{"id":4977,"date":"2020-06-06T10:30:22","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T22:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/?p=4977"},"modified":"2020-05-15T07:29:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T19:29:11","slug":"is-the-media-fair-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2020\/06\/is-the-media-fair-to-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the media fair to Israel?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K6utt0V9E00\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Although the term \u2018fake news\u2019 has only become mainstream in the past couple of years \u2013 the practice of news organisations putting a slant on the way news is covered is not new. Media organisations can &#8211; and do &#8211; present information in a way which promotes one position by undermining another &#8211; often as a result of journalistic or editorial bias \u2013 or both.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been happening to Israel for decades and, sadly, has become just as much a weapon against this tiny state as any bomb, attack, or sanction.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2015 speech former Associated Press reporter Matti Friedman said that during the five and a half years that he spent as part of the international press corps he became aware of \u201ccertain malfunctions in the coverage of the Israel story\u201d. He noted \u201crecurring omissions, recurring inflations, and decisions made according to considerations that were not journalistic but political\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Friedman also said that the \u2018Israel story\u2019 was covered by more Associated Press news staff than China, or India, or all of the 50-odd countries of sub-Saharan Africa combined. As a result, we have overwhelming media attention on Israel &#8211; and a default media narrative which presents the story in the context of a David and Goliath struggle \u2013 in which the Palestinians are the underdogs and the Israelis are the aggressors. This framing ignores \u2013 or sometimes justifies &#8211; the violence and hatred of the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, rogue states such as Iran &#8211; and a Palestinian Authority that continues to glorify terrorism, pays cash to imprisoned terrorists and the families of \u201cmartyrs,\u201d and incites the population to hate and murder Israelis and Jews.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at a couple of examples. <\/p>\n<p>In June of 2018, Hamas staged a succession of violent riots which they called the \u2018Great March of Return\u2019 and which saw tens of thousands of people attempt to storm the border fence between Israel and Gaza. Viral clips showed armed Gazans at the fence shouting \u201cKill the Jews\u201d, Gazans cutting through the fence and infiltrating Israel, molotov cocktails being thrown, tire burning, explosives attached to balloons, and even worrying images of child-soldiers. Hamas leadership even admitted that a significant number of armed and active Hamas combatants were in the crowds with the goal of crossing into Israel and capturing or killing Israeli civilians.<\/p>\n<p>Yet contrast this reality to the way the march was described in media reports \u2013 as a peaceful protest with a \u2018carnival-like atmosphere, picnicking families and ice cream vendors\u2019 &#8211; imagery which was clearly designed to create an impression of innocence and peacefulness by the Gazans \u2013 so when 130 people were killed as Israel defended itself against the actual onslaught \u2013 Israel was portrayed as a blood-thirsty aggressor.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s another example:<\/p>\n<p>During the same riots, the Los Angeles Times ran a story with the headline \u201cBaby Girl Dies in the Haze of Gaza,\u201d. It told the emotive story of an eight-month-old girl allegedly killed by inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli defense forces. The New York Times and other major outlets published their own version of the story which framed Israel and Israeli soldiers as baby murderers. The story was tragic and upsetting. <\/p>\n<p>It was also not true. Following the extensive coverage, baby Layla\u2019s cousin admitted that she had actually died from a pre-existing blood condition \u2013 and that Hamas had paid relatives to lie to the media. But that story &#8211; the truth &#8211; wasn&#8217;t nearly as well reported, and the lie had already travelled around the world \u2013 aided by a willing, and partisan, media.<\/p>\n<p>Of course \u2013 not all media bias is so obvious. Sometimes the bias is in the way pictures or headlines are used to influence public opinion or supress important facts.<\/p>\n<p>Take the example of a BBC story which was headlined \u201cThree Palestinians killed after deadly stabbing in Jerusalem\u201d. The story was about the death of criminals who had just brutally murdered a female Israeli Police officer and was an open attempt to garner sympathy for terrorists while playing down the victim of a horrendous attack.<\/p>\n<p>Or a terrorist attack on a civilian Israeli bus in April 2016 which became \u201921 Injured in Jerusalem Bus fire\u2019 \u2013 with no reference to the cause of the injuries or the terrorist nature of the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Or a June 2016 terrorist attack on a Tel Aviv Mall &#8211; which killed 4 and seriously wounded 3 others \u2013 but which was reported as \u20184 People Killed in Shooting\u2019 by the British Daily Telegraph. Again &#8211; with no reference to the cause or the perpetrators.<\/p>\n<p>Another approach is to only begin coverage of conflict once Israel responds to being attacked \u2013 ignoring, or minimising, terrorist acts, such as the firing of rockets from Gaza, so as to give the impression that Israels actions are unprovoked.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons for media bias and misrepresentation can be complex. No doubt, some of it comes down to laziness, ignorance of the issues, or Journalists simply wanting to fall into line with their peers by uncritically accepting the long established anti-Israel narrative.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever their reasons \u2013 the journalists and media organisations which peddle in this propaganda betray the standards we should expect of their profession. Their obsession and disproportionate coverage of the Arab\/Israeli conflict &#8211; one of the least bloody conflicts in that region, let alone the world \u2013 elevates misinformation and draws our attention away from the real atrocities taking place around the globe.<\/p>\n<p>The way in which Israel is portrayed in the media matters. It shapes our perceptions, informs our opinions, and influences policy. So dig deeper \u2013 and when you\u2019re confronted with an inflammatory headline about Israel &#8211; do your own detective work. Find out what really happened \u2013 and when you know \u2013 be sure to share what you\u2019ve learnt with others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although the term \u2018fake news\u2019 has only become mainstream in the past couple of years \u2013 the practice of news organisations putting a slant on the way news is covered is not new. Media organisations can &#8211; and do &#8211; present information in a way which promotes one position by undermining another &#8211; often as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[449,669],"tags":[680,349,678,679],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4977"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4978,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4977\/revisions\/4978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}