Children and War: A Corpus-Based CDS of The New York Times Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This study investigates the discursive use of children in The New York Times’ coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from October 2023 to July 2024. Combining quantitative corpus-based methods with qualitative critical discourse analysis, the research identifies key lexical features and examines the framing techniques used by the newspaper to narrate the war. Findings indicate that the image of children is a powerful discursive tool to influence both the emotional and cognitive responses of audiences. It serves various discursive purposes, such as humanising the discourse, evoking emotions, ranging from pity to horror, framing the conflict in moral terms, legitimising political actions, and maintaining narrative cohesion. Particularly, the strategic use of children’s images not only vilifies the opposing side by highlighting a stark moral contrast but also provides a justification for military action, reinforcing the perceived righteousness of one’s own cause. Furthermore, a significant disparity is noted in the individualisation of children: Israeli children are often depicted with detailed personal stories, enhancing their humanisation, while Palestinian children are more frequently represented through aggregated numbers, which highlights the scale of the tragedy but may dilute the personal aspects of their suffering.