Media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is being pursued not only in the cities, towns, and countryside of Israel and the occupied territories of West Bank and the Gaza Strip with bombs and bullets, it is also a media battle being waged on television and in newspapers and magazines. This article, Media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is about the coverage of the conflict in the media, and the efforts of all parties involved to win the "war of words". As Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, says, "Wars are won, not only on the battlefield, but also with words."
Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters: "The media are... crucial. It presents a version of reality. It creates awareness of what's happening, and the perceptions that are presented affect public opinion."
Yehudith Orbach, head of the journalism and communications department of the same university, points out in an interview (2001) with Reuters that Palestinians and Israelis were fully aware of the importance of media image. "The Palestinians here definitely have an advantage... that they know how to make the most of. In war... television is a battlefield," Orbach told Reuters. "The picture is worth more than 1,000 words... The fact that it is a cliché does not mean that it is any less true". [1] (http://gulfnews.com/Articles/people-places.asp?ArticleID=22338).
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The setting
Israel and the territories have one of the highest concentrations of journalists in the world, reflecting intense worldwide interest in the conflict. There are 350 foreign news organizations based in Jerusalem alone, employing some 800 reporters, cameramen and technicians. Since the beginning of 2004, another 1,300 accredited journalists have visited the region. The number is likely much larger if you include freelancers and writers who enter as visitors without presenting credentials.
Charges of media bias
In the experience of the Columbia Journalism Review no news subject generates more complaints about media objectivity than the Middle East in general and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular. [2] (http://www.cjr.org/issues/2003/3/bias.asp). Almost every mass media outlet has been accused of media bias, that is to say, slanted reporting either in favor of the Palestinians or of the Israelis (exacerbated by what psychologists call the "hostile media effect"). Often the same outlet is accused, by different people, of being both at once. For example, The New York Times is regularly castigated by progressive and pro-Palestinian groups in the United States for its uncritical support of Israel, especially on its editorial pages, while right-wing, pro-Israel groups claim the paper has a pro-Palestinian bias, citing factual errors in its reporting. However, systematic bias cannot be construed simply on the basis of such mistakes; editors and writers are often working under tight deadlines and mistakes made under pressure do not necessarily reflect personal or institutional political biases.
Accusations of media bias generally have one or more of the following bases:
- Biased terminology - the use of certain words and phrases are likely to prejudice the reader's position to the news presented. Even using terms such as "Israel" and "Palestine" are likely to provoke charges of bias, since the legitimacy of each of these is not a foregone conclusion. See below for more detail.
- Selective use of facts - only or mostly those facts that support one side or another are presented to the reader. A very common issue is the use of statistics over casualties, and whether these are combatant or civilian casualties.
- Imbalanced presentation of disputed matters - unconfirmed items from one side are accepted at face value.
- A pattern of selective reporting - over time, the news presented through a media organization tends to emphasize one side of the story at the expense of the other.
- Insufficient presentation of context - news are presented without sufficient explanation of the circumstances of the events being reported
- Commingling editorial and news reporting - editorial opinion is inserted into news reporting that is supposed to be objective.
- Coercion of reporting/censorship - journalists are pressured into distorting their reporting for fear of losing access or their lives.
Terminology
Choice of terms may bring charges of bias. Consider the implications of the following:
- (Palestinian) terrorist versus militant, guerrilla, activist or freedom fighter
- (Israeli) settlement (or even colony) versus village or community
- (security) fence versus wall or apartheid wall vs. barrier
- (territories) occupied versus disputed or Palestinian territories
Alleged motivations
A number of reasons are cited for alleged bias, the most prominent being:
- A tendency toward sensationalism. Stories that evoke emotional responses are more likely to get play in the mainstream press, and editors are accused of favoring those that emphasize pathos.
- Prejudiced journalists. Several varietes exist, including:
- Political ideology. Journalists are accused of having a left- or right-wing outlook that distorts their perceptions and reporting.
- Ethnic/religious bias. Journalists with Jewish or Arabic names (or who are known to belong to one ethnic group or another) routinely have their reports discounted because of alleged tribal loyalty. From time to time, it is alleged that Jewish ownership of major media organizations leads to undue influence over the editorial process.
- Ethnic prejudice. Reporters and journalists are also accused of bigotry against Jews or Arabs.
- Israeli or Palestinian censorship and intimidation. Authorities in Israel and/or areas controlled by the Palestinian authority exercise unfair control over what is published, either through censorship, intimidation before the fact, or sanctions after the fact.
Complexity of the issue
As is the case with all controversial issues, each party is likely to charge the media with bias anytime coverage goes against their cause. This has indeed been the defense of major news organizations that have been subject to criticism and condemnation for alleged bias.
Indeed, because the context and reality differs so significantly for the principal parties in the conflict, it is likely that accusations of bias aren't merely self-serving; they are likely to be sincere objections to the press presenting a reality that seems alien to those who are in it. Efforts to prove bias run the range from polemics that accuse reporters of pursuing their own political agenda, to fact-based analyses to prove one bias or another.
Fallacies of media reporting
- Balance = neutrality. Some media organizations seem to believe that the truth is the average of two extremes, thereby neglecting the responsibility to find the truth.
- Sources have equal credibility. A source that consistently turns out to be unreliable should not be given equal weighting to one that more often is reliable, and/or demonstrates good faith.
Personal risks
Journalists reporting the conflict often do so at great personal risk. The Israeli authorities try to prevent journalists from entering the occupied territories so jounalists have to enter illegally. Many journalists are also stopped at the border and not allowed to enter Israel. Palestinian journalists have not been given official press cards since Israel stopped renewing them on 1 January 2002 and they are often harassed, threatened, insulted, physically attacked and wounded by the Israeli army. During 2004 the APTN cameraman Nazeh Darwazi and the British cameraman James Miller was killed and the AFP photographer Saïf Dahla, Ahmed Jadallah (photographer) and Shams Odeh (cameraman) (both of Reuters) were wounded. [3] (http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=9966). On April 14th 2005 an Israeli Military Judge dismissed disciplinary proceedings against the army officer in the James Miller shooting; the British Govt reacted to this news with dismay.
Films about the Media Bias
Media bias regarding the Middle East conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has also attracted much media attention in itself. By now it has reached a point that several films have been made (incidentally by advocates of the Israeli side) regarding the issue of media bias in this conflict.
The two most known films are:
- The Road to Jenin by Pierre Rehov (external link (http://www.pierrerehov.com))
- Decryptage by Jacques Tarnero and Philippe Bensoussan
While both films are pro-Israeli, Decryptage starts out by telling the viewer that this conflict is not a drama, where this is a good and bad side, but a tragedy, where both sides are right and wrong.
See also
Bibliography
- The Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Charles D. Smith (2004)
- Bad News from Israel, Greg Philo and Mike Berry Pluto Press, (2004)
- Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, New and Revised Edition, by Norman G. Finkelstein (2003)
- Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy, Kathleen Christison (2001)
- Reporting the Arab Israeli Conflict: How Hegemony Works by Tamar Liebes (1997)
- Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World, by Edward W. Said (1997)
- Missing: The Bias Implicit in the Absent, by Marda Dunsky; Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 23, 2001
- Racism and the North American Media Following 11 September: The Canadian Setting, by T.Y. Ismael and John Measor; Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 25, 2003
- The Other War: A Debate: Questions of Balance in the Middle East by Adeel Hassan; Columbia Journalism Review, Vol. 42, May-June 2003
- Caught in the Middle by Steve Mcnally; Columbia Journalism Review, Vol. 40, January-February 2002
- Days of Rage: News Organizations Have Been Besieged by Outraged Critics Accusing Them of Unfair Coverage of the Violence in the Middle East. Are They Guilty as Charged?, by Sharyn Vane; American Journalism Review, Vol. 24, July-August 2002
- Do Words and Pictures from the Middle East Matter? A Journalist from the Region Argues That U.S. Policy Is Not Affected by the Way News Is Reported, by Rami G. Khouri; Nieman Reports, Vol. 56, Fall 2002
- Covering the Intifada: A Hazardous Beat; Photographers and Journalists Come under Gunfire While Reporting on the Conflict, by Joel Campagna; Nieman Reports, Vol. 56, Fall 2002
- Images Lead to Varying Perceptions: 'In Photographs in Which We, as Journalists, Saw Danger, Some Readers Saw Deception, by Debbie Kornmiller; Nieman Reports, Vol. 56, Fall 2002
- The Minefield of Language in Middle East Coverage: Journalists Rarely Have the Time or Space to Navigate through the War of Words, by Beverly Wall; Nieman Reports, Vol. 56, Fall 2002
External links
- In the Line of Fire (http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/israel.palestine/index.html) – PBS FRONTLINE/World report on the journalists covering the conflict.
- Palestine National Authority International Press Centre Media Watch (http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/ipc-e_Media.html) – The official PNA website.
- Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) (http://www.pmw.org.il/new/)
- Palestine Media Watch (http://www.pmwatch.org)
- Honest Reporting (http://www.honestreporting.com/) and its weblog Media Backspin (http://www.mediabackspin.com/)
- CAMERA (http://www.camera.org/) – Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
- ADL (http://www.adl.org/media_watch/default.htm) – Anti-Defamation League Media Watch
- MEMRI (http://memri.org) – Middle East Media Research Institute.
- Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Middle East archives (http://www.fair.org/international/middle-east.html) – FAIR is a US media watch group.
- Eye on the Post (http://www.eyeonthepost.org/) – Media watchdog group examining Israel-Palestine conflict coverage in the Washington Post.
- If Americans Knew (http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/) – Analysis of Israel/Palestine Media Coverage; statistics and more.
- Reporters Without Borders 2004 report on press freedom in Israel (http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=9966&Valider=OK)
- Reporters Without Borders 2004 report on press freedom under the Palestinian Authority (http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=9933&Valider=OK)
- Open Directory Project - Israel-Palestine Censorship and Bias (http://dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Warfare_and_Conflict/Specific_Conflicts/Middle_East/Israel-Palestine/News_and_Media/Censorship_and_Bias/) directory category.
- Palestine Monitor Media Watch (http://www.palestinemonitor.org/new_web/mediawatch_archive.htm)
- Baltimoresun.com (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.press07jul07,0,5465048.story?coll=bal-home-headlines) – Seeing bias, Israel bars contact with BBC network.