Framing and Ideology in Global News Coverage of Armed Conflicts: CNN and BBC Reporting on Ukraine and Gaza

Alqaysi, Asst. Prof. Dr. Fouad Hussein Ali

doi:10.25130/Lang.10.2.P1.23

Framing and Ideology in Global News Coverage of Armed Conflicts: CNN and BBC Reporting on Ukraine and Gaza

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Asst. Prof. Dr. Fouad Hussein Ali Alqaysi

Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, Tikrit University, Tikrit, Iraq

https://doi.org/10.25130/Lang.10.2.P1.23

Abstract

This research investigates the media coverage by the BBC and CNN of the escalation of violence in Ukraine and Gaza to reveal how ideologies influence media discourse across distinct geopolitical contexts. While existing literature often examines these conflicts in isolation, this study addresses the gap regarding the asymmetrical framing of global crises by providing a comparative, qualitative analysis that demonstrates how Fairclough’s critical discourse framework reveals an ideological shift from humanized 'defence' in Ukraine to distanced 'attack' in Gaza. This study investigated how ideology influences media discourse via qualitative research and critical discourse analysis. Utilizing Fairclough's approach (2001) three-dimensional approach in the analysis process to reveal how the use of language in the media texts analysed manipulates power and ideology. The analysis of four representative articles identifies how linguistic choices manipulate power to frame social actors and create distance between conflicting sides. The results uncover significant disparities in reporting, identifying systemic bias in news discourse that aligns with broader ideological interests rather than universal journalistic objectivity, biasness was identified in the news discourse in terms of attack and defence.

Keywords

CDA

wars

conflicts

Ukraine

Gaza