Visualization of the Israeli-Palestinian War in Digital Media: An Analysis of Anadolu Agency Infographics

As a visual method of communicating news, infographics are employed to convey news about politics, economy, sports, culture and arts, as well as news about extraordinary periods such as war, natural disasters, and epidemics. The succinct and concise presentation of information, supported by visual elements, facilitates more effective communication of news related to periods of war that result in humanitarian crises and social consequences for the public. The problem of this study is to examine the manner in which the Israeli-Palestinian war, which commenced on October 7, 2023, is represented through the medium of infographics. The central objective of this study is to elucidate the characteristics of data-driven visual news content by conducting a comprehensive analysis of infographics related to the Israeli-Palestinian war. To this end, a content analysis of infographics published by Anadolu Agency was conducted. The data set of the study consists of 336 Turkish and 134 English infographics published by Anadolu Agency between October 7, 2023 and October 7, 2024. Within the scope of the research, the infographics were subjected to comparative analysis in three categories: quantity, content, and visualization features. The present study is distinctive in that it addresses a critical gap in the existing literature by focusing on the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian war through the medium of infographics. The infographics analyzed in the present study consistently conveyed the events of the war in Palestine through a visual narrative, thereby playing an effective role in informing the public about the war on both a national and international scale. It is recommended that subsequent studies in this field employ a more diverse array of data sets to further expand the scope and depth of research in this area.