Abstract

This study examines how news media in the United States and Israel frame minority protests of movements challenging state violence, whilst tying in aspects of the incarceration of minority youth. Through qualitative and quantitative content analysis of 40 news articles—20 covering the Ferguson protests, Black Lives Matter (2014), and 20 covering the Sheikh Jarrah, Unity Intifada protests (2021)—the study identifies patterns in how Black and Palestinian protest and youth are portrayed across different outlet types. Drawing on settler colonial theory, media framing and Adultification bias, the analysis will focus on tracing the presence of any narratives of dehumanization through the news media reporting of minority protests. The study then connects these narrative findings with found incarceration data from the U.S and Israel to compare and contrast both countries as settler colonial states through their revealed systemic patterns. The study concludes by discussing the implications of media reporting in understanding the role of media, state violence, and minority people.

Advisor

Haider, Erum

Department

Political Science

Keywords

Dehumanization, Settler Colonialism, Media Narratives, Social Protest, State Violence, Minority Youth, Systemic Incarceration

Publication Date

2026

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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