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Framing conflict, shaping memory: Power and narrative in UK and Irish coverage of Rafah

Last modified by ruslana m on 2026/06/05 11:58

National media coverage of conflicts is powerfully shaped by context and historical memory, yet the underlying mechanisms remain underexplored. This study conducts a critical discourse analysis of 300 articles from UK (BBC, Sky News) and Irish (RTÉ, The Journal) outlets covering Israel's 2024 Rafah offensive. Systematic contrasts emerge: UK outlets predominantly used passive voice for Palestinian casualties and foregrounded Israeli agency, with minimal Palestinian sourcing. Irish media, in contrast, attributed agency to Israeli actions 86-91% of the time, balanced source-representation, and frequently deployed explicit moral terminology. Notably, media framing in Ireland temporally aligned with government support for the ICJ genocide case and Palestinian statehood recognition. These findings suggest that national historical memory actively shapes conflict discourse and legitimizes divergent policy strategies.

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Keith Peter Kiely, Yana Naydenova, Kalina Stoyanova, Nevena Grigorova

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Co -Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DIGITAL-2021-TRUST-01. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.