the BRICS group—all three nations are democracies with growing market economies, and share development as a main thrust in their national planning mandates and international dealings. This study aims to address this research gap, and provide an understanding of this cooperative effort's mission, discourses, action, and its attempts to differentiate itself from the BRICS group as framed by news media, specifically a leading national daily in each of the three member countries. The period considered for this study included 6 years, 2009–2014 both years included, to trace recent developments.

To this end, the study will use media framing as conceptual and methodological resources, and apply them to the analysis of the coverage of IBSA in news sources from India, Brazil, and South Africa. The next section addresses the background and context for IBSA, and the general policy stances of the cooperative with regard to several areas. The theory, method, and analysis follow. The study concludes by addressing the press's relay of the ways in which IBSA is working to shift the mindset about the current global order.

IBSA: Concept and consortium

The objective of IBSA is South–South cooperation, the roots of which lay in the South Commission established in 1988 by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM, founded in 1961 by mainlynations that aspired to establish a de-westernized, alternative international order). Strains of this ideology are observable in the IBSA group even if in a different context, and indeed some have suggested this could signal a ‘new Non-Alignment’ (Nafey, 2005). The end of the Cold War, the resultant position of the NAM (Alden and Vieira, 2005) and changes in the early 21st century significantly affected the existing international order. Post 9/11 saw an interesting turn to trilateral relations where developing countries that are considered regional hegemons (India in South Asia, South Africa in Africa, and Brazil in South America) came together in a South–South consortium for promoting trade and human development.

Agreements encoded in the last couple of agreements—in the Brasilia Declaration of 2010 and the Tshwane Declaration in 2011 released at the fourth and the fifth IBSA summits, respectively—address several areas where the three countries express joint positions on global issues, and express interest in developing joint policies. However, regional politics and the state of development of each of the three members does not make the development of joint policies, or indeed even a national policy for each of these members toward the IBSA consortium an easy task. Each of the members comes to the consortium in different stages of development, and with different strengths. The comparative advantage argument—that each nation trade to its strengths and needs—was considered, but as the RIS Group (2008) observed, it could not ensure equitable distribution in revenue from trade. The areas of agreement are worth reviewing in brief here because, as it will become apparent later in the analysis, each news source selected for the study covered at least some of the areas.

In the Brasilia Declaration all three member countries agreed on ‘democratic values’, (an important feature of the consortium), ‘inclusive social development’, and multilateralism. A more democratic and inclusive global governance, particularly in the UN, UNSC, and WTO, was another important area of agreement among the three nations. As Nel and Stephen (2010) have observed, the three democracies actively work to tip the scales of power in the global economy. A host of other areas such as sustainable development, weathering the effects of the global economic crisis such of 2008, gender questions as raised by the IBSA Women's Forum, a jointly declared position on Human Rights, and fair trade rules for all WTO members also figured in the Brasilia Declaration. Many of these themes continued in the Tshwane Declaration the following year, with two important additions—spelling out multilateral relations, including those with BRICS (South Africa, the host nation for the 2011 Summit being the newest member of BRICS), and the renewed pledge to reach the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Both Declarations emphasized South–South cooperation including the sharing of knowledge and experiences, training, technology transfer, financial cooperation and in-kind contributions as part of IBSA activities. South–South cooperation is also seen as a strategy to deal with the post-recession challenges, both within the domestic economies as well as the collective global positioning of these nations (Nel and Stephen, 2010; Sotero et al., 2010).

Differences among the three member nations are to be expected. For example, in the area of defense, India had a declared nuclear stance, Brazil was reconsidering its position, and South Africa at the time was yet to invest significantly in this direction (Alden and Vieira, 2005). Within each region, support for IBSA is uneven (Vieira and Alden, 2011). The relations are also marked by rivalry among the three regional powers (Sidiropoulos, 2011). For example, India and South Africa are rivals in the African continent, and Brazil and India are competitors for a seat in the UN Security Council. As the analysis shows, the thrust for leadership in this direction is especially apparent in O Globo's coverage. Sandrey and Jensen's (2007) analysis of imports and exports among the three nations reveals the closer ties Brazil shares with India than with South Africa, the relatively equal trade relationship of India with the other two countries and the stronger relations of South Africa to India. Despite differences, all three news sourced framed the three countries as sharing cordial relations and as having continued expectations of cooperation and joint economic advancement. The group has held across a decade, and even though the tenth anniversary talks scheduled to be held in New Delhi in June 2013 were postponed for various reasons, and skeptics have raised the question of IBSA's relevance with the development of BRICS (e.g., Chellaney, 2012), observers point out that IBSA members have enough in common to possibly ensure its continuation (e.g., Woolfrey, 2013).

All these issues come into play in the news coverage analyzed for the study, albeit with different emphases. The media frame these relations in national, regional, and global contexts, in part reflecting the national stance of each of the member nations, and also through journalistic practices of sourcing, selection, and contextualization that contribute to the creation of news frames. The next section establishes media framing as an important conceptual foundation for the study, where press mediations shape the meaning and implications of political and economic relations for the public.

Framing in news

News has become a prominent discursive site for communication researchers to understand what framing is and how framing works (D'Angelo and Kuypers, 2010). Framing involves a communication source presenting and defining an issue (De Vreese, 2005). It can seem unavoidable at several levels such as the individual journalist's level or the level of the media organizations, because rendering information intelligible for the public involves organizing, interpreting and presenting the information, thereby giving it shape and meaning (Gitlin, 1980). In the process, framing can function to define problems, diagnose causes, make moral judgments and suggest remedies (Entman, 1993). Framing thus encodes messages. Framing also involves a communication receiver deciphering or decoding a message and making meaning of it, usually (but not always) within the parameters of linguistic, cultural, and other codes shared by the source as well as the receiver (Author, 2007). Framing has the potential to significantly and critically influence citizens' evaluation of issues (Han et al., 2009; Han and Wang, 2012), affecting how they think about and act upon the issues that confront them (Kuypers, 2002). The public often relies on news to make sense of the less familiar foreign policy and international issues, of which IBSA would be one.

This analysis of the IBSA consortium takes inspiration from approaches used by two groupings of news framing studies. One uses an interpretive, sociological approach (e.g., Gamson, 1989; Entman and Rojecki, 1993; Snow and Benford, 1988), and another uses a critical or public arena approach (e.g., Carragee and Roefs, 2004; D'Angelo & Kuypers, 2010; Reese, 2004). An interpretive, sociological approach recognizes that information takes on meaning through its story presence and context (Gamson, 1989), reflecting ideological factors such as values and beliefs (Snow and Benford, 1988). This takes into account the notion of frame sponsors, be they journalists or sources who provide information for journalists (Gamson, 1989). Subjective frame judgments on the part of the news media influence evaluative dimensions of news messages, and contain the potential to influence public opinion and policy (Entman and Rojecki, 1993). While the included information (or manifest content) is critical to consider, information that is not explicitly articulated (latent content) can also be telling (Gamson, 1989). Further, analyzing framing across news stories helps identify journalism's role along with political elites and governments in fostering official political discourse regarding (inter)national organizations’ workings and operations as they unfold and evolve over time (Entman and Rojecki, 1993; Snow and Benford, 1988). ‘By extending the idea of frames beyond the single story, more complicated layers of latent meaning can be tapped’ (Gamson, 1989: 159) allowing for frame resonance to be detected (Snow and Benford, 1988).

A critical or public arena dimension of framing analysis considers the social construction of meaning (Carragee and Roefs, 2004; Tuchman, 1978), where several social actors including journalists, sources, the state (in foreign affairs) and even the public participate in making sense out of events, issues or organizations. The power distribution among these actors is uneven, thus enabling the more powerful among them to first define the issue. Further, as Kuypers (2002: 7) observes, frames especially help audiences to understand more complex political and social issues.

According to Reese (2003: 11), ‘Frames are organizing principles that are socially shared and persistent over time, that work symbolically to meaningfully structure the social world’ (italics in original). They are active, negotiated elements that through their cultural and ideological embeddedness form shared and understood codes that lend meaning, coherence and explanation, especially for complex issues (Van Gorp, 2010). Frames allow a we-all-know-what-we're-talking-about-here commonality for (some degree of) communication to occur (Lewis and Reese, 2009). Given their commonality, frames are often taken for granted.

Frames are also elements of political arguments, journalistic norms, and social movements’ discourse that serve as alternative ways of defining issues, especially within the political and social worlds (see de Vreese, 2005: 53). Hence, governments can play a large role in how an issue, topic, cause, organization or element is presented to their citizens, since the media privilege interpretations sponsored and/or disseminated by government (Sigal, 1973; Zaller and Chiu, 2000). This becomes relevant when foreign policy matters like IBSA seem distanced from citizens’ day-to-day activities but could be followed by an ‘attentive public’ (Gamson and Modigliani, 1989).

Given this theoretical framework, the overarching question for the study is as follows:

Overarching RQ: How has each of the selected news sources framed the IBSA cooperation for the readers and citizens of the respective countries?

The positioning of each country in relation to the IBSA cooperation generated the following specific research questions:

RQ1: How has each of the three news sources framed the national position in relation to the consortium?

RQ2: How has each of the three news sources framed the trilateral cooperation?

Since the three countries have come together for envisioning and establishing a new global order where the growing power of the South is expected to change the existing international hierarchy, the third research question emerged as follows:

RQ3: How have the three news sources dealt with the idea of a changing international hierarchy?

Method

Qualitative framing analysis was employed for purposes of understanding the portrayals of the consortium, its members' relationships, agendas, and future as conveyed in the news media of the IBSA member nations. Political, economic, cultural, historical, and language variances among the three countries require a dynamic, flexible approach to understand how the IBSA cooperation has been framed in each nation's news coverage. Qualitative framing analysis was selected as the most suitable method for providing this flexibility. The analysis helped discern the ways in which priorities, the member states' attitudes and approaches toward this relationship, the strength of this relationship from the perspectives of each member nation, and their expectations regarding trade, development, and a new global order were conveyed to the respective audiences.

One national news source from each country was selected, including Hindustan Times (India, referred to hereafter in the study as HT), O Globo (Brazil, referred to hereafter in the study as Globo) and The Star (South Africa, referred to hereafter in the study as Star). HT is an English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924, with roots in the Indian independence movement. It is part of a vibrant democratic press in India, one among four major English language dailies, with a circulation of 1.3 million (Audit Bureau of Circulation, 2012). HT enjoys a good following among the English-speaking urban population, especially in Northern Indian metro areas (Pednekar Magal, 2008). Brazil's leading daily O Globo is one of the top four circulated newspapers in the country (Reis, 2008). It is published in the Portuguese. We note that translations affect the reading and therefore to a certain extent the analysis of the news stories. Globo enjoys a nationwide weekday readership of one million, and a Sunday readership of more than 1.3 million readers (O Globo, 2012a). South Africa's leading daily The Star is owned by the Independent Newspaper Group. Launched in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape in 1887 as the Eastern Star, it is now published in Johannesburg and enjoys a circulation of 117,874 (ABC South Africa, 2012). The Star in South Africa has been characterized as part of the white liberal press (Berger, 1999). All three news sources are privately owned. Each news source is considered as representative of a ‘national’ newspaper given circulation figures, popularity, and the general orientation of the daily, rather than a specific orientation like the business or financial press. Thus, rather than referring to state-owned media, the term ‘national’ here refers to factors such as circulation, popularity, and standing in the nation's news landscape.

The time period for the study started from 1 January 2009, the year Jacob Zuma assumed office as South African President, and actively involved South Africa in IBSA, and also in efforts to make South Africa a partner with BRIC countries. It ended with 31 December 2014, thereby allowing us to examine developments over 6 years. Articles were selected from the LexisNexis Academic database. Both start and end dates were indicated for the search and the language-equivalent acronym ‘IBSA’ was used as the search term for all publications. News items, features, and opinion columns were included in the study as reflective of the news domain in general.

The LexisNexis Academic database search for HT yielded a total of 47 items, of which 41 were considered for analysis. Of the remaining six, three were duplicate items, and three other stories pertained to subjects not related to IBSA. Of the 39 items identified for Globo, 21 were considered for analysis, with the remaining 18 appearing as duplicates, or containing topics not related to IBSA. The search in Star yielded 31 items, of which 26 were considered for the study. Of the rest, four were duplicates and one item did not relate to IBSA. In all, a total of 88 items was considered for analysis. The number of items per news source is given in Table 1.

Table 1.

Data included for the study.

Source	Number of items included
HT	41
Globo	21
Star	26
Total	88

A qualitative frame analysis of IBSA coverage in the three national dailies was conducted. Analysis involved iterative readings of the 88 sampled news stories in an inductive, recursive, and reflective way (Altheide, 1996; Connolly-Ahern and Broadway, 2008; Lindlof and Taylor, 2011), yielding core concepts, ideas, and conflicts in the content (Hertog and McLeod, 2001). Framing devices specified in the rubric for analysis below were identified in the news stories, to help locate frames. The devices helped discern how information is highlighted and presented in specific ways in the news, with the potential to suggest to the audience an obvious and common-sense way to think about that particular issue.

In order to identify the frames, the following devices were considered. In various combinations, these devices helped construct the frames:

A central discernible theme across stories (Pan and Kosicki, 1993); themes can provide a measure of the presence of frames (Kuypers, 2006; Levin, 2005),

Rhetorical devices, that is, stylistic choices such as catchphrases and depictions (Sosale, 2007; Bicket, 2002; Gamson, 1981; Pan and Kosicki, 1993),

Reasoning devices such as antecedents and consequence (if this, then that), and appeals to principle (Sosale, 2007; Gamson, 1981), and

Journalistic devices such as types of sources used, quotations, paraphrasing, and the location of these devices within the story (Van Ginneken, 1998).

The major frames identified for HT include framing the cooperation as development among democracies, and democratization and inclusiveness in global affairs. Globo framed IBSA as a foil for bringing the nation, Brazil, into the global spotlight. Analysis of Star's coverage suggested that South Africa's position caused a dilemma for the country, struggling between democracy and development on the one hand, and global power politics on the other. Unlike the coverage in Indian and Brazilian newspapers, which did not explicitly separate the two issues, analysis suggests that the South African Star framed them as two polar choices for the country.

Analysis

Hindustan Times: Call for democracy, balance, and inclusiveness

In the period analyzed for this study, HT carried the largest number of items on IBSA among the three news sources selected for the study. Most of the items were syndicated material (37 of 41 items were from the HT Syndication). Of this number, several items used the Asian News International newswire service as the main source. About 6 items carried bylines. Three items were opinion pieces written by experts: the head of a multinational corporation in India and a regular contributor on technology and security; a professor from a policy research center in New Delhi, and the South Asia director for Human Rights. News items and analyses addressed both the bi-lateral relations with each member, and visions and hopes for the trilateral relationship. The bilateral and trilateral relations emerged in the context of the first of the two frames identified for HT—IBSA as cooperation for development among democracies. IBSA's role for the common goal of democratization and inclusiveness in global affairs emerged as the second frame.

Frame 1: IBSA as cooperation for development among democracies

There was acute consciousness of the fact that the three countries were first and foremost democracies, as is evident from the early report on the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) among IBSA countries on Human Settlements Development—the Trilateral Commission was depicted as ‘facilitate[ing] interaction amongst academics, business and other members of civil society’, besides Heads of State, Ministers, and other senior state officials (Asian News International, 2009). More than a year later in another story on Prime Minister (hereafter PM) Singh's visit to Brasilia for the fourth IBSA summit, the report characterized the cooperation as a ‘unique forum which brings together three ‘large democracies from three large continents’. It described the three countries as ‘developing, plural, multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious’ (HT Syndication, 2010a). During the same visit, when India and Brazil engaged in bi-lateral talks, a report drew out the electoral structure of the two countries, noting that an MOU would be reached between them on matters of electoral cooperation. Another report with the headline ‘India, Brazil laud progress on Doha round of trade negotiations’ again reinforces this bilateral relation. Later in June that year (HT Syndication, 2010e), in a report on South African President Zuma's visit to India, Indian Prime Minister Singh drew on common histories and the role of Gandhi in the two countries, and stated that ‘impart[ing] a forward-looking character to these ties’ was important to both countries. In other instances within the data analyzed for this study, Prime Minister Singh referred to South Africa as a powerful African ally of India for global and developmental issues. The bilateral ties between India and South Africa thus emphasized the development status more than the democracy ideology, but overall the important position that each of the two countries occupies in the respective regions emerges as much as it did for bi-lateral relations with Brazil, thereby framing the three nations both in bi-lateral and tri-lateral terms as powers in the South (Robin, 2010b, in the headline—‘There's an urgent need to reform UN bodies’: PM: ‘The significance of IBSA…transcends our bilateral ties’).

Development issues was also evident in the overall coverage. Poverty reduction appeared early on the agenda in the period examined for this study. The trilateral Working Group on Human Settlement Development met in New Delhi under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, with the objective of reaching agreements about housing and basic services for the urban poor (Asian News International, 2009). In a March 16, 2010 report covering PM Singh's visit to Brasilia, he is quoted as appealing to IBSA countries to avoid the mistakes that led to the recent global recession, and instead focus on adopting ‘social development strategies’ (Robin, 2010a). The report quoted the PM as listing a number of goals such as food security, agricultural cooperation, fairness in multilateral trading, ‘speaking out’ against protectionist trade policies of the West, and as being hopeful about ‘shaping the global agenda and highlighting the issues of concern to developing countries’. This synecdoche served to position IBSA as spokesperson for the global South. India also mobilized the support of the other members of the consortium for its program to help re-build Afghanistan (HT Syndication, 2010d). The same item, in addition to a story on the previous day (HT Syndication, 2010b) reported on discussions among the three nations on satellite development for climate and earth observations in relation to food security. A quote from Prime Minister Singh on his visit to Brasilia for the fourth IBSA summit sums up India's thinking about IBSA—‘The IBSA framework has become the embodiment of South–South Cooperation’ (emphasis authors’). The strength of the alliance is encapsulated in the aspiration, ‘institutional structure for enhancing…cooperation’ in several areas critical for developing countries—‘agriculture, science and technology, economic cooperation, transportation, ocean research and space science’.

Frame 2: Democratization and inclusiveness in global affairs

HT coverage also cast IBSA within parameters of democratization, especially in relation to ensuring inclusion of the global South for decision making in global affairs. Noteworthy coverage included items related to the following international meets: the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago (Prakash, 2009), and the UN meet where India served out its month as head of the extended United Nations Security Council (HT Syndication, 2010f).

The main theme that signaled this frame concerned India's and the other IBSA countries' positions as emerging regional economies that merited inclusion in the global sphere of influence. In the HT reports, India appeared as a spokesperson for IBSA on the trilateral group's position on their role in the UN Security Council, the group's responses to the proposals in the 2009 Climate Change Summit held in Copenhagen, and also the group's involvement in other international economic forums. For example, an item on the CHOGM meeting held in November of 2009 reported on French President Sarkozy coming to the summit on a surprise visit to introduce the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen into the CHOGM agenda. Unexpected though this agenda item, it served to solidify IBSA countries' position and cooperation on the major proposal that was to be presented at the Copenhagen Summit on climate change.

The headline of one report accentuates the global role and responsibilities for the trilateral commission—‘IBSA to focus on reforming UN Security Council: Krishna’ (referring to the then External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna; HT Syndication, 2010f). The lead paragraph cites Minister Krishna—that ‘IBSA countries should be in a position to collaborate closely…before the agenda of the Security Council’, signaling the importance of pre-UNSC consultations among the three members to agree upon a common agenda. Phrases such as ‘our shared values and ideologies and common priorities’, and IBSA members being depicted as ‘key drivers behind the demand for greater democratization and reform of the UN system’, and as ‘major peacekeeping nations’ demonstrate that the three countries were thought to be poised on the brink of tipping the scales of global power.

O Globo: Declaring Brazil as the emerging global leader

Globo's coverage indicated an overarching frame where Brazil occupied center stage in the areas of economic growth, human rights, and democratization of global governance, with IBSA forming a complementary backdrop. These three areas appear in the Brasilia and Tshwane Declarations. Coverage of each was uneven, with Brazil's global economic position claiming more press attention, followed by human rights and global governance with an emphasis on the UNSC. Although the coverage for these latter two areas was not as intense, they emerged clearly as important for O Globo. With the exception of three items, Globo relied on its own staff to report on IBSA.

Frame: Bringing the nation into the global spotlight—IBSA as backdrop for Brazil's global power

Globo articles clustered around the 4th and 5th IBSA Summit meetings. The 4th IBSA Dialogue Forum met in Brasilia, Brazil, on 15 April 2010, and the 5th took place in Pretoria, South Africa, on 18 October 2011. Each of these summits seemed to be a launching pad or Brazil's greater involvement in international political and economic affairs.

The 4th Summit, held under President Lula da Silva's dynamic leadership, proved particularly defining for Brazil. Globo reported, ‘The president highlighted that the continual expansion of formal employment… is one of the secrets of Brazil having rapidly left the international financial crisis’ (Doca, 2010). Brazil's strong economy at the time was held up as an exemplar for nations to weather the global financial turbulence, thereby highlighting it as a regional power with something valuable to contribute to the international dialogue on the issue. Brazil's homeland stability anchored it in its strategic plan along with its IBSA and BRIC partners for the upcoming meeting of G-20 nations: ‘… one of the lines of action is to discuss changes in the representation of nations in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and The World Bank’ (Doca, 2010).

The 5th Summit in 2011 marked ‘a test for Dilma [Rousseff, the new Brazilian president,] as leader’, as one headline read (Maltchik, 2011). Rousseff relied on Brazil's economic momentum and ‘sent a tough message to the European nations to find urgent solutions’ to the global financial crisis. Brazil's goal through her leadership and with support from India's PM Singh was to enter the G-20 meeting in the month following the IBSA summit ‘to pressure Europe to prevent a global stagnation’. Concurrently, the Brazilian press pointed out that IBSA should offer new subsidies and/or financial assistance to the IMF at the G-20 meeting. Such actions would ‘increase the power of the group in the decision process of the entity’ (O Globo, 2011a). With Brazil's backing, IBSA has ‘the solid credentials to demand new basics for the global financial architecture’ and ‘the conditions to double tri-lateral trade in the next four years’ (O Globo, 2011a). These quotes reinforce the framing of Brazil as a leader both in the IBSA group as well as, more generally, a strong economy from the global South, representing the South in forums such as the G-20 group of nations. In effect, Brazil, rather than IBSA countries as expressed by HT, emerged as a synecdoche for the South.

Complementing Brazil's (inter)national economic strength was the confidence it seemed to have gained in acting with its IBSA partners on human rights issues, which emerged as a key IBSA platform within sampled Brazilian stories. For instance, in April 2011 when an election-based crisis in the Ivory Coast resulted in UN intervention led by France, Globo relayed that IBSA's efforts with Brazil's political leadership resulted in a more political rather than military solution that was then accepted by the UN (O Globo, 2011b). Similarly, Brazil acted with its IBSA partners later in 2011 when leaders from all three countries met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to address human rights violations within Syria (O Globo, 2011c). Concurrently, the Syrian president spoke with IBSA leaders on another defining element of the trilateral consortium: about Syria wanting to be ‘…a democracy—free, pluralistic and multi-party—by the end of the year’ (O Globo, 2011c). But three months later, as the Syrian situation continued, Brazil departed from the stance of its counterparts in both the IBSA and BRICS groups and voted in favor of action against Syria. The landmark vote was tagged ‘a courageous step of Brazil’ by Philippe Bolopion, the director of Human Rights Watch to the UN, one that should stand as ‘…a sign, we hope, that the nation is ready to join the Security Council’ (Godoy, 2011). Further, he said, ‘We hope that other nations follow Brazil's leadership, now that it can't hide any more behind a position, along with IBSA’ (O Globo, 2011d).

Although IBSA and BRICS references are often coupled in the sampled news items, the Brazilian mainstream press differentiates how the groups are identified. It often taglines IBSA as the group ‘that aggregates Brazil, India and South Africa’. Meanwhile, BRIC(S) mentions include more figures, like: ‘The most powerful group of emerging nations in the world, known as BRIC…, the group should be responsible for 61.3 percent of global growth in the period 2008 to 2011’ (O Globo, 2010a). Regardless of differences between how the two entities might be referenced in Globo reports, the two groups, at least from the Brazilian perspective, had their sights on the UN Security Council. In conjunction at least with its IBSA partners, Globo articles noted Brazil's admitted desire for ‘reform of the Security Council, including an amplification of the permanent seats and provisions, with greater participation from the developing nations’ (O Globo, 2010a).

In sum, the frame Bringing the Nation into the Global Spotlight—IBSA as Key to Global Power for Brazil surfaced through framing analysis of 21 Globo mainstream IBSA news articles. The rhetorical, reasoning, and journalistic devices threading the news stories together evidence ‘a change in the system of plate tectonics of the global economy’ (O Globo, 2010b), since ‘The world is changing [politically and economically]. And it doesn't work having seven nations saying the rules’ (O Globo, 2009). The articles also hint Globo's positioning of Brazil as an important emerging global power. For, as former Brazilian Ambassador to the United Nations, Maria Luiza Viotti, said, ‘Brazil is a democratic nation… that [has] constructed a regional and international leadership with soft power. This new profile disturbs some of the ancient allies, like the European nations and the United States, right?’ (O Globo, 2012b).

The Star: South Africa at a crossroads: Democracy and development or power politics?

Of the 24 items analyzed for Star, many analyses and columns were written by the newspaper's Foreign Editor, Peter Fabricius. A few items were also authored by experts from universities, think tanks, and government officials. Analysis of Star yielded three frames where, over the course of the 4 years of coverage, South Africa's foreign policy position appeared fraught with difficult choices as well as possibilities for the nation, its growth, and its citizens. Much of the coverage examined for the study indicated a struggle between the desire to continue with the IBSA cooperation and also seek membership in the newer, more powerful consortium of BRIC. The frames that emerged were as follows: (1) the promise of democratic development with IBSA, (2) possibilities in global power politics with BRIC, and (3) the importance of maintaining friendly relations with the Western/Northern powers and its own position in Africa.

Frame 1: The promise of democratic development with IBSA

In several news stories, Star depicted IBSA as a trilateral consortium defined by the common political system the three nations shared—democracy. In a short but information-packed news item on 15 April 2010 titled ‘Beware the Tower of Babel built by BRICS’, journalist Qobo described South Africa as ‘pivotal’ to the formation of IBSA, and former President Mbeki as bringing together ‘like-minded developing countries’ (Qobo, 2010). Drawing an analogy with the G-7 group (constituted mainly by industrialized countries in the North), metaphorically Qobo saw IBSA as the ‘G-7 of the South’, counterbalancing the power of the other (actual) G-7. Further, these three countries ‘share[d] similar values of democracy, economic development and the fight against global inequalities’ (Qobo, 2010). Depictions such as ‘like-minded’ that emerge in other parts of the story supported by similar references—‘sharing similar values of democracy, economic development’, and ‘encouraging civil society involvement’—underline the shared political ideology of the three countries. In some other news items IBSA countries are described as ‘closely knit’ (Fabricius, 2010a), as ‘a forum of democracy’ (The Star, 2010), ‘a club of democracies’ (Fabricius, 2011a), and as a final example, a story on 15 April, 2011 (author n/s) titled ‘We will not be just another BRIC in the wall’ depicted IBSA countries as ‘solid democracies’.

The shared goal of development among the three countries was also apparent in Star's coverage. Characterizing the three nations as ‘falling between developed and developing economies in transition’, chief economist with the Department of Minerals and Energy Tseko Nell wrote in a column on 25 June 2009 that each IBSA member country was a regional economic leader, and that South Africa should seize the opportunity to build a sustainable economic growth model. Qobo (2010) called for ‘structur[ing] co-operation among the three countries around concrete development goals’. In a report on South Africa–Brazil cooperation in defense industries, author Heitman (2011) emphasized the importance of comparative advantage since neither country was self-sufficient in this area but each had complementary strengths that could come together to mutual advantage. Another report on 17 October 2011, quoted PM Singh's reiteration during his visit to Pretoria that the three countries were ‘three large developing democracies working together’.

Frame 2: Possibilities of global power politics with BRIC

The first theme of IBSA as a group of developing democracies soon gave way to a desire on the part of South Africa to become a member of BRIC, the ‘big brother’ to IBSA. BRIC presented both a threat and an opportunity for a South Africa that had pinned its hopes on IBSA for development and for countervailing the current global inequality from the South. From the news items (stories and columns) read for the study, Russia from the North, and an authoritarian state like China in the BRIC forum were brought up frequently in Star. An early position taken by chief economist Nell in a column on 25 June 2009, explains South Africa's inability to seal the deal on IBSA, let alone participate in BRIC (Nell, 2009). The entire article is an appeal to reason, communicating the urgency for economic growth in order to participate effectively in multilateral consortia created to correct global power imbalances. Another news item in 2009 depicts IBSA as ‘one of the main pillars of South Africa's foreign policy’ and BRIC as ‘an interest-based alliance pos[ing] serious challenges for IBSA’. It was evident in many reports that South Africa felt left out of the BRIC formation when IBSA partners India and Brazil were included in it. The BRIC formation was seen as a threat to creating imbalances in the South, creating a South–South economic divide that would mimic the North-South economic divide.

Following the initial depictions of BRIC as a threat, support for South Africa's membership in BRIC emerges strongly in the next set of stories. From a ‘tower of Babel’ (headline, 15 April 2010) as a metaphor for BRIC, the consortium becomes an aspirational group, as the headline of an item on 6 August 2010 notes, ‘SA desperate to play with the big boys’ (Fabricius, 2010b). By 13 August 2010, in an article titled ‘Pretoria courts global club for membership’, the author (n/s) suggests that ‘in Pretoria's thinking, power trumps democracy’. Delays caused by President Zuma's meetings with Russian and Chinese leaders contributed partially to the cancellation of the sixth IBSA meeting in New Delhi, thereby suggesting that BRICS assumed greater importance over IBSA for South Africa at that moment (The Star, 2013).

Frame 3: The West, the North, and the rest of Africa

As the third and final frame constituting this frame shows, the eventual invitation from China for South Africa to join BRIC, thus making the acronym BRICS, put South Africa in an uneasy position vis-à-vis the countries of the North and also the African continent. Using the metaphor that South Africa should not ‘burn too many bridges’ one report (Fabricius, 2011b) warns that South Africa needs to maintain an independent stance in the face of multiple sources of international pressure. Accepting the invitation to join the Organization of Economic Cooperation for Development (OECD), for example, would imply relinquishing South–South memberships and again, place South Africa in an uneasy position within Africa. Its need to maintain independent thinking and ties to the North, and its own leadership position in Africa in the face of other advancing African nations also contributed to framing South Africa as a nation at a crossroads, tugged in several directions simultaneously and facing the ensuing inner (national, foreign policy) turmoil that is evident in most of the coverage, excepting for a recent story in December 2014 suggesting a shift in a more positive direction, toward a balanced foreign policy.

Discussion and conclusion

News coverage of nations coming together in regional trade and other agreements in non-specialist, general national news sources may not bear direct and visible consequences for general news media audiences. Nonetheless news representations depict a picture of the state of affairs in international relations, policy, and for countries in the South, initiatives for development and change in which their (citizens') governments are involved. In this task of relaying foreign policy decisions to the public, news media are selective in presenting information to the public, and in a particular way that directs the reader's attention to what the news source wants the audience to know. As Durham (2007) observes, information is organized in frames for the public.

This study aimed to provide a view of how selected print news media frame IBSA, and delineate the circumscribed ways in which they might encourage thinking and attitude formation among the readership regarding new inter-national initiatives for growth and change. A leading general newspaper from each of the three member nations was examined beginning with 2009 and ending in 2014. Framing theory and frame analysis provided the conceptual and methodological references for the study.

This group represents an emerging trend in global power politics, that of countries of the South challenging the hitherto powerful nations of the North in matters of governance, trade, economic relations, and other arenas such as human rights. Frame analysis of the coverage in each of the selected newspapers, between 2009 and 2014, revealed that each news source framed the country's position vis-à-vis the consortium, and the group itself against a more global backdrop. In response to the first research question we posed: How has each of the three news sources framed the national position in relation to the consortium? We can conclude that the news source in each country positioned the nation as an important regional representative within the group and that each country saw the relationship as important, albeit in different ways, and to differing degrees. HT framed IBSA countries collectively as an important group in global politics, Globo saw IBSA as a foil for Brazil's own global positioning, and South Africa's Star framed IBSA as a necessity for Africa. Collectively the three news sources dealt with different areas of the most recent agreements—the Brasilia and the Tshwane Declarations of 2010 and 2011, respectively. Each source emphasized a different group of concerns. For example, human rights emerged as important for Globo, not as much for Star, and took a back seat in HT, whereas IBSA as important for development emerged in the Star, to an extent in HT, but not as much in Globo. Examination of one news source in each of these three nations provides a limited, if any, view of the medium's own ideological stances, but given that each news source is popular, national in presence, and enjoys a wide circulation among the general public, its task of articulating the national position in the global arena has been tackled for the respective countries.

In response to the second question: How has each of the three news sources framed the trilateral cooperation? The analysis reveals a positive frame constructed by each of the three news sources. All three news sources saw the cooperation as important for furthering mutual relations, strengthening the position of emerging economies in the international arena, and serving as role models for other countries in the respective regions. The complexities of entering into formal trade agreements among the three nations are extensive (RIS Group, 2008). Trade agreements would therefore be approached with great caution, and over a longer time frame. Much of the news coverage confined itself to the normative importance of the three countries working together on certain fronts.

The final question: How have the three news sources dealt with the idea of a changing international hierarchy? Points to IBSA's collective and individual stances on the existing global hierarchy and their calls to change it to a more level playing field that would accommodate the developing world as well. The news sources used appeals to reason in the coverage of various venues and summits, and to urge to argue in a collective voice for greater democracy in the global order. In relation to national positioning in this regard, HT saw India as a spokesperson for IBSA's global power, and sought the member countries' support in its international decisions at the time, especially in relation to the United Nations Security Council, Afghanistan, and Syria. Globo framed Brazil as an emerging powerhouse with IBSA serving as a supportive backdrop, and Star depicted South Africa as facing a dilemma with the three demands to its loyalties at the time—the importance of participating in South–South cooperations, maintaining South Africa's continental leadership in Africa, and considering membership invitations from groups in the North (that could strain ties with South–South cooperations).

Foreign policy issues in national dailies may be read by a minority—policy influencers, government decision-makers, corporate leaders with a vested interest in these regions, and a small percentage of the interested general public, but image management at the international level through national flagship news sources with global visibility is critical, even if by itself such image making (and by extension opinion creation) may not noticeably change global power politics. Mediated images become one more ingredient (however modest) in foreign policy decision-making.

The frames that have emerged in the reading of mainstream news for this study remind us of the journalistic routines (e.g., sourcing experts and ministries for information, seeking subject experts for columns), professional ideologies (using such sources for knowledgeable inside information, to help verify ‘facts’ and thus make the report credible for the readers), and the practice of deciding/selecting and streamlining information for quick consumption by a general readership. Nevertheless, the news is the main source of information on foreign policy deliberations for citizens, and these three news sources apply routines and ideologies both consciously and otherwise to frame the IBSA consortium for their readership.

While the study has been helpful in providing an idea of a South–South cooperation in contemporary debates on development and democracy, some directions for further inquiry should be noted. First, because one newspaper from each country was selected, in spite of being nationally representative in stature, each news source offers one set of (its) views. To gain an ideological stance of a news source, more than one, and more variety in news sources, need to be incorporated. Secondly, the data were selected from a database. Collections in databases are often selective by necessity, based on the type of subscription each publication has with the database service provider (here, Lexis Nexis Academic). Hence some (even important) items that might have appeared in the broadsheet version in these countries (where print newspapers are still a popular general information source) could have slipped the data net of the study. Thirdly, expanding the data to begin at the beginning of the formation of the trilateral commission might give a better picture of its status in the time period selected for this study as measuring up against the original intentions. Database limitations prevented access to news items earlier than 2009. Nevertheless, the study offers at least an initial mediated view of cooperation among emerging regional economic powers located in and lobbying for the South in contemporary global spheres of influence.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

Alden

Vieira

(2005) The new diplomacy of the South: South Africa, Brazil, India and trilateralism. Third World Quarterly 26(7): 1077–1095.

Altheide

(1996) Qualitative Media Analysis, Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.

Asian News International (2009) Cabinet approves IBSA MOU on Human Settlements Development. Hindustan Times, 5 February. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

Audit Bureau of Circulations of India (2012) Available at: http://www.auditbureau.org/files/Top_Circulations.pdf (accessed 28 December 2014).

Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa (2012) ABC 2nd quarter presentation 2012. Available at: http://www.abc.org.za/ (accessed 28 December 2014).

Berger G (1999) Toward an analysis of the South African media and transformation: 1994–99. Available at: http://www.kznhass-history.net/ojs/index.php/transformation/article/viewFile/764/580 (accessed 19 October 2015).

Bicket

(2002) A sober new political identity for Europe: Media constructions of Scotland through the prism of the Scottish Parliament. In: The annual convention of the association for education in journalism and mass Communication, Miami Beach, FL: August 2002.

Brasilia Declaration (2010) 4th IBSA Summit Declaration. Available at: http://www.ibsa-trilateral.org/component/content/article/131-declarations-communiques/english/154-documents-2003-2010 (accessed 28 December 2014).

Carragee

Roefs

(2004) The neglect of power in recent framing research. Journal of Communication 54(2): 214–233.

10.

Chellaney B (2012) BRICS in the wall. Hindustan Times March 29. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

11.

Connolly-Ahern

Broadway

(2008) “To Booze or Not To Booze?” Newspaper coverage of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Science Communication 29(3): 362–385.

12.

D'Angelo

Kuypers

(2010) Introduction: Doing news framing analysis. In: D'Angelo

Kuypers

(eds) Doing News Framing Analysis: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 1–14.

13.

De Vreese

(2005) News framing: Theory and typology. Information Design Journal + Document Design 13(1): 51–62.

14.

Doca G (2010) Lula: 2 Milhões de Vagas Serão Abertas Este Ano (Lula: 2 Million Positions Will Be Available This Year). O Globo, 20 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

15.

Durham

(2007) Framing the state in globalization: The Financial Times' coverage of the 1997 Thai currency crisis. Critical Studies in Media Communication 24(1): 57–76.

16.

Entman

(1993) Framing: Toward clarification of a paradigm. Journal of Communication 43(4): 51–58.

17.

Entman

Rojecki

(1993) Freezing out the public: Elite and media framing of the U.S. anti-nuclear movement. Political Communication 10(2): 151–167.

18.

Fabricius F (2010a) Gupta's journey comes full circle. The Star, 4 August. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

19.

Fabricius F (2010b) SA desperate to play with the big boys: Being part of a forum with Brazil, Russia, India and China would act as a key geopolitical counterweight. The Star, 6 August. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

20.

Fabricius F (2011a) Let's face it: We are the dwarf among BRICS. The Star, 14 January. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

21.

Fabricius F (2011b) Watch out SA: You might still get snot nose. The Star, 21 October. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

22.

Gamson

(1981) The political culture of Arab-Israeli conflict. Conflict Management and Peace Studies 5(2): 79–93.

23.

Gamson

(1989) News as framing: Comments on Graber. American Behavioral Scientist 33(2): 157–161.

24.

Gamson

Modigliani

(1989) Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power: A constructionist approach. American Journal of Sociology 95(1): 1–37.

25.

Gitlin

(1980) The Whole World is Watching: Mass Media in the Making & Unmaking of the New Left, Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.

26.

Godoy F (2011) Outono Árabe/arabe? (Fall Arab?). O Globo, 23 November. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

27.

Han

Chock

Shoemaker

(2009) Issue familiarity and framing effects of online campaign coverage: Event perception, issue attitudes, and the 2004 Presidential election in Taiwan. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 86(4): 739–755.

28.

Han

Wang

(2012) Understanding ‘Made in China’ valence framing and product-country image. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 89(2): 225–243.

29.

Heitman H (2011) SA and Brazil would do well to cooperate in defence industries. The Star, 5 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

30.

Hertog

McLeod

(2001) A multiperspectival approach to framing analysis: A field guide. In: Reese

Gandy

Jr Grant

(eds) Framing Public Life: Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, pp. 139–162.

31.

HT Syndication (2010a) Dr. Manmohan Singh accorded rousing welcome in Brazil. Hindustan Times, 14 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

32.

HT Syndication (2010b) IBSA leaders condemn recent attacks in India and terrorism in all Manifestations. Hindustan Times, 16 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

33.

HT Syndication (2010d) India's role in Afghanistan gets Brazil, South Africa support. Hindustan Times, 17 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

34.

HT Syndication (2010e) India, South Africa to work closely in international forums: Manmohan Singh. Hindustan Times, 4 June. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

35.

HT Syndication (2010f) IBSA to focus on reforming UN Security Council: Krishna. Hindustan Times, 26 September. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

36.

Kuypers

(2002) Press Bias and Politics: How the Media Frame Controversial Issues, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

37.

Kuypers

(2006) Bush's War: Media Bias and Justifications for War in a Terrorist Age, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

38.

Lechini

(2007) Middle Powers: IBSA and the new South-South cooperation. NACLA Report on the Americas 40(5): 28–32.

39.

Levin D (2005) Framing peace policies: The competition for resonant themes. Political Communication 22(1): 83–108.

40.

Lewis

Reese

(2009) What is the War on Terror? Framing through the eyes of journalists. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 86(1): 85–102.

41.

Lindlof

Taylor

(2011) Qualitative Communication Research Methods, 3rd edn. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

42.

Maltchik R (2011) Na África, um Teste de Dilma Como Líder (In Africa, a Test for Dilma as Leader). O Globo, 16 October. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

43.

Nafey

(2005) IBSA forum: The rise of “new” Non-Alignment. India Quarterly 61(1): 1–78.

44.

Nel

Stephen

(2010) The foreign economic policies of regional powers in the developing world. In: Flemes

(ed.) Regional Leadership in the Global System: Ideas, Interests and Strategies of Regional Powers, Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 71–90.

45.

Nell T (2009) Lack of planning makes SA a victim to global whims. The Star, 25 June. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

46.

O Globo (2009) Celso Amorim. 17 June. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

47.

O Globo (2010a) BRIC Pressiona por Reforma no FMI Até Novembro (BRIC Pressures for Reform no FMI Until November). 16 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

48.

O Globo (2010b) Cúpula emergente (Emergency Dome). 15 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

49.

O Globo (2011a) Locomotiva Mais Lenta (Slower Locomotive). 18 October. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

50.

O Globo (2011b) Brasil Pede Negociação na União Africana (Brazil Asks for Negotiation in the African Union). 7 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

51.

O Globo (2011c) Assad Admite Error e Promete Accesso ão Sìria (Assad Admits Mistake and Promises Access to Syria.]. 10 August. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

52.

O Globo (2011d) A INPAO, de Planos Odonotológicos, está investindo US$2,5 Milhões no Escritório do Rio (INPAO, from Ontological Plans, Is Investing US$2.5 Million in its Rio Office). 30 August. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

53.

O Globo (2012a) Marketing materials. 1 January.

54.

O Globo (2012b) Eles Têm Uma Única Receita: Sanções (They Have Only One Recipe: Sanctions). 2 January. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

55.

Pan

Kosicki

(1993) Framing analysis: An approach to news discourse. Political Communication 10: 55–75.

56.

Pednekar Magal

(2008) Divided by language: Newspapers in India, DVD.

57.

Prakash S (2009) Climate change hijacks CHOGM 2009. Hindustan Times, 28 November. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

58.

Qobo M (2010) Beware Tower of Babel built by BRICS. The Star, 15 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

59.

Reese

(2003) Framing public life: A bridging model for media research. In: Reese

Gandy

Jr Grant

(eds) Framing Public Life: Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, pp. 7–31.

60.

Reese

(2004) Militarized journalism: Framing dissent in the Persian Gulf Wars. In: Allan

Zelizer

(eds) Reporting War: Journalism in Wartime, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 247–265.

61.

RIS, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (2008) Trinity of the South: Potential of India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Partnership. New Delhi: Academic Foundation Press.

62.

Reis

(2008) How Brazilian and North American newspapers frame the stem cell research debate. Science Communication 29(3): 316–334.

63.

Robin RS (2010a) Not to repeat the mistakes of the past, Singh asks IBSA leaders. Hindustan Times, 16 March. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

64.

Robin RS (2010b) Dr. Singh foresees more economic relations with China. Hindustan Times, 14 April. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

65.

Sandrey R and Jensen H (2007) Examining the India, Brazil and South African (IBSA) triangular trading relationship. Tralac Working Paper No 1. Available at: www.tralac.org (accessed 30 January 2014).

66.

Senona J (2010) BRIC and IBSA forums: Neo-liberals in disguise or champions of the South? SAIIA Policy Briefing No 24. Available at: http://www.saiia.org.za/policy-briefings/bric-and-ibsa-forums-neo-liberals-in-disguise-or-champions-of-the-south (accessed 31 December 2013).

67.

Sidiropoulos

(2011) India and South Africa as partners for development in Africa?. Briefing Paper, London: The Chatham House.

68.

Sigal

(1973) Reporters and Officials: The Organization and Politics of Newsmaking, Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.

69.

Snow

Benford

(1988) Ideology, frame resonance, and participant mobilization. International Social Movement Research 1: 197–217.

70.

Sosale, S (2007) “Pre-modern” online: Converging discourses of globalization and development. Journalism and Communication Monographs 9(1), 2–52.

71.

Sotero P, Carpenter C, de Souza F, et al. (2010) Emerging Powers: India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) and the Future of South-South Cooperation. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Available at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/emerging-powers-india-brazil-and-south-africa-ibsa-and-the-future-south-south.

72.

The Star (2010) Pretoria courts global clubs for membership. 13 August. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

73.

The Star (2013) Protocol isn’t just a proper way to do things—It makes or breaks relations. 17 May. Available at: LexisNexis Academic database.

74.

Thussu

(2011) News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global Infotainment, London: SAGE.

75.

Tshwane Declaration (2011) Available at: http://www.ibsa-trilateral.org/images/stories/documents/declarations/FINAL_Tshwane_Declaration_18Oct_12h23.pdf (accessed 18 October 2015).

76.

Tuchman

(1978) The News Net. Social Research 45: 253–276.

77.

Vieira

Alden

(2011) India, Brazil, and South Africa (IBSA): South-South cooperation and the paradox of regional leadership. Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations 7(4): 507–528.

78.

Van Ginneken

(1998) Understanding Global News: A Critical Introduction, London: SAGE.

79.

Van Gorp

(2010) Strategies to take subjectivity out of framing analysis. In: D'Angelo

Kuypers

(eds) Doing News Framing Analysis: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 84–109.

80.

Wasserman

(2012) China in South Africa: Media response to a developing relationship. Chinese Journal of Communication 5(3): 336–354.

81.

Woolfrey S (2013) The IBSA Dialogue Forum ten years on: Examining IBSA cooperation on trade. Tralac: Trade Law Centre. Available at: http://www.tralac.org/files/2013/08/S13TB052013-Woolfrey-IBSA-Dialogue-Forum-ten-years-on-20130827-fin.pdf (accessed 28 December 2014).

82.

Zaller

Chiu

(2000) Government's little helper: U.S. press coverage of foreign policy crises, 1946–1999. In: Nacos

Shapiro

Isernia

(eds) Decision Making in a Glass House: Mass Media, Public Opinion, and American and European Foreign Policy in the 21st Century, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, pp. 61–84.