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Analysis of the Seattle Post Intelligencer’s new coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict 10/20/2002 – 12/7/2002 This
analysis was prompted by the observation that suicide-bombing reports were
placed on the front page, while reports of the death of several Palestinians
were buried in the inside pages. The
analysis examines the date of publication, location of article (page number
and above fold: AF or below fold: BF), title of piece, source, and the
availability of a photograph. Sizes of photos were reported as “lrg” for
large, “med” for medium, and “small”. The
details of the data gathered are at: http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/reports/spi/newsanalysis2002.html The
following are conclusions drawn from the data: ·
Eid
Massacre in Bureij camp compared to suicide bombing that took place on a bus.
Similar number of victims was reported (10 Palestinians and 11 Israelis).
Compare October 22 and October 23 to December 6 and 7 1. October 22 has front page, below
fold picture of suicide attack site with bus remains and a continuation on
page A4 of the horror of that attack with description such as “Car bomb turns
Israeli bus into fiery tomb”. 2. October 23 has a large picture
of grieving Israelis and a picture of one of the victims with his relatives
grieving over him 3. December 6 has a page A10report
on 10 Palestinians killed in what was described as a fight between equal
forces 4. December 7 has a page A12 report
with one medium sized picture of a destroyed Palestinian home with people
searching in the rubble for their belongings 5. December 7 front page has a very
large picture of a man rollerblading! So we assume that there was not an
abundance of local news ·
Most
Palestinian victims are not given names or ages, just numbers whereas Israeli
victims are given name, age, status, field of work and other information which
gives that person more of a human factor. Palestinians are just numbers.
Please refer to 11/22 for Israeli death report and to 12/1 for Palestinian
death report ·
Word
“Alleged” is never used to describe assassinated “militant” Palestinians. The
source coming from Israel is taken at face value. ·
On
days where no news is reported regarding the Israeli- Palestinian conflict,
there are stories reported in other newspapers such as the Independent (UK).
An example of this: “Family tells how Israelis buried deaf father alive By
Justin Huggler in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip” can be found at http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=357935
·
Very
few independent sources are quoted or used in order to balance out the
Israeli side and therefore, the Israeli side of the story is believed to be
the truth or reality. Due to this fact, we have a list of sources that we
would like to suggest using and we hope that you will take advantage of in
order to have a more balanced view in your newspaper. ·
Choosing
to print columns by Thomas Friedman is only one point of view. Other writers
need to be selected that present the other side. ·
Headings
such as Israeli Helicopter missiles kill Palestinian in Gaza City (12/5) and
“Israeli fire kills child as tension mounts again in West Bank” 11/26, are
deceiving. Please describe the action of the Israelis and not their
equipment. “Israelis kill alleged Palestinian militant in Gaza City” and
“Israeli Soldiers kill Palestinian child” is a better description of these
tragic events. ·
Only
one letter was published regarding this conflict and it was pro-Israeli 11/8 ·
Locally
an Israeli mayor was interviewed regarding the ambush of Israeli security
guards and army personnel. He expressed total shock regarding the event but
no local Palestinian-American was interviewed for a balanced report ·
11/22
Pain intensifying with loss of young lives describes the death of the Israeli
children after a suicide bombing whereas the death of Palestinian children is
hardly mentioned let alone described in details. Please refer to story by
Independent (UK) describing the loss of young lives on both sides and
humanizing all innocent children (11/13) “Parents mourn after Middle East
bloodshed by Justin Huggler in Rafah, Gaza Strip: http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=351649 ·
In
the mean time, these are just some of the stories that were not covered by
the P-I that we believe are of utmost importance: 1. Hunger and malnutrition in
Palestine (man-made and imposed). Children
suffering from chronic malnutrition: 56%. Source: http://www.miftah.org 2. 14 billion dollars in additional
aid to Israel 3. Activities of International
Solidarity Movement 4. Many murders of Palestinian
civilians, including children that are not mentioned at all 5. As a result of not allowing
women in labor past checkpoints to reach a medical facility: Number of Palestinian deaths while giving birth at
Israeli checkpoints 21,Mothers: 23, Stillbirths: 21. Source: http://www.miftah.org also Denial of Access
to ambulances logged: 455 which also resulted in the death of many people
whose days could have been prevented (see picture of Aisha as one example) 6. Houses demolished
barely mentioned. Total number of homes demolished: 7,734 source http://www.miftah.org 7. Attacks on Palestinians during
olive harvest which is the backbone of the Palestinian economy 8. Use of Palestinian Civilians as
Human Shields in Violation of High Court Order. Neglected Report by B’Tselem
can be found on: http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Full_Text/Human_Shield/index.asp 9. Freedom Press Report Neglected:
Reporters without Borders report: In press freedom, Israel worse than
Palestinian Authority and US worse than Costa Rica! http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116 |
