Media Representation and Foreign Aid Allocation: Analysing the Impact of Coverage on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (October 2023 - May 2024)

Ferreira, Carolina Silva

4. semester

International Relations, MSc.

2024

2024-10-14

This thesis explores the impact that media representation can have on foreign aid allocation, especially focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the period of October 2023 and May 2024. The United Kingdom and the United States will be the two case studies employed for this research, with the use of three news outlets of different political leanings from each country. Through the lenses of social constructivism and symbolic interactionism, which will be used as the theoretical frameworks, this research seeks to analyse the framing of the conflict through media narratives and how this may in turn create social constructions that have an impact on the provision of foreign aid. Using the triangulation and thematic analysis methods, this thesis will consolidate an analysis of both the media’s representation of the conflict and the aid allocation during these months in two separate parts, followed by a discussion on how these findings answer the research question. The analysis of media representation will focus on five main themes: victims, violence, suffering, aid, and humanitarian. Through the comprehension of how these five themes were portrayed this research will be able to provide a broader understanding of the media’s representation of the conflict from various perspectives. The aid allocation analysis will be done through a chronological representation of the data to understand the differences that may have occurred during this period in government policies relating to foreign aid allotment. The findings of this thesis indicate a correlation between media representations and the foreign aid that is provided in times of conflict. Coverage that continuously portrays Palestinians along with Hamas, which is represented as a terrorist organization, perpetuates a dehumanisation of the Palestinian suffering, while simultaneously generating support for Israel’s military actions as a justification for their security concerns. A correlation was seen between the employment of these narratives and the allocation of foreign aid, seeing as the provision of military assistance to Israel was framed as a counterterrorism measure, while the aid provided to Palestinians saw more restrictions and was often held back due to fears of it inadvertently being used to fund Hamas. This research project contributes to the growing academic discourse on the media’s impact in conflict areas by offering insight into the complexities of not only media biases but also selective reporting and intergovernmental interests.

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