Are Transboundary Water Events Reported Differently in French and English News for Conflict and Cooperation Dynamics?

Media coverage of water events in transboundary river basins reflects the views of both riparian countries and beyond, and the conflict and cooperation dynamics could be biased due to the linguistic diversity. The aim of this study is to investigate whether any deviation exists in the depiction of water conflict and cooperation dynamics as reflected in the sentiments of French and English news articles, taking the Lancang-Mekong River basin and the Nile River basin as case studies. The results showed that news articles in English itself can reflect the trends of the cooperative or conflictive sentiments of the water events occurring within the basin, but French news is complementary in examining the attitudes and values of a few countries towards the shared river. The study would serve as an important reference for the perspective analysis of all riparian countries, as well as a basis for comprehending water conflict/cooperation dynamics in multiple languages.