A two-year study by If Americans Knew of US network television coverage of the Israel/Palestine conflict revealed troubling patterns of omissions and disparities in emphasis that profoundly hamper the ability of US viewers to understand the conflict.
ABC, CBS and NBC gave 3.0 to 4.4 times more coverage to Israeli deaths than they gave to Palestinian deaths in 2000-2001, at the beginning of the intifada or popular uprising against Israeli occupation, and again in 2004.
The difference is even greater when the networks cover children, giving 9.0 to 12.8 times more coverage in 2004 to deaths of Israeli children than to deaths of Palestinian children.
Why the bias?
Israeli public-relations campaigns; journalists who are based in Israel; US news media bending to pro-Israel pressures; or pro-Israel leanings of reporters, editors or media owners.
[More: If Americans Knew Report]
[Source: Al Jazeera]
