Representation of the Russia-Ukraine War on Al Jazeera English News Website

Abstract

The role of media in today’s world is undeniable, with prevailing ideologies often reflecting those of media owners—especially in state-affiliated outlets. The Russia-Ukraine war, the largest military mobilization in Europe since World War II, has been widely represented across global media. Al Jazeera English has provided extensive coverage of the conflict. This study analyzes the network’s representation using Theo van Dijk’s model of critical discourse analysis. The findings show that Al Jazeera’s perspective aligns with Qatar’s foreign policy. At the micro-linguistic level, the outlet employs strategies such as lexical choice, nomination, rhetorical devices, evidentiality, intertextuality, argumentation, comparison, and implicit meaning to construct a bipolar semantic structure—positioning Ukraine and its Western allies on one side, and Russia on the other. This framing highlights favorable, Western-aligned portrayals of Ukraine while depicting Russia negatively, yet with subtle validation. The discourse reflects a coherent ideology consistent with Qatar’s microstate foreign policy approach, which emphasizes balanced engagement with major powers.