ANALYZING THE WAY PAKISTANI MEDIA COVERS HUMANITARIAN ISSUES DURING VIOLENT CONFLICTS: A CASE STUDY OF THE GAZA WAR IN REAL TIME PERSPECTIVE
Keywords:
Hamas, Palestine, Israel, conflict, human rights, casualties, Media CoverageAbstract
This study contently analyzes the media coverage of the Palestine-Israel conflict in the context of human rights violations and policy issue. To examine the Pakistani media approach towards this burning issue, two leading English newspapers, i.e., Daily Dawn and The News, were selected from the print media, which have considerable influence over policy issues, and they are reportedly highlighting the international conflicts more in the broader context of Pakistan’s foreign policy on one side and giving noticeable space to human’s rights, which are more likely to be violated during conflict. The findings of this real-time study show that casualties and human rights violations dominated the overall coverage of the conflict, indicating the inclusive framing of the conflict as ‘humanitarian crises’ where possibly human rights were compromised during combat between Hamas and Israel. The findings also suggest that both newspapers collectively gave higher supportive coverage to Palestinian or otherwise Hamas’ stance. While Hamas was made accountable for small amount of critical coverage, which was shaped mainly in the context of human rights violations.
References
Ali, H., Hussain, T., Ali, S., Jumani, N. M., Li, B., & Zhang, G. (2017). Coverage of
Educational Issues in Pakistan by Daily Dawn and The News: September 2015-December 2015. Sci. Int.(Lahore), 29(5), 1069-1072.
Asi, M. (1981). Arabs, Israelis and TV News: A Time-Series, Content Analysis. Adams,WC, ed.
Bennett, W. L. (1990). Toward a theory of press‐state relations in the United States. Journal of Communication, 40(2), 103-127.
Daghrir, W. (2016). The Mainstream Media and United States’ Policy in El Salvador.Journal of Advances in Humanities, 453-461.
Dawn. (2023 October 14). As Israeli bombardment continues, UN expert warns Palestinians in‘grave danger of mass ethnic cleansing, Available at: https://www.dawn.com/news/1781042
el-Din, B. A.(1971). World media and the Arabs: an Arab perspective. The Arab World from Nationalism to Revolution. Wilmette: The Medina University Press International.
Entman RM (2007) Framing bias: Media in the distribution of power. Journal ofCommunication 57(1): 163–173.
Friedman, E., & Herfroy-Mischler, A. (2020). The media framing of blame agency in
asymmetric conflict: Who is blaming whom for the 2014 Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations failure?. Journalism Studies, 21(13), 1873-1892.
Galtung, J. (2006). Peace journalism as an ethical challenge. Global Media Journal: Mediterranean Edition, 1(2), 1-5.
Gamson, W. A., & Modigliani, A. (1989). Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear
power: A constructionist approach. American journal of sociology, 95(1), 1-37.
Gonen, Y. (2018). Journalists–sources relationship in violent conflicts coverage: Shifting
dynamics. Sociology Compass, 12(7), e12595.
Gonen, Y., & Hoxha, A. (2019). Interactions between journalists located in different sides of a
conflict: a comparative study of two conflict zones. Journalism Studies, 20(16), 2495-2512.
Hanitzsch, T. (2007). Deconstructing journalism culture: Toward a universal theory.
Communication theory, 17(4), 367-385.
Hussain, S. (2017). Analyzing the war–media nexus in the conflict-ridden, semi-democratic milieu of Pakistan. Media, War & Conflict, 10(3), 273-292.
Kressel, N. J. (1987). Biased judgments of media bias: A case study of the Arab-Israeli dispute.
Political Psychology, 211-227.
Livingston, S., & Eachus, T. (1995). Humanitarian crises and US foreign policy: Somalia
and the CNN effect reconsidered. Political communication, 12(4), 413-429.
Lynch, J. (2013). A global standard for reporting conflict: Routledge.
Mermin, J. (1999). Debating war and peace: Media coverage of US intervention in the post
Vietnam era. Princeton University Press.
MOFA. (2023). Pakistan’s concerns at the unfolding situation in the Middle East. Available at:
Robinson, P. (2017). The media and foreign policy. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.
Epub ahead of print 26 September. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.494.
Robinson, P. (2000). The policy-media interaction model: Measuring media power during humanitarian crisis. Journal of peace research, 37(5), 613-633.
Robinson, P. (1999). The CNN effect: can the news media drive foreign policy?. Review of
international studies, 25(2), 301-309.
Rosenstiel, T., & Kovach, B. (2001). The elements of journalism. New York: Crown.
Shahzad, F., Qazi, T. A., & Shehzad, R. (2023). Framing of Israel and Palestine Conflict in RT
news, Al-Jazeera, CNN & BBC News. Global Digital & Print Media Review, VI, 1-14.
Shattuck, J. (1996). Human rights and humanitarian crises: Policymaking and the media.
In R. Rotberg & T. Weiss (Eds.), From massacres to genocide: The media, public
policy, and humanitarian crises (pp. 169–175). Cambridge, MA: World Peace Foundation.
ul Amin, R. (2019). MEDIA, CONFLICT AND FOREIGN POLICY INTERACTION:
ANALYSIS OF INDO-PAK MEDIA DURING VIOLENCE IN INDIAN HELD KASHMIR. PAKISTAN, 55(1).
Wang, J., & Wang, X. (2014). Media and Chinese foreign policy. Journal of Contemporary
China, 23(86), 216-235.
Wheeler, N. (2000). Saving strangers: Humanitarian intervention in international society.
NewYork: Oxford University Press.
Zeitzoff, T. (2011). Using social media to measure conflict dynamics: An application to the
–2009 Gaza conflict. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 55(6), 938-969.
Zhang, C., & Meadows III, C. W. (2012). International coverage, foreign policy, and
National image: Exploring the complexities of media coverage, public opinion, and presidential agenda. International Journal of Communication, 6, 20.
