Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication and Media

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication and Media

Qualitative Content Analysis of Tehran’s Air Pollution in Iranian News Media: A Case Study of Editorial Cartoons from Khabar Online and Tasnim News Agency

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mohammadreza Gharghani 1
Ehsan Shahghasemi 2
1 M.A. Student in Social Communication Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran. Iran( Corresponding Author)
2 Associate Professor, Department of Social Communication Sciences. University of Tehran. Tehran. Iran
10.22085/jiscm.2026.547836.1924
Abstract
Air pollution is one of the most harmful environmental phenomena, responsible for numerous problems in human societies as well as in nature. In Iran’s metropolises and industrial cities, air pollution has long been a major environmental issue. Visuals—especially editorial cartoons—are an important medium for conveying topics in reports and news; this importance is heightened by the way cartoons deploy a system of conventional signifiers and signifieds oriented toward symbols.

Using qualitative content analysis grounded in Rodríguez’s visual model and the theoretical literature on framing, this study examines cartoons on air pollution published by two Iranian news agencies—Asr-e Iran and Tasnim—from 2014 to 2025 (1393–1403). Visual framing is a form of nonverbal framing; as Coleman (2010) notes, frames are narratives that offer audiences overarching meanings about what to think about. Our analysis indicates that the two agencies, which operate under different support bases and ownership/policy orientations, adopt distinct frames in representing cartoons. Asr-e Iran predominantly employs an ideological frame, using symbolic elements and metaphor to depict the government as a principal agent of pollution, whereas Tasnim operates more within a conceptual frame.
Keywords
Air Pollution
Visual Framing
Environmental Communication
caricature