Watching How Others Watch Us: The Israeli Media's Treatment of International Coverage of the Gaza War

Abstract

This article examines how national broadcast media in Israel reported on the international coverage of the Gaza war. It show how, on the one hand, the national media's treatment of international coverage generated effective estrangement: casting doubt on commonsensical national discourses and encouraging a critical and reflexive reporting. At the same time, the Israeli media's coverage of “how others see us” reinforced attachment: it reproduced consensual and familiar narratives and denied alternative voices. The discussion highlights the significance of journalism during war for cultivating critical distance from national commonsensical narratives, and demonstrates how effective estrangement may be achieved.

Notes

1. Surely, claims about the implications of these news reports should be complemented by research into audiences' reception and the meanings they make of these texts. This investigation is beyond the scope of this article.