The issue at question: Media representations of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict.
Media coverage of the Israeli Palestinian conflict (hereafter IPC) has become increasingly diversified in recent years. This diversification of news in general, and the IPC in particular, have occurred somewhat in parallel with the rapid growth of the fields of critical thinking in language and discourse analysis. Critical Linguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis, Pragmatics, Systemic Functional Linguistic, Cognitive Discourse Analysis and Discourse Semantics are just some of the areas which have contributed to the impressive body of knowledge about human communication and the dialectic that language, ideology and power maintain in societies.
Issues covered by mass media, such as the IPC, are less and less frequently represented as binary problems with ‘good’ or ‘bad’ outcomes, or “good” or “evil” agency. At the very least, media representations of “good” and “bad” are not necessarily clear to see. Simple binary models of representation are proving inadequate as large media organisations struggle against the diffusion of ideas that pervade internet journalism, and increasingly literate media consumers, both of which are often somewhat informed by the aforementioned fields of critical enquiry.
Indeed, language has been shown, through the above analytical methods, to serve various and multifaceted functions in society which go far beyond simple representation of events as facts to be taken at face value. Meta-linguistic properties of, persuasion, deception, rhetoric, argumentation, obfuscation, and so on… now exist as constant targets for deconstruction; perpetually re-determining what socially, culturally, politically and historically guided factors shape and reshape representations which readerships in societies around the world consume every day.
This research presents a modest contribution to the field of Critical Discourse Analysis (hereafter CDA) by investigating instances of identification, sympathy and empathy (hereafter ISE) in the language of The Irish Times’ and The Times’ coverage of the IPC; specifically, coverage of the wall/fence/barrier (hereafter ‘barrier’) that has been erected by Israel on and around the 1949 armistice line. The research is carried out under a multi-methodological approach entitled CDAISE. This name alludes to a multi-methodological Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) combined with a theoretical approach to the human characteristics of identification, sympathy and empathy (ISE).
Research Questions
This thesis essentially questions common wisdoms based on the assumption that Ireland tends to display ISE with Palestinians as the underdog. And, Britain tends to maintain ISE with Israelis as a socio-culturally modern and similar society.
The following questions are addressed: How does the language and discourse of national newspaper media, maintain and reinforce conventional understandings of foreign nations in conflict in a manner which creates the kind of socio-linguistic conditions necessary for ISE with either one of the two conflicting parties, and furthermore, which displays responsibility to human rights and humanitarian issues? Second, how do certain socio-cultural and politico-historical tenets of nationalism affect this process in British and Irish newspaper representations of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict? Also, what effect do economic factors play in potential mobilisation of ISE discourses?
The importance of investigating British and Irish newspaper coverage of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict.
The IPC is a highly salient news topic which is constantly under scrutiny by media organisations that are eager to produce more attractive reports to garner readership in order to survive economically. Different news organisations of differing ideological and political persuasions often produce quite different representations of the same event. Aziza Zaher (2009), Elizabeth Poole (2002, 2006) Greg Philo and Mike Berry (2004, 2006) and John Richardson (2007) have provided various insightful investigations – which I discuss further down – of Western media coverage of events and situations related to Arab nations and/or the IPC. Their results have shown how language necessarily operates through an ideological lens which often distorts representations to suit the values of the readership relative to their surrounding societal values.
The exercise of uncovering inconsistencies, persuasion, deception, rhetoric, argumentation, obfuscation, and so on… in the language use of powerful media organisations is, I believe, of crucial importance to society and the progression of societal values systems. I believe that human agency in every aspect of life should be inextricably tied into human rights. Large scale activism, informed by critical thinking and self awareness is crucial to the progression of societal values. As the world becomes increasingly connected economically, socially and culturally, it is essential that media representations of foreign issues such as the IPC are critically informed, not just of the ‘facts’ but of how presenting and representing ‘facts’ in different ways can cause different effects on society, such as mobilisation of political support and action in cases such as the IPC.
In this research I have used various linguistic, socio-linguistic, and critical discourse analytic tools in order to uncover language of ISE in the aforementioned newspapers. The multi-methodological approach, CDAISE provides nuanced understanding of how the language of The Irish Times and The Times can be recognised as inextricably tied into the social pressures which shape and are shaped by socio-culturally and politico-historically bound predispositions of solidarity between nations.
Contribution to knowledge.
My modest contribution to the field of CDA shows how mobilisation of support does not necessarily always result from and ‘us’ and ‘them’ ‘East vs West’ highlighting of difference (Said 1992, 2003: VanDijk, 1998: Poole 2002, 2006). Indeed, as per Geroge Lakoff’s (2009) theory on empathy, it is my contention that ISE plays a significant role in the mobilisation of political support for third party conflict; that is to say conflict in which the subject is not directly involved. Furthermore I propound that ISE is a function of certain socio-cultural and politico-historical pressures. However, during my research I discovered that these pressures can be subsumed by the immediacy of economic pressures. Economic pressures affect both newspaper output and readership values which in turn, in the context of the newspaper-readership dialectic under investigation, necessarily affects the ISE of both. The evident ISE in the language and discourse of newspaper journalism as viewed under the CDAISE approach (explained in detail in the next chapter) provides a particular perspective into socio-cultural values in relation to foreign conflict.
My hypothesis.
The focus of this study is the IPC for the following reasons: the ISE which is ostensibly assumed as common wisdom to be broadly maintained in Britain for Israel; and in Ireland for Palestine; its physical distance from either Britain or Ireland; the difference in socio-economic conditions of the peoples of Israel and Palestine; and the contemporary nature, perceived importance, and thus media visibility of the conflict.
The physical distance between the countries from which the newspapers originate and the area where the conflict unfolds is significant because understandings of the IPC in Britain and Ireland are necessarily socially constructed and somewhat imagined through the representations which broadcast media provide.
The socio-economic conditions of the two peoples in the IPC is significant because there is an assumed politico-historical condition existent in Ireland, that is; the Irish tend to side with the underdog. In Britain, on the other hand, there is an assumed legacy of imperialism which could be described as the residue of an imperialistic history which has somewhat normalised the drive for “modernisation” within “underdeveloped” countries, peoples or nations.
The perceived importance of the IPC is significant as it is only important to outsiders to the extent that the media construct its importance. This importance is necessarily contingent upon creating imagined social connections with the IPC and its actors. These connections are in turn subject to the ISE which a disconnected people, such as the British or Irish public, feel towards either of the peoples involved in the IPC. This ISE is seen as a symptom and a cause of the mediatised narratives which represent the issue. Very little research has been conducted into the nature of mass media creating the socio-linguistic conditions within which ISE can be mobilised and maintained, and none covers the media’s maintenance of those conditions within Britain and Ireland in relation to the IPC.
Underlying the literature review phase of this work has been the idea of nations forming parts of their identity in national media through perceived similarities with other people and nations. Various paths of research of how this level of ISE might exist socio-culturally and politico-historically, and how it might manifest linguistically were charted and eventually the most fertile path to follow, as will be explained in the chapter 2, was found to be one which utilised resources from a broad field of critical discourse analytical, socio-cognitive, linguistic, and social theorists.
The perceived importance of the IPC is significant as it is only important to outsiders to the extent that the media construct its importance. This importance is necessarily contingent upon creating imagined social connections with the IPC and its actors. These connections are in turn subject to the ISE which a disconnected people, such as the British or Irish public, feel towards either of the peoples involved in the IPC. This ISE is seen as a symptom and a cause of the mediatised narratives which represent the issue. Very little research has been conducted into the nature of mass media creating the socio-linguistic conditions within which ISE can be mobilised and maintained, and none covers the media’s maintenance of those conditions within Britain and Ireland in relation to the IPC.
Underlying the literature review phase of this work has been the idea of nations forming parts of their identity in national media through perceived similarities with other people and nations. Various paths of research of how this level of ISE might exist socio-culturally and politico-historically, and how it might manifest linguistically were charted and eventually the most fertile path to follow, as will be explained in the chapter 2, was found to be one which utilised resources from a broad field of critical discourse analytical, socio-cognitive, linguistic, and social theorists.
The benefits of this study.
This study provides a nuanced insight into a small part of what is needed to move society to the point where it can maintain the socio-linguistic conditions necessary for humanitarian and human rights values to exist unimpeded by ideological biases and dogmatic presuppositions. I believe that the social world is moving slowly in the right direction in terms of social values sets, and that critical research in mass communication is essential for its continuing progress. I also believe that education of a critical nature is essential to keep moving in the right direction. I hope that this research will prove to be a useful data resource for further research studies embarking on similar paths in order that studies in critical thinking will become more common place.
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