Media coverage framework for crime patterns in Bahraini newspapers - from January 2026 to March 2026

Abstract

This study aims to monitor and analyze the media framing of crime patterns in daily Bahraini newspapers (Akhbar Al-Khaleej, Al-Watan, Al-Ayam, and Al-Bilad) from January to March 2026. Utilizing a descriptive approach and content analysis method, the study examined a purposive sample of 36 journalistic materials selected through the constructed week method and distributed equally among the four newspapers. The findings revealed a dominance of cyber, economic, and local crimes as key editorial priorities, alongside a noticeable reliance on official and penal frames, and positive and neutral tones aimed at reassuring the public and highlighting law enforcement and justice efforts. This coverage relied mainly on in-house correspondents and was placed in inside pages. Conversely, the study showed variations in editorial policies regarding the disclosure of perpetrators' nationalities and the utilization of visual and layout formats, which integrated artificial intelligence. Ultimately, the study offers a set of professional recommendations, advocating for a transition toward interpretive and preventive journalism, the formulation of editorial guidelines regulating nationality and privacy issues, and the training of journalists in the ethics of crime reporting in collaboration with academia.