Framing the attack on Togo

On January 8^th, the Togo national soccer team was attacked as it traveled by bus to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. The shooting happened in a contested part of Angola, Cabinda, which is separated from the main body of the country by the Republic of Congo. Shortly after entering Cabinda, militants opened fire on a bus carrying the team, killing two, and injuring many more. I chose two articles that took tremendously different approaches to the topic, though they were both written at roughly the same time on the 10^th of January.

The first article I will discuss can be read here.

This article takes a very opinionated look at Soccer as an institution. The title of the article is A Big Part of Life, and Now Death. The opening of the article states pointedly that world sports can no longer presume that they “are immune to terrorism.” The article continues on to defend the decision of the Togolese teams exit from the Africa Cup of Nations and draws a comparison with an incident involving an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March of last year. The article then segues into the author’s main theme. He begins discussing that today’s terrorist is no longer avoiding innocent populations at sporting events, but targeting them instead. Attacks on such large and public gatherings of people will focus world news coverage on the organization responsible. With the World Cup coming to South Africa in June and July, the articles framing is particularly relevant.

The second article can be read here.

In contrast to the other article, this article, originally published by BBC, is much more informational. The title is Togo leave as Nations Cup begins. The title says it all… the Togolese team withdrew from the tournament and went home though the tournament was still being held. The articles framing takes a more “play through the pain” rhetoric. By using lines like “last-ditch efforts to persuade Togo to stay and play on came to nothing”, the article establishes its perspective as one of quiet discontent. The author counters with a quote from the Togo sport minister saying “we can’t be in a period of mourning and at the same time be in a festival of sport.” The article makes a point of mentioning the support other African teams are offering the Togolese but also reinforces its recurring theme of discontent with their withdrawal.

Both articles are clearly framed, but I was surprised to see the US article take the high opinion stance even though Soccer is hardly a passion for most Americans. The BBC covered the story of the Togolese departure and has since moved onto covering the rest of the tournament. The BBC took a much more balanced approach to the topic by presenting both positive and negative opinions of the departure.