This study addresses the issue of ensuring the legitimacy of war through the visual and textual elements used in newspaper news is addressed. Wars bring with them many deaths and tragedies, they must be based on a legitimate basis in the eyes of the public. Newspaper news, which plays an important role in shaping public opinion, is also functional in ensuring this legitimacy. In this context, the visual and textual elements used to legitimize the war between Hamas/Gaza and Israel on October 7, 2023 are examined in the news articles published in Hürriyet, Yeni Şafak and Sözcü newspapers in Türkiye. The multimodal critical discourse analysis method developed by Kress and van Leeuwen is used for the analysis. This method was preferred in order to accurately determine the function of visual and textual elements in the news in creating legitimacy. The findings reveal that visual and textual elements play an important role in providing legitimacy. Moreover, while the people of Gaza, one of the parties to the war, were portrayed as legitimate in all three newspapers, Hamas was portrayed as legitimate only in Yeni Şafak. As for Israel, all three newspapers were declared illegitimate due to the policies it implemented during the war.
Aksu, Z. (2019). İnsani müdahalelerde medyanın rolü: Libya ve Bahreyn karşılaştırması. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 16(2), 489-506. https://doi.org/10.33437/ksusbd.590480
Baluev, D. G., & Kaminchenko, D. I. (2012). The political role of the “new media” in the Libyan conflict. Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod University Lobachevski N.I., 2(1), 307-313.
Benziman, Y. (2017). New wars rational, old war expectations.. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23(4), 441-443. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000288
Birleşmiş Milletler Yardım ve Çalışma Ajansı [UNRWA]. (2023, May 18). Once again, nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,00 people are on the road. https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/once-again-nearly-half-population-rafah-or-800000-people-are-road.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Burchell, K. (2020). Practicing media-mediating practice | Reporting, uncertainty, and the orchestrated fog of war: A practice-based lens for understanding global media events. International Journal of Communication, 14, 2905–2927.
Bulut, L. (2023). Televizyon dizileri aracılığı ile politik rızanın ve ulus kimliğinin yeniden inşası: Diriliş “Ertuğrul” ve Payitaht “Abdülhamid” örnekleri. [Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi]. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi.
Campbell, D. 2007. Geopolitics and visuality: Sighting the darfur conflict.” Political Geography, 26(4), 357–382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.11.005
Canetti, E. (2006). Kitle ve iktidar (G. Aygen, Çev.). Ayrıntı Yayınları.
Deephouse, D. L. & Suchman, M. (2008). Legitimacy in organizational institutionalism. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby & K. Sahlin (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism (pp.49-77). SAGE
Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200387
Duverger, M. (1982). Siyaset sosyolojisi (Ş. Tekeli, Çev.). Varlık Yayınları.
Eco, U. (2014). Düşman Yaratmak (L. T. Basmacı, Çev.). Doğan Kitap.
Erzikova, E., Haigh, M. M., & Sampiev, A. (2017). Anti-West frames dominate Afghan war news coverage.
Newspaper Research Journal, 37(4), 393-404. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532916677055
Fahmy, S. (2010). Contrasting visual frames of our times: A framing analysis of english- and Arabic-language press coverage of war and terrorism. International Communication Gazette, 72(8), 695-717.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048510380801
Fahmy, S. & Neumann, R. (2012). Shooting war or peace photographs? An examination of newswires’ coverage of the conflict in Gaza (2008–2009). American Behavioral Scientist, 56(2): NP1–NP26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764211419355
Feng, W. (2017). Ideological dissonances among Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong: A corpus-based analysis of reports on the Occupy Central Movement. Discourse & Communication, 11(6), 549-566. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481317726928
Forgacs, D. (2012). Gramsci kitabı seçme yazılar 1916-1935 (İ. Yıldız, Çev.). (2. Baskı). Dipnot Yayınları.
Gerbner, G. (2014). Medyaya karşı (G. Ayas, V. Batmaz ve İ. Kovacı, Çev.). (Der. Michael Morgan). Ayrıntı Yayınları.
Goddard, S. E., & Krebs, R. R. (2015). Rhetoric, legitimation, and grand strategy. Security Studies, 24(1), 5–36.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2014.1001198
Gow, J., & Michalski, M. (2007). War, image and legitimacy: Viewing contemporary conflict. Routledge.
Gramsci, A. (2011). Hapishane defterleri 2. Cilt (B. Baysal, Çev.). (Der. Joseph A. Buttigieg). Kalkedon Yayınları.
Griffin, M. (2010). Media images of war. Media, War & Conflict, 3 (1): 7-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635210356813
Hall, S. (2005). Encoding decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Wills (Eds.), Culture, Media, Language (pp. 117-127). Taylor and Francis.
Hoxha, A., & Hanitzsch, T. (2018). How conflict news comes into being: Reconstructing ‘reality’ through telling stories. Media, War & Conflict, 11(1), 46–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635217727313
Jungblut, M. (2021). Deductive conflict frame (war coverage). DOCA - Database of Variables for Content Analysis, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.34778/2m
Kapani, M. (2007). Politika bilimine giriş. Bilgi Kitabevi.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd Edition). Routledge.
Kuang, X. & Wang, H. (2020). Framing international news in China: An analysis of trans-edited news in Chinese newspapers. Global Media and China, 5(2), 188-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059436420924947
Lee, S. T., & Maslog, C. C. (2005). War or peace journalism? Asian newspaper coverage of conflicts. Journal of Communication, 55(2), 311-329. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02674.x
Lind, W. S. (2004). Understanding fourth generation war. Military Review, 84(5), 12–16.
Kavoğlu, S. (2020). Meşrulaştırma aracı olarak medya: Rusya'nın Kırım’ı ilhakı üzerine bir inceleme. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 50(Bahar), 97-116.
Machin, D. (2013). What is multimodal critical discourse studies?. Critical Discourse Studies, 10(4), 347–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2013.813770
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction. SAGE.
Marschlich, S., & Ingenhoff, D. (2023). The role of local news in constructing media legitimacy: How news media frames the sociopolitical efforts of multinational corporations in host countries. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 28(7), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/ccij-05-2022-0050
Parry, K. (2010). A visual framing analysis of British press photography during the 2006 Israel- Lebanon conflict. Media, War & Conflict, 3(1), 67-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635210353679
Paterson, C. (2007). International news on the internet: Why more is less. Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, 4(1/2), 57–66.
Philo, G., & Berry. M. (2011). More bad news from Israel. Pluto Press.
Reus-Smit, C. (2007). International crises of legitimacy. International Politics, 44, 157-174. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ip.8800182
Rojo, L. M., & van Dijk, T. A. (1997). “There was a problem, and it was solved!”: Legitimating the expulsion of `Illegal’ migrants in Spanish parliamentary discourse. Discourse & Society, 8(4), 523–566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926597008004005
Simonsen, S. (2019). Discursive legitimation strategies: The evolving legitimation of war in Israeli public diplomacy. Discourse & Society, 30(5), 503–520. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926519855786
Smith, N. W., & Joffe, H. (2009). Climate change in the British press: the role of the visual. Journal of Risk Research, 12(5), 647-663. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669870802586512
Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9508080331
Tasseron, M. (2023). The semiotics of visual and textual legitimacy in the 2014 Gaza war. Social Semiotics, 33(3), 580-600. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2021.1903307
Uluslararası Adalet Mahkemesi [ICJ]. (2024, May 24). Application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-00-en.pdf
Watts, D. J. & Dodds, P. S. (2007). Influentials, networks, and public opinion formation. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(4), 441-458. https://doi.org/10.1086/518527
Williams, K. (2011). International journalism. Sage.
Wolfsfeld, G. (1997). Media and political conflict: News from the Middle East. Cambridge University Press.
Yüksel, E. & Gürcan, H. İ. (2005). Haber toplama ve yazma. Tablet Kitapevi.
2023 Gazze Savaşının Türkiye’deki Gazetelerde Meşrulaştırılma Süreci
Çalışmada, gazete haberlerinde kullanılan görsel ve metin unsurları aracılığı ile savaş meşruiyetinin sağlanması konusu ele alınmaktadır. Savaşlar beraberinde pek çok ölüm ve trajediyi de beraberinde getirdiği için kamuoyu nezdinde meşru bir zemine dayanması gerekmektedir. Kamuoyunun yönlendirilmesinde önemli bir vazife gören gazete haberleri bu meşruiyetin sağlanmasında işlevsel olmaktadır. Bu çerçevede 7 Ekim 2023 tarihinde Hamas/Gazze ile İsrail arasında başlayan savaşın Türkiye’de yayınlanan Hürriyet, Yeni Şafak ve Sözcü gazetelerindeki haberlerde savaşın taraflarını meşrulaştırmak için kullanılan görsel ve metin unsurları incelenmiştir. Analiz için Kress ve van Leeuwen tarafından geliştirilen çok modlu eleştirel söylem analizi yöntemi kullanılmaktadır. Haberlerdeki görsel ve metin unsurlarının meşruiyet oluşturmada gördüğü işlevin doğru şekilde tespit edilebilmesi için bu yöntem tercih edilmiştir. Bulgular, görsel ve metin unsurlarının meşruiyet sağlamada önemli bir vazife gördüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Ayrıca savaşın taraflarından Gazze halkı üç gazetede meşru olarak tasvir edilirken Hamas sadece Yeni Şafak gazetesinde meşru olarak yansıtılmıştır. İsrail ise savaşta uyguladığı politikalar sebebiyle üç gazete de gayrimeşru olarak ifade edilmiştir.
Aksu, Z. (2019). İnsani müdahalelerde medyanın rolü: Libya ve Bahreyn karşılaştırması. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 16(2), 489-506. https://doi.org/10.33437/ksusbd.590480
Baluev, D. G., & Kaminchenko, D. I. (2012). The political role of the “new media” in the Libyan conflict. Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod University Lobachevski N.I., 2(1), 307-313.
Benziman, Y. (2017). New wars rational, old war expectations.. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23(4), 441-443. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000288
Birleşmiş Milletler Yardım ve Çalışma Ajansı [UNRWA]. (2023, May 18). Once again, nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,00 people are on the road. https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/once-again-nearly-half-population-rafah-or-800000-people-are-road.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Burchell, K. (2020). Practicing media-mediating practice | Reporting, uncertainty, and the orchestrated fog of war: A practice-based lens for understanding global media events. International Journal of Communication, 14, 2905–2927.
Bulut, L. (2023). Televizyon dizileri aracılığı ile politik rızanın ve ulus kimliğinin yeniden inşası: Diriliş “Ertuğrul” ve Payitaht “Abdülhamid” örnekleri. [Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi]. Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi.
Campbell, D. 2007. Geopolitics and visuality: Sighting the darfur conflict.” Political Geography, 26(4), 357–382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.11.005
Canetti, E. (2006). Kitle ve iktidar (G. Aygen, Çev.). Ayrıntı Yayınları.
Deephouse, D. L. & Suchman, M. (2008). Legitimacy in organizational institutionalism. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby & K. Sahlin (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism (pp.49-77). SAGE
Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200387
Duverger, M. (1982). Siyaset sosyolojisi (Ş. Tekeli, Çev.). Varlık Yayınları.
Eco, U. (2014). Düşman Yaratmak (L. T. Basmacı, Çev.). Doğan Kitap.
Erzikova, E., Haigh, M. M., & Sampiev, A. (2017). Anti-West frames dominate Afghan war news coverage.
Newspaper Research Journal, 37(4), 393-404. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532916677055
Fahmy, S. (2010). Contrasting visual frames of our times: A framing analysis of english- and Arabic-language press coverage of war and terrorism. International Communication Gazette, 72(8), 695-717.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048510380801
Fahmy, S. & Neumann, R. (2012). Shooting war or peace photographs? An examination of newswires’ coverage of the conflict in Gaza (2008–2009). American Behavioral Scientist, 56(2): NP1–NP26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764211419355
Feng, W. (2017). Ideological dissonances among Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong: A corpus-based analysis of reports on the Occupy Central Movement. Discourse & Communication, 11(6), 549-566. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481317726928
Forgacs, D. (2012). Gramsci kitabı seçme yazılar 1916-1935 (İ. Yıldız, Çev.). (2. Baskı). Dipnot Yayınları.
Gerbner, G. (2014). Medyaya karşı (G. Ayas, V. Batmaz ve İ. Kovacı, Çev.). (Der. Michael Morgan). Ayrıntı Yayınları.
Goddard, S. E., & Krebs, R. R. (2015). Rhetoric, legitimation, and grand strategy. Security Studies, 24(1), 5–36.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2014.1001198
Gow, J., & Michalski, M. (2007). War, image and legitimacy: Viewing contemporary conflict. Routledge.
Gramsci, A. (2011). Hapishane defterleri 2. Cilt (B. Baysal, Çev.). (Der. Joseph A. Buttigieg). Kalkedon Yayınları.
Griffin, M. (2010). Media images of war. Media, War & Conflict, 3 (1): 7-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635210356813
Hall, S. (2005). Encoding decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Wills (Eds.), Culture, Media, Language (pp. 117-127). Taylor and Francis.
Hoxha, A., & Hanitzsch, T. (2018). How conflict news comes into being: Reconstructing ‘reality’ through telling stories. Media, War & Conflict, 11(1), 46–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635217727313
Jungblut, M. (2021). Deductive conflict frame (war coverage). DOCA - Database of Variables for Content Analysis, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.34778/2m
Kapani, M. (2007). Politika bilimine giriş. Bilgi Kitabevi.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd Edition). Routledge.
Kuang, X. & Wang, H. (2020). Framing international news in China: An analysis of trans-edited news in Chinese newspapers. Global Media and China, 5(2), 188-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059436420924947
Lee, S. T., & Maslog, C. C. (2005). War or peace journalism? Asian newspaper coverage of conflicts. Journal of Communication, 55(2), 311-329. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02674.x
Lind, W. S. (2004). Understanding fourth generation war. Military Review, 84(5), 12–16.
Kavoğlu, S. (2020). Meşrulaştırma aracı olarak medya: Rusya'nın Kırım’ı ilhakı üzerine bir inceleme. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 50(Bahar), 97-116.
Machin, D. (2013). What is multimodal critical discourse studies?. Critical Discourse Studies, 10(4), 347–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2013.813770
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction. SAGE.
Marschlich, S., & Ingenhoff, D. (2023). The role of local news in constructing media legitimacy: How news media frames the sociopolitical efforts of multinational corporations in host countries. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 28(7), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/ccij-05-2022-0050
Parry, K. (2010). A visual framing analysis of British press photography during the 2006 Israel- Lebanon conflict. Media, War & Conflict, 3(1), 67-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635210353679
Paterson, C. (2007). International news on the internet: Why more is less. Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, 4(1/2), 57–66.
Philo, G., & Berry. M. (2011). More bad news from Israel. Pluto Press.
Reus-Smit, C. (2007). International crises of legitimacy. International Politics, 44, 157-174. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ip.8800182
Rojo, L. M., & van Dijk, T. A. (1997). “There was a problem, and it was solved!”: Legitimating the expulsion of `Illegal’ migrants in Spanish parliamentary discourse. Discourse & Society, 8(4), 523–566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926597008004005
Simonsen, S. (2019). Discursive legitimation strategies: The evolving legitimation of war in Israeli public diplomacy. Discourse & Society, 30(5), 503–520. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926519855786
Smith, N. W., & Joffe, H. (2009). Climate change in the British press: the role of the visual. Journal of Risk Research, 12(5), 647-663. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669870802586512
Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9508080331
Tasseron, M. (2023). The semiotics of visual and textual legitimacy in the 2014 Gaza war. Social Semiotics, 33(3), 580-600. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2021.1903307
Uluslararası Adalet Mahkemesi [ICJ]. (2024, May 24). Application of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-00-en.pdf
Watts, D. J. & Dodds, P. S. (2007). Influentials, networks, and public opinion formation. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(4), 441-458. https://doi.org/10.1086/518527
Williams, K. (2011). International journalism. Sage.
Wolfsfeld, G. (1997). Media and political conflict: News from the Middle East. Cambridge University Press.
Yüksel, E. & Gürcan, H. İ. (2005). Haber toplama ve yazma. Tablet Kitapevi.
Seyhan, A. S. (2025). 2023 Gazze Savaşının Türkiye’deki Gazetelerde Meşrulaştırılma Süreci. İletişim Kuram Ve Araştırma Dergisi(69), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.1497276