Republic of the Philippines

Isabela State University

Cauayan City Campus
SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
PS 421 Research 1
First Semester, S.Y. 2023-2024

A CONTENT ANALYSIS ON THE PHILIPPINE MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE

ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT USING GOFFMAN’S FRAMING THEORY

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
BACHELOR OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Submitted by:

Mark Baraquiel
Monette D. Ignacio

Adviser:

Prof. Marie L. Hiloma

Submitted to:

Prof. Sheila Antonette D. Bacud

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The media’s role is very important as they are the medium that connects the whole world through

the news that they provide. The media has a lot of functions that can truly help the world which

includes, informing, educating and influencing the public. According to (Puijk, 2009), “not only

royal ceremonies, but also issues related to sports, politics, or catastrophes can engage the media

and their audiences in a way that they are remembered decades later”.

Furthermore, the media reports news which serves as intermediary to connect the people and the

government which will make people actively participate in the governmental processes and

keeps them involved themselves actively in society and politics. The media also has the power to

shape public opinion, promote social change, and protect public interest. According to (Boykoff,

2006) , “the mass media constitute a crucial site for the construction of reality, an ever

unfolding

2007) discursive locale that influences public opinion on social issues and delimits societal

2008) assumptions and public moods”. Media is can be also a tool for promoting democracy,

development, and a tool to end war or worse, to add gas in the flames of conflict.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the longest conflict in the modern history which claims

tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people. It originated in a long-standing land
disputes which claims by Israel and Palestine to be “rightfully theirs" (Dowty, 2008). The

struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, which is driven by opposing historical, political,

sociocultural, and religious differences, is still going till this day. Tensions erupted on May 10,

2021, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict saw a ten-day surge of violence that is thought to have

been the worst in recent history (UN, 2021).

While the conflict is centered in Gaza and seen as the primary cause of the increases in violence

in 2008, 2012, and 2014, the mobility restrictions and Palestinian displacement in East Jerusalem

were the catalyst for the escalation of hostilities in May 2021. First, Palestinians started

protesting on May 6, 2021, against the Supreme Court of Israel's ruling to force Palestinian

families out of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem. Then, during Ramadan on May 7, 2021, Israeli forces

scattered Palestinians from the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City. Later, on 10 May 2021,

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired missiles into Israel, which sparked Israel to fire

thousands of airstrikes into Gaza. This results to 11,000 Palestinians wounded, 20,000 homes

were destroyed and half a million people displaced (AI Jazeera, 2023).

International media channels are crucial in providing the fundamental framework that people use

to experience and make sense of events, as seen by the attention that the recent conflicts between
Israelis and Palestinians attracted from the worldwide population (Hodkinson, 2011) and

( Rizova and Panayotova, 2021). In other words, according to ( Rizova and Panayotova, 2021),

“news media reports of foreign conflicts contribute to how the public perceives the origins,

outcomes and importance of international conflicts and subsequently where diplomatic and

government resources may get distributed. However, the media "construct" the news rather than

simply "report," also referred to media framing”. Wherein it defined as the process of "selecting

and highlighting some facets of events or issues and making connections among them to promote

a particular interpretation, evaluation, or solution" (Entman, 2004, p. 5) and ( Rizova and

Panayotova, 2021). The headline of the news and the image that the media presents are important

in making the news articles. According to (van Dijk, 1989), instead of constantly summarizing

the news texts, journalists sometimes generalize or rebuild the content to produce attention-

grabbing headlines. In the end, the same story or issue is can be represented by different news

media differently from each other.

According to study made by Rizova and Panayotova (2021) which (the researcher tries to

replicate using only the “framing theory” as Rizoya and Panayotoya used framing theory

and agenda-setting theory ) “the results of this study match those of the pre-existing research

done by Greenwood and Jenkins (2015), that conflict representation in global news is mainly
displayed through active combatants and battle aftermath or pictures typically emphasize

military equipment, troops, and leaders participating in the conflict more than peace initiatives

(Greenwood & Jenkins, 2015, Parry 2010; Keith et al., 2010). This paper's findings align with

Fahmy & Neumann's (2012) conclusion that themes of war are more frequently depicted than

themes of peace in the visual portrayals of the Israel-Palestine conflict (Fahmy & Neumann,

2012) . English online stories tackling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, issued by the BBC, CNN

and Al- Jazeera, were critically analysed following a framing analysis method. The news

headlines and supporting images find first that the discourse within the topic of the conflict

comprises a war frame consisting of visuals and headlines portraying a large number of themes

originating from warfare, violent acts, casualties and death. Nevertheless, a frame of peace fitting

with Galtung's (1969) concept of such is identified. The themes mainly present in it are

demonstrations, negotiations, foreign mediation and solidarity with different victims of the

conflict. Second, the study demonstrates marked differences in the representation structures that

the three networks employ in choosing the online news headlines and supporting images they

issue in English. Third, Al Jazeera's focus on Palestinian nationals and their warfare

consequences exhibits marked differences in the discursive features and their social implications

compared with both the BBC and CNN. The two publications stick to a reporting approach

focusing on solely informing the reader of the occurrence of ongoing events rather than how they
influence the affected populations. Fourth, the results show that the differences in patterns

largely reflect and respond to each network's social and political assumptions and practices”.

Also, according to (Arqoub, 2015) "The study concluded that Yedioth Ahronoth an Israeli

newspaper, used an interesting frame to present information in a more convincing manner. The

newspaper focused on Israeli issues and relied heavily on Israel official news sources and

narrative. This approach provided justifications for Israel and portrayed it as a victim of the war

indicating that the newspaper was not neutral in its coverage. It was biased towards the Israel

side”.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a big impact to the world. The impact of this conflict is not

just on the two of them but also making a domino effect on the global economy of the world.

According to (Bianchi, 2023) “Internal and inter-state conflicts often have a significant effect on

stock market indices, exchange rates, and commodity prices – sometimes even sending prices

higher in the lead-up to hostilities”, and it is a not good news to everyone. During the times of

conflict, the UN or the United Nations (the biggest International Organization) tries to do their

best and find alternative ways that benefits the opposing parties just not to resort to war to all of

his members. As for the Israel, the state of Israel is a member of the UN which is in fact admitted
by the UN as its 59th member. And as for Palestine, it is a Observer State.

As the Philippines is also one of the members of the UN, conflict like Israeli-Palestinian conflict

concerns the country because as a member of the UN, we are committed to upholding and

promoting human rights, so we have amoral obligation to address the humanitarian consequences

of the conflict. Also, it concerns the country because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has the

potential to escalate tensions and destabilize not only Israel and Palestine but also neighboring

countries (Israel might seek help to its alliances to rapidly defeat Palestine, same goes to

Palestine to rapidly defeat Israel which can lead to world war). As a fellow member of the UN,

we are committed to upholding international law which bind us and promotes peaceful

resolutions of conflicts based on the principles of justice and legality. And lastly, it concerns the

Philippines because as a member of UN, we all want international peace and security and

economic stability.

With a lot of issues happening around the world, media coverage's become a sole distributor of

information around the world. It is important to know how does media here in the Philippines

frames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Therefore, the decision to carry out this study lies in the

interest of the researchers to examine how does the Philippine media framed Israeli-Palestinian
conflict during 2021 up to June 2023. And upon reviewing all the literature, the researchers

found out that there is no conducted study yet about on how the Philippine media frames the

news regarding the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

With the guide of the study made by Rizova and Panayotova (2021), which was the

researcher tries to replicate, the researchers aim to understand how does the Philippine media

outlet TV5, ABS-CBN, GMA, and CNN frames the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Specifically, the

study aims to answer the following questions:

RQ1. How is the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is represented by the Philippine media outlet TV5,

ABS-CBN, GMA, and CNN?

RQ2. What textual frames are employed to create the online headlines?

RQ3. What visual frames are chosen to portray the conflict?

RQ4. What similarities and differences appear in the media framing?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study focuses on how does the Philippine media outlet TV5, CNN, ABS-CBN, and GMA

frames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The significance of the study is threefold: Firstly, it

benefits the community as it helps us to understand how does the Philippine media frame the

international news like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how does the media can shape the

perceptions of the people towards an issue. It can also serve as an eye opener to all of us to think

critically and don’t just based on what we here from the news as it maybe framed by the media to

get their agenda. Secondly, it is significant to the news audience. This study will inspire the

viewers to always think critically on the issues surrounds them, and analyze the information that

is given by the news, asking themselves if this is true or someone is framing it.

And lastly, to the future researchers. Aside from using it as a literature review, it can also

inspire the future researchers to make and come up with a more interesting and informative

researches that can help and change the community someday.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study is intended to determine how does the Philippine media outlet TV5, ABS-CBN,

GMA,

and CNN frames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This study will gather its data through
examining news articles with featured imaged and headline, television news programs, and

online posts that has a headline on it and featured image that published by ABS-CBN, TV5,

CNN, and GMA regarding the conflict during 2021 until June 2023. The news articles, television

news programs, and online posts that has no featured image and no headline will not be

considered by the researcher. Also, the researcher will strictly not consider the news before 2021

and after June 2023 even if it has a headline and a featured image on it.
 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The following review of literature delves in synthesizing and examining the existing literature on

the international media framing of previous flares up of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The media’s role in wars and other violent conflicts has long been the focus of research attention

(Althaus, 2003; Bennett, Lawrence, & Livingston, 2007; Blondheim & Shifman, 2009; Kalb &

Saivetz, 2007; Liebes & Kampf, 2009; Nohrstedt, Kaitatzi-Whitlock, Ottosen, & Riegert, 2000;

Tenenboim, 2017; Yarchi,2016). More recently, especially in the last two decades, studies have

begun examining the role that new media, particularly social media, play under these

circumstances (Bennett, 2013; Evans, 2016; Knüpfer & Entman, 2018; Livio & Cohen-

Yechezkely, 2019; Melki & Kozman, 2021; Merrin & Hoskins, 2020; Schafer, Truc, Badouard,

Castex, & Musiani, 2019; Wolfsfeld, 2018).

According to (Katz & Liebes, 2007; Liebes, 1998; Wolfsfeld & Weimann, 1997)The importance

of journalism in our life is most evident during catastrophic circumstances such as natural
disasters, terrorist attacks, and conflicts. Under such conditions, the scope and amount of

contacts between government officials, the media, and the public are excessive. This disparity is

exacerbated when other stakeholders, such as the military, are added to this tripartite interaction,

and when the situation at hand is exceptionally severe (Baden & Tenenboim-Weinblatt, 2018;

Bennett et al., 2007; Yarchi, 2016).

As early as the 1970s, media and communication experts started examining how the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict was covered in the news media (Neuretier,2017). Still, the vast majority of

studies concentrated on the viewpoint of the "Western" media since it "controlled the global flow

of news on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (Kressel, 1987). “The structure, scope, and depth of

media throughout the world shifted around the end of the twentieth century”( Panayotova, &

Rizova, 2021). Through the use of technological advancement local events may be broadcast live

to the rest of the world, while at the same time, viewers can observe and learn about events and

cultures around the globe.

Panayotoya and Rizoya (2021), said that “there is an extensive literature on the media framing of

the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; however, the results are often conflicting.” Which is some of the

news media show an anti-Israeli frame, while the others show anti-Palestinian frame. According

to Neureiter (2017), a "anti-Israel and an anti-Palestinian frames do not conflict with one another
because different reporters and media favor or denounce various Israeli-Palestinian conflict

parties, or that media coverage can alter across time”. “This opposition in the representation

showcases favouritism in the representation of one or the "Other" side of the conflict

(Panayotoya and Rizoya, 2021)”.

It is originally began year 1948 and has gradually decreased since then. From 2008 to 2014, the

number of attacks between Israel and Palestine increased. In fact, the 2014 Gaza War was their

third major conflict in less than six years. This war is widely regarded as the bloodiest in the

course of the Israeli-Palestinian rivalry. Indeed, after 50 days of conflict in Gaza, it was

discovered that 2143 Palestinians had been killed (including 577 children, 263 women, and 102

elderly), 11230 had been injured, 10800 buildings had been destroyed and 8000 had been

partially destroyed, 40000 homes had been damaged, and more than 350000 people had been

displaced (18).

According to Neureiter (2017), ''CNN's philosophical bent and analysis of a country's public

perceptions, demographic concealer, and interaction with Israel'' may clarify the emergence of

partiality in the backdrop of conflict portrayal. Multiple research studies, on the other hand,

suggest that the majority of the media in the The United States has a negative attitude toward
Israel. The coverage of the issue by these media outlets is thought to be mostly consistent with

the aforementioned "underdog" concept (Barkho, 2008).

The analysis of extant literature on the U.K. In a similar vein media coverage of the war has been

uneven. According to Baden and Tenenboim-Weinblatt (2018), British media delivers a broader

range of perspectives and more accurate reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than

American media. Barkho (2008), on the other hand, discovered that BBC coverage fails to stress

the ''illegality of settlements'' and identifies a pro-Israel bias in how the BBC employs

nominalisation and transitivity in titles to conceal Israeli blame for Palestinian killings.

Philo and Berry (2004) undertook an in-depth study of Al Jazeera's depiction of the Gaza War

and found that a description of Palestinian suffering and their portrayal as victims In journalistic

coverage, victims are frequently used instead of covering Palestinian interpretations of the war to

"even" out the Israeli version (Philo & Berry, 2004, p. 144). Liebes and Kampf (2009), on the

other hand, examined television. The results of media coverage revealed that it was expanded to

include a wide spectrum of Palestinian figures alongside customary framing of events

surrounding Intifada II. Palestinians were also perceived as ordinary people living under

occupation, frequently as direct victims of Israeli military action. The research confirms the

media's propensity to report the conflict in an event-oriented, violence-focused, and ethnocentric

manner, which is worsened during major escalation (Baden & Tenenboim-Weinblatt, 2018).

While most study on media representation focuses on print and television, we take a different

approach by studying news outlet headings and highlighted lead graphics.

Aggression and misery are regularly shown visually in global news. Conflicts are depicted

vividly as active combatants and battle aftermath rather than as influenced. Greenwood and

Jenkins (2015) distinguish between observers and peace initiatives. According to Lee and

Maslog (2005), peace framing is more commonly communicated by emphasizing current events

and political or military leaders rather than troops and civilian fatalities. Additional research on

combat representations reflects the trend, with images frequently emphasizing military

equipment, personnel, and leaders participating in the conflict. However, there is some emphasis

on civilians and the consequences of combat on them (Parry, 2010; Keith et al., 2010).

However, relatively few are concerned with the specific conflict under consideration in this study

or the various frames shown in online media representations of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Fahmy and Neumann's (2012) study understanding the visual frames reflecting the 2008-2009

conflict in Gaza is the most notable and relevant to this research effort. Researchers were capable

of to construct parameters for distinguishing between peace and war frames in photographs by
utilizing characteristics such as the perceived significance and age of those depicted in the

photographs, the amount of physical injuries disclosed, and emotions displayed by the subject

(Fahmy & Neumann, 2012). Whereas civilian casualties contrast with military action

frameworks for Keith et al. (2010), they portray the war rather than peace initiatives.

Finally, according to Hall (1997, p.61), representation is "the process by which members of a

culture utilize language to produce meaning." Thus, we represent something in a specific way

and give it meaning by communicating through words what we think and feel about it, how we

categorize it, and what values we place on it, such as organizing a person or event (Hall, 1997).

This concept is based on a constructionist viewpoint, or the belief that representation is a

component of every thing's structure, indicating that items, people, events, and experiences have

no meaning in and of themselves; rather, it is we, as individuals, who create meaning by

connecting the universe of things, our mental notions , and the language we use to communicate

(Hall, 1997).
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The researcher will be guided by the study made by Panayotova, & Rizova (2021), (which the

researcher tries to replicate) as to better understand and explain the framing of media here in

the Philippines. The researcher will also use Goffman's framing theory as a theoretical

framework to conduct a content analysis on Philippine major media outlets such as ABS-CBN,

GMA, TV5, and CNN during 2021 until June 2023 by examining news articles, television news

programs, and online news sources that has featured image and headline on it. Framing theory

suggest that the way of how the information is presented to the audience, or “the frame,” will

shapes the decisions of individuals regarding on how they would interpret that information.

Goffman (1974), stated that “The viewers are impacted by the messages' organization and

context”. According to Goffman, there are two differences between basic frameworks: social

and natural. Both have the function of assisting people in understanding data. in order for their

experiences to be comprehended within a wider social framework. Natural frameworks identify

events as physical occurrences taking natural quote literally and not attributing any social forces

to the causation of events. Social frameworks view events as socially driven occurrences, due to

the whims, goals, and manipulations on the part of other social players (people). This study will

explore how the media defines, shapes, and presents the conflict to the Filipino audience. The

framing theory will provide insights into the dominant frames used by the media and their

potential impact on public perception and understanding of the conflict.

Frame Building Frame-setting

Framing in the newsroom Frames in the news Framing effects

- Internal factors - Issue-specific - Information processing

(editorial policies, frames effects
news values) - Generic frames - Attitudinal effects
- External factors - Behavioral effects

Fig. 1. An integrated process model of framing (de Vreese, 2005)

DEFINITION OF TERMS
Bias – manipulating the information to set a agenda.

Frames - are abstractions that work to organize or structure message meaning.

Media – news maker, and information disseminator. They can disseminate their news through

television news outlets, social medias, and through newspapers.

Textual frames – linguistic or words that used in the headlines of the news articles.

Visual frames – this are the photography that are featured on the news article with the purpose

to engaged the recipient’s mind and emotion.

REFERENCES:

Panayotova, M., & Rizova, H. (2021). Online news media framing of the 2021 Israeli-

Palestinian conflict by Al Jazeera, BBC and CNN.

Attar, D., & King, G. (2023). Media framing of the Intifada of the Knives. Media, War &

Conflict, 17506352221149554.

Mhanna, M. (2018). Caught in the frame: A critical analysis of Australian media representations

of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2014–2015.

Deek, A. (2020). The Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process in the Alternative Palestinian Media: A

Case Study of Palestine Today News Channel (EMU)-Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi (DAÜ)).

Aziz, M. A. (2007). An analyis of print media coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict during

the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006. Clemson University.

Alsaba, M. R. (2023). The Influence of the Abraham Accords on the Visual Coverage of the

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Arab Media: a Comparative Analysis (Doctoral dissertation, The

American University in Cairo (Egypt)).

Zanuddin, H., & Almahallawi, W. (2017). Media Framing Approach Of Israelis And Palestinian

Conflict. The European Proceedings of Social and Behaviour Sciences.

Thiel, S., & Kempf, W. (2014). Audience reactions to peace journalism: How supporters and

critics of the Israeli policy process escalation and de-escalation oriented media frames. Conflict

& communication online, 13(1).

Stawicki, M. (2009). Framing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A study of frames used by three

American newspapers. University of Missouri-Columbia.

Kempf, W., & Thiel, S. (2012). On the interaction between media frames and individual frames

of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Conflict & Communication, 11(2).

Awais, I. A., Rahim, N. R. A., Alhossary, A. Z., & Ab Rahman, Z. (2022). The Israeli Arabic-

speaking Facebook pages and its effects on the elements of Palestinian national identity.

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Manor, I., & Crilley, R. (2019). The mediatisation of MFAs: Diplomacy in the new media

ecology. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 15(1-2), 66-92.

Siraj, S. A. (2008). War or peace journalism in elite US newspapers: Exploring news framing in

Pakistan-India conflict. Strategic Studies, 28(1), 194-222.

Dowty, A. (2008). Israel/Palestine.Cambrige:Polity Press

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conflict: the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid in German, British, and US newspapers. Israel Affairs,

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Hodkinson, P. (2016). Media, culture and society: An introduction. Media, Culture and Society,

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Van Dijk, T. A. (2012). Structures of discourse and structures of power. In Communication

yearbook 12 (pp. 18-59). Routledge.

Bianchi D. (2023). How the Israel-Hamas war could affect the world economy and worsen

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 CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presented the method and procedure that were used by the researchers in obtaining
data needed for this study. It discussed the method of the research use, the instrument to use in
this study, the composition of the respondents, the data gathering procedures, and the locale of
the study.

Research Design

The researchers used qualitative research by employing a descriptive method used to determine
and analyze the program offered in the Bureau of Jail Management. This approach will include
the data analyzing, transcribing, and interpreting the data collected.

Research Instrument

The researcher collected data through in-depth interviews with the administrator and person
deprived of liberty in Ilagan City Jail.

Respondents of the study

The study aims at gathering information involving 6 staff and employees and at least 10 persons
deprived of liberty.

Data Gathering Procedure

 The researcher constructed a set of questionnaires for Persons Deprived of Liberty and

for Bureau of Jail Management administrators which are aligned with the study objective. the

questionnaire was consulted as an instrument for obtaining data. After constructing and

approving the questionnaires, the researchers send request letter addressing the Jail Warden of

City Jail of the city of Ilagan, to allow the researcher to interview PDL and Jail Officers.

The request letter signed by the Program Chair and Dean of the School of Arts and

Sciences. Once the letter is approved, the researcher will interview purposively the selected

participants. The researcher asked permission from the participants to conduct a one on one

interview and follow what was convenient for them.

The Interview were conducted at the location and the time of participants` choosing. With

the express of consent of the participants, voice record is used and also some might only write

their answers on paper provided. Then, the researcher analyzed the collected data to a precise

result according to the participants` answers.

Ethical Considerations

The research proposal Life Behind the Steel Bars: Analyzing the Implications of the Inmates

Welfare and Development Programs for Person Deprived of Liberty at BJMP City of Ilagan was

submitted to the research instructor, and the approval was granted upon careful evaluation.

Before collecting data, the researchers formulated a letter checkef by the research instructor and

signed with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Paul Angelo A. Tamayo. During

the procedure, the researcher presented the letter to Jail Warden of the City Jail of Ilagan, and it

was received and approved. In the interview, the researcher gave an informed consent letter to

the participants. It was clearly explained and assured to the participants that all the data collected
from the participants would be used for research purposes only. The respondents were assured

that the researcher would handle their names and their reponses with the outmost confidentiality

during the interview.