Framing of the Israeli-Palestinian War in Global Broadcast Media: a Comparative Analysis of Cnn and Al Jazeera

ABSTRACT This study investigates global media’s framing of the Israeli-Palestinian war by focusing on disparities in reportage. The aim is to compare the dominant frames used by CNN and Al Jazeera in their coverage of the war between October and December 2023. Grounded in the framing theory, this research employs a qualitative content analysis based on deducted frames from a model developed by Thankachan and Thomas (2021) for media frame analysis in conflict and war reporting. The analysis consists six video reports, three from each outlet, sourced from their official YouTube outlets. The frames which the analysis focuses on include: victim frame, fear frame, blame/responsibility frame, historical/context frame, humanitarian frame, and propaganda frame. It was concluded that CNN, representing the views of Western and Israeli media, used the blame frame and fear frame the most in order to reinforce Israel as the victim in the war. The Middle Eastern media, represented by Al Jazeera, used the humanitarian frame and historical/context frame the most in order to present Palestine as the victim going through a humanitarian crisis with Israel being the aggressor. This study recommends increased media literacy, as well as more objectivity from media outlets. Keywords: Media framing, war, global broadcast media, CNN, Al Jazeera