Abstract: The study examines the competing and contradictory narratives in American media coverage of the 7 October 2023 attacks and the war on Gaza. It addresses the following set of questions: How did mainstream media discourse and activist media present the 7 October 2023 attack and the war on Gaza? What are the characteristics and framing strategies of these discourses? What distinguishes activist media from mainstream American media in constructing narratives about the war on Gaza? And how do these two narratives interact in terms of influence, challenge or adaptation within local American, regional and global geopolitical power structures? The study adopts critical discourse analysis and relies on a purposive sample of articles published in several major American mainstream media outlets, such as CNN, The New York Times and Fox News, as well as activist media outlets supportive of Palestine, including Mondoweiss, The Palestine Chronicle and The Electronic Intifada. The sample consists of ten articles from each of the six platforms mentioned, totalling sixty articles published between 7 October 2023 and 19 July 2025. The findings show that traditional media largely reproduced a discourse aligned with the US administration’s policy toward Palestine. In contrast, activist media focused on the human experience of Palestinians during the war, as well as the moral and legal legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle. The conflicting narratives reveal the geopolitical intersection between media and power, demonstrating how media discourse reflects and reproduces structures of power in ways that reinforce prevailing perspectives and policies regarding Palestinians and the Israeli occupation. Keywords: Activist Media, Mainstream Media, War on Gaza, Palestinian Narrative, Critical Discourse Analysis.
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