Abstract
This chapter examines why Syria receives more attention than Yemen given the severity of humanitarian crises in both countries using content analysis of articles from purposefully selected media sources. The analysis focuses on multiple high-profile events in each conflict to assess how the media covers instances in which the use of force by state and/or nonstate actors results in humanitarian crisis. The results indicate that humanitarian issues in both conflicts receive similar—and high rates of—attention, but international law and international humanitarian law receive little attention in the media. The results also show that even in coverage on events that illustrate the humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen and involve potential breaches of international humanitarian law, articles and international actors, including the UN and nongovernmental organizations, tend to refrain from discussing how state and nonstate use of force might violate those laws.
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Notes
- 1.
US Secretary of State Clinton argued that Al Jazeera was “changing minds and attitudes” amid reports that President Obama’s administration was trying to improve relations with the news outlet because it was one of the most influential news sources in the Middle East (see Ricchiardi 2011).
- 2.
Also known as Doctors Without Borders.
- 3.
Unlike other NGOS, in addition to their annual reports, representatives from MSF often speak out against hospital bombings in Yemen and Syria, and note that such attacks violated IHL. Representatives from Save the Children have made statements on violations of international law pertaining to children in both countries.
- 4.
For the purposes here, external actors are defined as those not involved in a particular incident. Thus, an actor could be a party to the conflict more broadly but still be considered “external”.
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Guidero, A., Carter Hallward, M. (2019). Comparing Coverage in Syria and Yemen: Qualitative Analysis. In: Global Responses to Conflict and Crisis in Syria and Yemen. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02789-6_5
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