Media and narrative: News framing of the 2023 round of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Abstract

In October 2023, Hamas, the Palestinian armed group, launched an attack on Israel, resulting in injuries, deaths, and the abduction of civilians. This incident escalated tensions between the parties, ultimately leading to a war. This article explores the immediate coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by Anadolu Agency News (AA), the state-sponsored media of Turkey, and privately funded Salom Newspaper (SN), which is the oldest Jewish newspaper in Turkey. The authors found that, while AA portrayed the conflict as a continuation of Israel’s Islamophobic policies, SN depicted the events as part of Hamas’ antisemitic attacks. The destroyed hospitals, the tragedy of women and children, life in refugee camps, and airstrikes on Gaza are the focus of AA’s coverage of the humanitarian crisis. The Israeli citizens held captive by Hamas are the focus of SN’s humanitarian crisis dimension. The findings raise the question of how two newspapers can present the same event from completely different frames or perspectives.