Framing Conflict: CNN’s Discourse of Geopolitical Institutionalization during the Syrian Regime Collapse

Abstract

This paper will combines the three-dimensional model by Fairclough, and the ideological square developed by van Dijk to examine the online coverage by CNN during the discursive turning point of the Syrian regime collapse in December 2024. The recurrent negative other-presentation, and positive self-presentation are indicated in a narrow set of five high-impact articles. Textually, CNN uses dysphemistic labels, and dehumanizing imagery, including repeated mention of the “slaughterhouse” prison, to construct moral binaries. In transitivity, and sourcing, opposition actors receive active agency, while actions by Western-aligned actors, including Israeli airstrikes, are mitigated through necessity frames, and strategic rationales. At the level of social practice, these choices converge in a narrative that legitimizes intervention, and casts the collapse as a geopolitical win over Russia, Iran. The article proposes a critical-juncture design that links micro-linguistic choices to ideological polarization at a single moment. It offers a template for analysing aligned conflict reporting.