Two Tales of One War: Understanding the Media Coverage of the Yemeni Civil War in Saudi Arabia and Qatar

Authors

  • Talha İsmail Duman Sakarya University, Middle East Institute
  • Furkan Halit Yolcu Sakarya University, Middle East Institute

Keywords:

War News, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Yemeni Civil War, Media in the Middle East

Abstract

This study explores the role of the media in asymmetrical conflicts between states and non-state actors. The model used in this research focuses on two political factors that have a major impact on media output: the level of involvement of countries with mass media in the war and the varying hostility among warring sides. To illustrate the importance of these factors, the study focuses on the difference in news flows between Saudi Arabia (Al Arabiya) and Qatar (Al Jazeera) over two periods, 2015–17 and 2017–20. While Saudi Arabia was highly engaged in the Yemeni civil war, Qatar experienced a deep political crisis with Saudi Arabia after 2017. The major findings from content analysis of news articles (N = 3016) published in both media outlets illustrate that while Saudis are exposed to massive amounts of mostly positive information about the Yemeni War, the Qatari public reads humanitarian issues and negative outcomes about the crisis following the 2017 Gulf crisis.

Author Biographies

Talha İsmail Duman, Sakarya University, Middle East Institute

Talha İsmail Duman is a faculty member at the Middle East Institute at Sakarya University, Turkey. He studies Arab Media, Islamic movements in the Middle East, Lebanese politics, and Muslim members of the United Nations. He has a Ph.D. thesis on the mobilization of Islamic political movements in Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine.

Furkan Halit Yolcu, Sakarya University, Middle East Institute

Furkan Halit Yolcu is a faculty member and a research assistant currently working as the head of the Security Studies desk at the Middle East Institute, Sakarya University, Turkey. Mr. Yolcu both studied in Spain and Turkey. He has been involved in several research activities along with Ph.D. research. His Ph.D. dissertation is funded by TUBİTAK, the most prominent research institution in Turkey. He is primarily interested in the Middle East, Arab Media neo-realist international relations theory, civil-military relations, arms, and security studies.

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Published

2023-08-29

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Articles