War Reporting in the International Press: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Gaza War of 2008-2009 Dissertation Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Hamburg zur Erlangung des Grades des Doktors der Philosophie an der Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften der Universität Hamburg Mohammedwesam Amer Hamburg, June 2015 War Reporting in the International Press: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Gaza War of 2008-2009 Evaluators 1. Prof. Dr. Jannis Androutsopoulos 2. Prof. Dr. Irene Neverla 3. Prof. Dr. Kathrin Fahlenbrach Date of Oral Defence: 30.10.2015 Declaration • I hereby declare and certify that I am the author of this study which is submitted to the University of Hamburg in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. • This is my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. • This original work or part of it has not been submitted to any other institution or university for a degree. Mohammedwesam Amer June 2015 I Abstract This study analyses the representation of social actors in reports on the Gaza war of 2008-09 in four international newspapers: The Guardian , The Times London , The New York Times and The Washington Post . The study draws on three analytical frameworks from the area of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) models: the transitivity model by Halliday (1985/1994), the socio- semantic inventory by Van Leeuwen (1996), and the classification of quotation patterns by Richardson (2007). The sample of this study consists of all headlines (146) of the relevant news stories and a non-random sample of (40) news stories and (7) editorials. To give statistical estimations for the qualitative analysis, the study examines the frequency distributions of linguistic and representational processes. The findings indicate that Israeli politicians and Palestinian civilians are the most frequently included and quoted actors across the four selected newspapers. The analysis shows substantial similarities in representation patterns among the four newspapers. More specifically, the selected newspapers foreground Israeli agency in achieving a ceasefire and targeting Hamas, whereby Israeli actors are predominantly assigned (1) transitivity processes, e.g. behavioural, verbal and material processes, and (2) activated roles. By contrast, the four newspapers foreground Palestinian agency in refusing ceasefire and firing rockets through (1) assigning the Palestinian actors relational and material processes, and (2) activated roles. These agency realisations indicate that Israel reacts to Hamas' firing of rockets, i.e. reactions to actions. Within these patterns of representation, civilian actors on both sides are treated equally in facing consequences of war, i.e. balancing suffering of Israeli and Palestinian civilian actors although the number of Palestinian casualties is distinctively higher. II In quotation patterns, the selected newspapers show Israeli efforts towards achieving ceasefire and justification for targeting Hamas and are drawing on Israeli news sources, e.g. Ha'aretz and Yedioth Ahronoth in quoting Israelis. On the contrary, the newspapers show Hamas' rejection and conditions for a ceasefire agreement, calling for fighting Israel, and suffering of Palestinian civilians from consequences of war. The newspapers refer to Al-Jazeera and Hamas’ TV – in quoting Hamas leaders, e.g. Khaled Meshal and Musa abu Marzouq. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that news reports on the Gaza war of 2008-09 are influenced by (a) political orientations of the newspapers, (b) editorial policies, and (c) journalistic practices. The most represented actors are Israeli governmental officials, whereas Palestinian actors are Hamas members. This representation draws an overall image that the war is being directed against Hamas. III Acknowledgements This study would not have seen the light without the support and encouragement of my supervisors, my family, PhD colleagues and friends. First and foremost, I am grateful to my supervisors, Prof Dr. Jannis Androutsopoulos and Prof. Dr. Irene Neverla for their unlimited and continuous support. I am especially indebted to Jannis for his detailed guidance through every step of this dissertation to keep things in order. Thank you for guiding me all the way from 2010, when I applied to a DAAD scholarship, to our first meeting in 2011 and onward to completion. Your efforts have left imprints not only in my academic work, but also in my personal life. I am also very thankful to Irene for her great advice and feedback on the dissertation. Your advice has inspired and lightened my way to accomplish this work, and has allowed me to feel less stressed, and more encouraged to continue my work. I would like to acknowledge the great efforts of our graduate school of media and communication (GMaC) for hosting me for the entire period of this work. Their guidance and cooperation have always given me the inspiration to focus on my efforts. Special thanks to Prof. Dr. Uwe Hasebrink and Prof. Dr. Michel Clement! Thank you for providing a scholarly environment. Furthermore, I would like to thank my fellow PhD colleagues who made the GMaC office such a very nice and pleasant place to work in. IV I would like to extend my acknowledgements to many friends who have been supportive to me during the long journey and especially at the completion of the writing of this dissertation: Dr. Sue Blackwell, Dr. Jenny Hardacre, Dr. Samir Mahmoud, Miss. Julia Popp, Mrs. Julie Sanderson, Ms. Jenny Booth, Ms. Marlene Newesri, Mr. Christophe Ben Kushka, and many others. You all have been very kind in proofreading my drafts, and supporting and encouraging me during the whole journey. I would also like to thank my family who has been with me from the early steps of my academic work and been very generous to me. Special thanks to my wife, Alaa Amer and my daughters, Layan and Lara. Thanks for being alongside me at all times. For you all, academics, family and friends alike, this study would have been impossible without your support and encouragement. Finally, I thank and dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Abdel Aziz and Zuhria Amer. Your prayers, love and inspiration have given me the power and strength to accomplish this work. Thank You All So Much! Mohammedwesam Amer V List of Abbreviations CDA: Critical Discourse Analysis GU: The Guardian TL: The Times (London) NYT: The New York Times WP: The Washington Post IPA: Israeli Political Actors PPA: Palestinian Political Actors IMA: Israeli Military Actors PMA: Palestinian Military Actors ICA: Israeli Civilian Actors PCA: Palestinian Civilian Actors VI Table of Contents Declaration I Abstract II Acknowledgements IV List of Abbreviations VI Table of Contents VII List of Tables XI List of Figures XIII List of Appendices XIII Chapter One: Setting the Scene 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Critical Discourse Analysis: the Main Approach of this Study 1 1.3 Interplay of War, Media and Discourse 2 1.4 Wars in the Middle East 8 1.4.1 Iraq War 2003 and Lebanon War 2006 9 1.4.2 Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the Gaza War of 2008-09 11 1.5 Rationale and Motivation for this Study 17 1.6 Outline of this Study 20 Chapter Two: Critical Discourse Analysis, War Reporting and International News 2.1 Introduction 22 2.2 Critical Discourse Analysis 22 2.2.1 Meanings of Discourse 22 2.2.2 CDA: Overview and Assumptions 27 2.2.3 CDA: Criticisms and Responses 31 2.2.4 Discourse and Media 35 2.2.5 Discourse and Representation 36 2.2.6 Discourse and Ideology 39 2.3 War Reporting in the Media: News Types and Practices 41 2.3.1 Conceptions of War Reporting 41 2.3.2 News Selection in War Reporting 43 VII 2.4 Researching War Reporting 46 2.4.1 CDA Studies on War Reporting 46 2.4.2 Media and Communication Studies on War Reporting 51 2.4.3 Differences in War Reporting Research 53 2.5 International News Flow and War Reporting 56 2.5.1 UK and US Media: International Dimensions 57 2.5.2 US and UK Media: Similarities and Differences 59 2.5.3 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in US and UK Media 61 2.6 Conclusion 63 Chapter Three: Methodological Framework 3.1 Introduction 65 3.2 Research Questions 65 3.3 Data Collection: Decisions and Procedures 66 3.3.1 The Selected Newspapers 67 3.3.2 Representative-Purposive Systematic Sample 69 3.3.3 Corpus Description 70 3.3.3.1 Headlines 70 3.3.3.2 Hard News: News Stories 71 3.3.3.3 Opinion News: Editorials 73 3.4 Transitivity Analysis 75 3.4.1 Transitivity Model: Concept and Main Principles 75 3.4.2 Transitivity Processes and the Roles of Actors 77 3.4.3 Analysing Transitivity Selections in Headlines: Procedures 82 3.5. Socio-Semantic Inventory Analysis 84 3.5.1 Socio-Semantic Inventory: Concept and Main Principles 84 3.5.2 Representational Categories 85 3.5.3 Analysing Representation of Social Actors: Procedures 94 3.6. News Production Practices: Sources and Quotation Patterns 96 3.6.1 Sources and Quotation Patterns 96 3.6.2 Analysing Quotation Patterns and Sources: Procedures 98 3.7 Conclusion 100 VIII Chapter Four: Transitivity Selections in News Headlines 4.1 Introduction 101 4.2. Representation of Actors in Frequency 101 4.2.1 Frequencies of Israeli and Palestinian Actors 102 4.2.2 Frequencies of Other Actors 103 4.2.3 Frequencies of Processes Associated with Social Actors 104 4.3. Representation of Actors: Processes and Roles 109 4.3.1 Israeli and Palestinian Political Actors 109 4.3.2 Israeli and Palestinian Military Actors 116 4.3.3 Israeli and Palestinian Civilian Actors