Images from the Battlefields: How Al-Jazeera and BBC News Sites Visually Framed the Libyan Revolution

Abstract

The present research examines how the 2011 Libyan Revolution was visually framed on Al-Jazeera English and BBC news sites. Using images embedded in the news links of the two sites, the study investigates the prevalence of five visual frames: people, weaponry type, weaponry ownership, destruction, and “other.” The visual content analysis of 250 photographs shows that the people visual frame was the most prevalent and dominated by images of rebel fighters and civilians. Although guns dominated the weaponry frame, casualty and destruction images were rare. Three aspects of the visual frame coverage of the conflict come out strongly: the coverage of the conflict encapsulates support for the military intervention; the conflict was visually presented as a “Libyan affair”; and “bloodless.”