Mainstream media’s accountability
Western mainstream media must be made accountable for the current state of affairs in Palestine and Lebanon. It has misinformed us and has lulled us into a state of ignorance and apathy by not revealing the true state of affairs in Palestine.
Our resulting indifference (because it also showed Israel as being able to take care of itself) was then interpreted by both sides in the conflict as a tacit approval of the zionist’s policies in Palestine. The concept of “underdog” that wakes us up and brings forth our natural tendencies for solidarity with our fellow human beings, had been twisted somehow.
Perhaps it would have been better had there been total silence instead of its biased reporting of events that served to martyrize the Zionists (yet not render them helpless) while demonizing the Palestinians.
A stunning media imbalance is revealed by studies of U.S. coverage of the Palestinian uprising. Analysis of the San Jose Mercury News by Alison Wier, a former Sausalito editor, showed that it covered 73 per cent of Israeli deaths on its front page from April to September, 2001, compared to just five per cent of Palestinian deaths.
Cursory readers of the paper would be left with the impression that 500 Israelis — but only about 100 Palestinian civilians — had been killed in the current uprising, when the real figures are 700 Israelis and 2,000 Palestinian.
According to the media watchdog organization, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), National Public Radio (NPR) in the U.S. fared somewhat better, reporting 34 per cent of Palestinian deaths and 81 per cent of Israeli deaths in the first six months of 2001.
However, the distortion was much worse in the emotionally-charged category of dead children. Only 20 per cent of the killings of Palestinian children were reported, compared to 89 per cent for Israeli children. In other words, being less than 18 years old makes your death more newsworthy to NPR if you are Israeli, but less newsworthy if you are Palestinian. [Our humanity in the balance]
[Cross-blogged at Vive-le-Canada]
