Author: Zaynab Bolanle Raji-Ellams
Date: 2026/01/10
This study investigates the discursive construction of conflict and resistance in Gaza across selected media outlets through a Critical Discourse Analysis of 30 English news articles from The New York Times, CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera, The National and Al Arabiya using Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis framework. To facilitate a more comparative analysis of news from different regions, the dataset was split into two groups: Western media and Middle Eastern media.The results indicate that Western media outlets predominantly contextualise the Gaza conflict in geopolitical and military frameworks, while Middle Eastern media outletsmore often focus on the humanitarian effects of the war. The research also reveals disparities in the portrayal of key figures, indicating that Western media are more likely to distinguish between Palestinian civilians and Hamas militants, whereas Middle Eastern media prioritise the suffering of Palestinian civilians. Also, when reporting deaths and destruction, Western news is more likely to use passive constructions, while Middle Eastern news is more likely to use active constructions that clearly identify those responsible for military actions. The findings of the study imply that media portrayals of the Gaza conflict varies systematically between the two media categories, and these discrepancies suggest more extensive institutional and ideological biases in the investigated categories. By comparatively analysing multiple outlets across the same analytical dimensions, the study extends existing research on media representation of the Gaza conflict and further highlights how discourse functions in reporting events and structuring meaning and responsibility in conflict narration.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Gaza Conflict, Media Representation, Conflict Framing, Resistance Framing, Fairclough's Three-Dimensional Model, Ideology.
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