Author(s)

Salha Alghamdi¹, Meshari Thamer Alotaibi²

¹Department of Mass Communication, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
²School of Media and Communication, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, USA.

This paper investigates the media portrayal of child refugees in photographs during two distinct historical events: The Nakba in 1948 and the Syrian Civil War in 2015. It focuses on the evolution in representations of child refugees in journalistic photographs at different times. The study draws on various sources, including archival photojournalism and academic literature, to analyze photographs from these two periods. The 1948 photographs, mostly of Palestinian children, reflect themes of vulnerability and disempowerment amidst the Nakba, a significant event in Palestinian and Middle Eastern history. These images often portray refugee children in the context of their families, highlighting the human ramifications of conflict and displacement. In contrast, the 2015 Syrian Civil War photos, particularly of Alyan Kurdi and Omran Daqneesh, display a stark difference in media representation. These images, capturing individual suffering, garnered global attention, prompting political and humanitarian reactions. The paper argues that while the Kurdi photographs temporarily disrupted degrading discourses, they alone cannot fully depict the depth of the crisis. The paper concludes by noting significant shifts in media portrayals of refugee children over time, emphasizing the importance of both humanitarian and political perspectives for understanding these representations. This analysis contributes to the discourse on the media portrayal of refugees, highlighting the impact of visual media in shaping public perception and political response.

Child Refugees, Nakba 1948, Media Portrayal, Media Representation, Public Perception, Political Response, Visual Media Impact

Alghamdi, S. and Alotaibi, M. (2024) Media Portrayal of Child Refugees in Photographs during Two Distinct Historical Events: The Nakba in 1948 and the Syrian Civil War in 2015. Advances in Journalism and Communication, 12, 183-206. doi: 10.4236/ajc.2024.121010.