War on Media: Comparing Coverage of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Israel-Hamas War
War is war.
There are major wars ravaging Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in February 2022, and the Israeli-Hamas War, which began in October 2023. Both wars are ongoing, with no clear end in sight. There are countless reports and news headlines about each respective conflict, but the coverage is not always even. To maintain consistency, I have observed articles published solely by the BBC about both wars to examine how the coverage compares and changes over time.
The Russo-Ukrainian War broke out first. There was much press support for Ukraine when Russia first invaded, and news coverage at the beginning was understandably more extensive. This may be explained in part by the fact that it was the only major war happening at the time.
The coverage surrounding this war can be characterized by matter-of-fact reporting, focusing more on the events of the war and less on the impact on the people compared to that of the Israel-Hamas War. Moreover, there was a significant decline in media coverage on the war, especially after 7 October 2023. In a recent article, there are pleas ‘not to forget about Ukraine.’ Lately, there has been much more coverage surrounding the Israel-Hamas War compared to the Russo-Ukrainian War. This is undoubtedly attributed to more recent events that have occurred, like in Lebanon, but this does not mean the Russo-Ukrainian War is over.
Destruction in Gaza has drawn significant media attention.
With the amount of controversy surrounding the Israel-Hamas War, the media has been covering this war comparatively heavily, especially with the recent protests at US universities. Furthermore, in contrast to the Russo-Ukraine War, the media surrounding the Israel-Hamas War is much more humanitarian based. With articles focusing on people who have lost loved ones and the destruction of Gaza, there is more of an appeal to human emotion. While stories like these were covered at the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, they have seemed to decrease in comparison to the Israel-Hamas War.
However, as both wars have continued, coverage on them has been dependent on which one has more shocking things to add to the news. For example, when the Israel-Hamas War began in October 2023, it vastly overshadowed what was happening in Ukraine. All the headlines were surrounding Hamas’ brutal invasion of Israel.
Yet, as it became apparent that the war would not find its end soon, the media began to step away again. For example, the hostages that were taken on 7 October 2023 were less reported on as the war went on. One mother claims that her daughter that had been taken hostage ‘has been forgotten.’ Once the shock value factor seemingly wore off and society began to acclimate to the state of war, it resulted in an appalling competition of which war had more inexcusable events to reveal that day.
Eye-catching headlines are what news outlets are always on the lookout for. When one war has more shocking events occurring, the media is more likely to report on it. While it is fair for media outlets to report on events that have the most recent breaking news, it is not good journalistic practice to completely leave out headlines or reports on other pressing issues that are still happening.
The media should not dictate which war is more important because they both are highly significant in their own right. War is war. Society should not have to get acclimated to the state of it. It is the responsibility of the media to provide the public with fair and balanced news. When news outlets sometimes struggle to fulfil this most basic purpose, it is all the more important to consider and challenge the legitimacy of media we are presented with.
Cover image courtesy of Houses of the Oireachtas via Flickr, ©2022. Some rights reserved.
In-text image courtesy of WAFA via Wikimedia Commons, ©2023. Some rights reserved.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.
