Military media as source of war coverage in international and regional visual media: Israel's october war in Gaza as a case study.

This research focuses on the role of military media in setting the trend for coverage of the October War launched by Israel on Gaza, using two prominent international media outlets: Al Jazeera and CNN. Al Jazeera was selected from the Eastern media, while CNN was selected from the Western media. It analyzes the nature of visual content, its framing, and source selection to understand how these channels constructed competing narratives that sought to influence global and regional public opinion. The research used a mixed approach that combined quantitative content analysis with qual-itative framing analysis to reveal large differences in coverage priorities, reliance on sources, and thematic foci. Al Jazeera strongly favored the humanitarian and social dimensions of the conflict, civilian suffering, destruction, and geopolitical implications for the region. CNN focused more on military operations, political strategies, and official military statements, framing the entire conflict mainly through tactical and strategic lenses. Results have actually shown the juncture where agen-da-setting theory, media framing theory, and gatekeeping practices meet in filtering and using mili-tary sources to serve to conform to editorial policy and audience expectations. This reporting, by Al Jazeera, relies more on humanitarian reporting, social media content, and of-ficial statements, hence more humane and multi-dimensional. In sharp contrast, CNN's far greater reliance on official military and political sources suggests a militaristic framing of war as strategies and combat. The findings of this study contribute to the academic understanding of journalism of war and media practice by highlighting the mechanisms within which military media narratives are produced, distributed, and received within contemporary conflict. Therefore, it underlines the prin-cipal part the media play in stipulating ways through which viewers learn to look at wars as well as humanitarian tragedies, thereby shaping international discourses about them.