The phrase, ‘Coalition of the Willing’, emerged in East Africa in 2013, when three East African Community (EAC) members (Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda) forged a Tripartite Initiative to fast-track the EAC regional integration, sidelining Tanzania and Burundi, for their apparent ‘aloofness’ to integration. This coalition created tensions among the five countries, exacerbating an already simmering conflict between Tanzania and Rwanda involving the expulsion of ‘illegal’ Rwandan migrants from Tanzania. Informed by contemporary political communication and media framing, this article examines how these events were framed in five leading newspapers in East Africa: the Daily Nation (Kenya), the Daily Monitor (Uganda), The Citizen (Tanzania), The New Times (Rwanda) and The East African (EAC region). Through a thematic frame analysis, we interrogate the prevalence and implications of five prominent themes found in most political conflicts (attributions of responsibility, conflict, human interest, economic consequences and morality) on the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ media debate. The analysis reveals conflicting frames with a potential to inflame antagonistic media debates to the integration efforts ‐ by the resultant blame-game and opening up of historical wounds and personal differences, among the key players.

中文翻译：

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对 2013 年东非“自愿联盟”倡议的主流报纸报道的框架分析

“自愿联盟”一词于 2013 年在东非出现，当时东非共同体 (EAC) 的三个成员（肯尼亚、乌干达和卢旺达）制定了一项三方倡议，以加快 EAC 区域一体化进程，将坦桑尼亚和布隆迪排除在外，因为他们对整合的明显“冷漠”。该联盟在五个国家之间制造了紧张局势，加剧了坦桑尼亚和卢旺达之间已经酝酿的冲突，涉及将“非法”卢旺达移民驱逐出坦桑尼亚。受当代政治传播和媒体框架的影响，本文探讨了这些事件是如何在东非的五家主要报纸上被框架化的：每日国家报（肯尼亚）、每日监视器（乌干达）、公民报（坦桑尼亚）、新时代报（卢旺达） ) 和东非（EAC 地区）。通过主题框架分析，我们在“自愿联盟”媒体辩论中询问在大多数政治冲突（责任归属、冲突、人类利益、经济后果和道德）中发现的五个突出主题的普遍性和影响。分析揭示了相互矛盾的框架，有可能激起对整合努力的敌对媒体辩论——通过由此产生的指责游戏以及在关键参与者之间公开历史创伤和个人分歧。