The Syrian Conflict in the News: Coverage of the War and the Crisis of US Journalism

(Hardback)

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The Syrian conflict constitutes one of the most covered events in this century. Although the coverage of the Syrian uprising and civil war alternated between periods of saturation and silence, it is indisputable that they received an enormous amount of media attention. The Syrian Conflict in the News analyses the coverage of the Syrian conflict in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, focusing on how the three newspapers framed six key events in Syria from March 2011 to April 2018, including the Ghouta chemical attack, the Russian intervention in Syria and US-led airstrikes. Gabriel Huland argues that US foreign policy dominates the frames of the conflict, which suggests that mainstream newspapers are excessively indexed to elite narratives. In the United States, the Syrian crisis prompted an intense debate about the appropriate degree of US involvement in the civil war and how the country should behave in the face of growing Russian and Iranian influence in the Middle East. The overreliance on elite narratives resulted in the underrepresentation of local voices and other players who were in a more advantaged position to devise solutions to the conflict. By analysing the frames of the Syrian uprising and civil war in three mainstream newspapers and the relationship between media and international conflicts, The Syrian Conflict in the News sheds light on crucial aspects of the crisis currently pervading US journalism.

Reviews

This book stands at the junction of media studies and political science, a vast field indeed given how central the media are in modern politics. In addressing the current flaws of journalism in the United States, Huland sheds a special light on a key aspect of what has nowadays become an undisputed truth: the deep crisis of US democracy. * Gilbert Achcar, Professor, SOAS, UK *
The Syrian Conflict in the News offers a compelling critique of how the US media covered the Syrian uprising and civil war. It shows that mainstream newspapers relied primarily on members of the US political establishment to explain the events that occurred in Syria since 2011. By highlighting the importance of citizen journalists in the coverage of the Syrian revolution, the book contributes to the debate about media, conflict, and social movements. * Kholoud Helmi, Author at The Spectator *

Author Bio

Gabriel Huland is a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, SOAS University of London, UK. His published articles have appeared in the Journal of Communication and Media Studies. He holds a PhD from SOAS and prior to academia he was a practicing journalist.