Framing War Narratives Through Media Discourses: An Investigation into Iran- Israel Conflict through Eastern and American E-Newspapers Headlines

Abstract

Media is most often considered as a distorting prism and it is believed that whatever appears in in media is never apolitical. This study critically analyses media representation of    the Iran-Israel conflict through the headlines of two media out lets such as Al- Jazeera News (Middle Eastern) and Fox News (American) through the lens of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics and CDA.  The research looks at the types of processes, participants, and circumstantial elements applied, and how these linguistic choices highlight different ideological moves. A total of 100 headlines, 50 from each outlet, published around Iran’s 14 April 2024 attack on Israel, have been collected and analysed through the lens of Critical discourse analysis (CDA).  Material processes were leading in both sources’ headlines, highlighting military incidents and actions. On the other hand, Fox News headlines recurrently positioned Western actors as active agents and Iran as the target, backing a narrative of justified retaliation and framing Iran as a destabilizing power. Verbal and relational processes further reinforced this stance by covering accusations, warnings, and judgments. However, Al Jazeera News features similar process types but presented more balanced participant roles, and permitting Iran to be an active voice rather than just being a target, by repeatedly framing incidents within geopolitical contexts. This study finds that    regionally grounded narratives have been constructed and disseminated from both sides. Generally, the study reflects how language choices in news headlines construct ideological implications. While Fox News supports dominant Western stances, Al Jazeera provides a more contextualized perspective, reflecting diverse media ideologies. It contends that media discourses are one of the best sites for ideological investment keeping in view the vested interests of in group and out group.