The Discursive Construction of War in Anadolu Agency and Reuters News: A Crisis Communication Perspective the 7–14 October, 2023, Hamas–Israel Conflict
The Discursive Construction of War in Anadolu Agency and Reuters News: A Crisis Communication Perspective the 7–14 October, 2023, Hamas–Israel Conflict

Summary/Abstract: This study examines how crisis communication is constructed through news discourse in the context of Israel’s military operations in Gaza following 7 October 2023. The research comparatively analyzes news articles related to Gaza, Hamas, Palestine, and Israel published by Anadolu Agency and Reuters between 7 and 14 October 2023. Using the Habermetre dataset, the study population consists of 573 Reuters articles and 516 Anadolu Agency articles. From this corpus, a simple random sample of 60 news items was selected and analyzed using the WordSmith software. Word frequency lists and contextual analyses were employed to identify and compare the dominant news frames used by the two agencies. The findings are interpreted within the analytical dimensions of crisis communication, including information provision, victimhood/solidarity, and responsibility and accountability. Accordingly, crisis communication and framing theory constitute the study’s theoretical framework. By combining quantitative and qualitative approaches through a systematic discourse analysis based on linguistic data, the study aims to contribute to the literature by demonstrating how crisis communication is discursively constructed. The findings indicate that both news agencies construct their coverage through eight distinct frames. Specifically, Anadolu Agency articles tend to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, with an emphasis on both military and civilian destruction and Israel’s structural violence, whereas Reuters articles foreground Israel’s security paradigm, the role of Hamas in the conflict, and the diplomatic discourses of Western states. Overall, the article suggests that in global crises, news media function not only as channels of information but also as agents that shape interpretive frameworks.

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