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Middle East Journal of Communication Studies

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This study aims to provide a critical and in-depth analysis of Western media coverage of the Gaza War (2023–2024) through a comparative content analysis of three major international news channels: BBC, CNN, and Fox News, across three consecutive time phases. The research is grounded in a dual theoretical framework that combines Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence theory (1974) and the Selective Belief System (SBS) model (Lord et al., 1979), employing a mixed quantitative–qualitative methodology applied to a sample of 240 televised news items covering the period from October 2023 to May 2024.

The findings reveal a clear dominance of the Israeli narrative, averaging around 80%, compared to a limited Palestinian representation of 20%, with Fox News recording the highest level of bias (95%). The analysis further demonstrates an intensive reliance on security-related vocabulary and framing devices that depoliticized the conflict, alongside visual techniques that produced what can be described as a “humanitarian gradient” in the portrayal of victims. The framing analysis confirmed the overwhelming dominance of the security frame (72.2%) over humanitarian (15.1%), political (8.1%), and legal/rights-based frames (4.6%), reinforcing the biased narrative structures in Western coverage. The results also indicate algorithmic amplification of dominant narratives within digital environments accompanying media coverage.

In light of these findings, the study proposes a conceptual expansion of the notion of the “Digital Spiral of Silence”, framing it as a hybrid mechanism that combines social pressure, cognitive bias, and algorithmic governance. This framework explains the persistent marginalization of the Palestinian narrative across both media and digital spheres. The study concludes that structural bias in Western coverage contributes to the production of an artificial narrative consensus around the Israeli perspective, and that addressing this imbalance requires more balanced editorial policies and greater transparency in algorithmic regulation

Publication Date

2026-05-01

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