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ABSTRACT
This paper examines whether or not media coverage is biased by the political orientation of the journalists’ country, specifically illustrated by the 2011 bid for statehood by the Palestinian Authority in the United Nations. This bid represents a symbolic step toward international recognition of a Palestinian state, an important event in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A quantitative analysis was conducted on 1577 news reports from American, European, and Middle Eastern outlets to determine the differences in media coverage of the Palestinian bid for statehood among the channels. The findings suggest that Israeli channels broadcasted a relatively low number of items in which the Palestinian declaration itself was the main theme. The BBC broadcasted a relatively high rate of such items, and offered balanced coverage of both Israeli and Palestinian positions, while coverage by American FOX News channel reflected a pro-Israel bias. The findings also suggest that media outlets may be biased toward specific leaders. This work builds on a growing body of research on media framing of political conflicts and the effect of the political context of a country on its media outlets’ coverage.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Dr Yuval Karniel is a Senior Lecturer at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. He earned an LL.M. in international law from the American University in Washington DC and an LL.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Dr Amit Lavie-Dinur is Vice Dean & Head of Visual Content Studies at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. She received her Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Dr Tal Samuel-Azran is a Senior Lecturer at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne. His main research and publications concern: International Communication, Political Communication, and New Media Technologies Effects.