Just Journalism Newsletter
| 14th November 2008
| SPECIAL REPORT | Israel in the media: Quarter 3 2008
| Published today - Just Journalism's Q3 report analysing coverage of Israel
in the UK media between July and September. Key findings:
1. The Israel-related stories that recieved the most coverage in Q3 were
Iran-Israel relations, the Kadima leadership and the Israel-Hizbollah prisoner exchange
2. The greatest number of breaches of journalistic standards occurred on
the BBC News website and in The Independent
3. The most common breach was 'lack of context by exclusion of relevant information and facts' - 75% of all breaches in Q3
4. Comment pieces were twice as likely to be negative as positive
5. The Guardian contained the highest proportion of critical comment
pieces, with 53% negative, 6% positive and 41% neutral
Read the full report - click here.
| |
Analysis this week
|
 JERUSALEM MAYORAL ELECTIONS
Key themes from this week's media coverage of Jerusalem result
RAHM EMANUEL APPOINTMENT
Variations in how the press received Obama's first appointment
BBC TV HEBRON REPORT
In-depth look at 10 O'Clock News report from Hebron
ISRAELI DEMOCRACY & YIGAL AMIR
BBC Radio 4 on democracy and Rabin's assassin
| | The week's media in numbers | 79 press articles concerning Israel
1 breach of journalistic standards
8 press articles that address Rahm Emanuel's connection to Israel
| Breaches in journalistic standards
| The Independent, 'Israel 'demolishes' houses' (8th November, 2008)
IMBALANCE OF VIEWS | This article contained substantial allegations against Israel without any Israeli perspective or official response.
Read Just Journalism's analysis here.
| Jerusalem mayoral elections
|  · There was widespread coverage of the Jerusalem mayoral elections, which took place on Wednesday
in the midst of nationwide local elections. The event was reported in all the broadsheets and featured heavily
on the BBC News website.
Key themes in the coverage:
1. The religious-secular divide between the two candidates. James Hider in The Times claimed the election was 'seen as a barometer for the city's soul' and reported contender Meir Porush's claim that within a few decades 'there would be no more secular mayors, except in some
tiny villages'.
2. Divisions between Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Israelis in the West
of the city: The Guardian, The Independent, and FT all highlighted that it was standard procedure for Palestinians to boycott the elections. An Independent article (11th November) reporting the results, however, ended somewhat ambiguously with "The city's Palestinians residents were absent from the race."
· The BBC News website included a profile of secular candidate Nir Barkat, and articles by Tim Franks and Heather Sharp. Sharp's piece, 'Holy City facing
splits and decline' opened with a Palestinian worker claiming that Jerusalem was 'starting to die', and continued on to catalogue 'soaring land prices, dirty streets, economic stagnation, job shortages, the flight of the city's young
people' adding that Jerusalem was 'ranked bottom in a recent survey...[of] Israel's... largest cities'.
· Of six people interviewed, none had anything positive to say about Jerusalem - in contrast to the 'In pictures' feature attached to the article, which included a more diverse survey of local opinion.
| Rahm Emanuel appointment ignites media interest
| 
· Last week Barack Obama appointed Rahm Emanuel,
a high-ranking member of the Democratic party, as his
chief of staff. Several newspapers noted his
connections to Israel, and speculated on the president-elect's future Middle East policies. The Observer and
The Independent reported that Emanuel's father was
a member of the Irgun, with the latter including a box titled, 'An Israeli terrorist?' Both The Guardian article and The Independent carried a response from Benjamin Emanuel to his son's appointment: 'Obviously
he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he be?'
· The Guardian claimed, 'Emanuel's position has raised concerns among those looking for an even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict'. Donald Macintyre of The Independent gave a more in-depth review
of Emanuel's history, noting that he had co-sponsored bills defending Israel's security barrier and 'congratulating Israelis and Palestinians who work together
for peace.'
· Two contrasting views were published in The Sunday Times and The Independent. Andrew Sullivan wrote that while Emanuel has 'serious Jewish and Israeli cred' 'that doesn't mean he's Likudnik', and approvingly quoted Jeffrey Goldberg who suggested that 'precisely because he's a lover of Israel,
[he] will not have much patience with Israeli excuse-making', arguing that a capacity to push for settlement-dismantlement will be a positive improvement.
· Robert Fisk of The Independent wrote that Obama should 'tell Israel a few home truths: that America can no longer remain uncritical in the face of
Israeli army brutality', but predicted that with 'AIPAC supporter Rahm Emanuel as his new chief of staff... Obama will toe the line.'
| | BBC TV Hebron report |
· On Monday night, BBC 10 O'clock News carried a report from Hebron by Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen. Three minutes long, it was introduced in
the studio as addressing in-fighting between Hamas and Fatah. However, the
first minute focused on how Israel negatively impacts on Palestinian life in Hebron.
· The report's opening element featured a Palestinian boy in a wheelchair and
described how Israeli restrictions make it difficult for him to reach his school, labelling Hebron 'a grotesquely abnormal place.' Of the seven elements in
the report, three featured Palestinian children. None featured any Israeli interviewee.
· Bowen introduced his piece by stating that 'Everything that happens in
Hebron happens 'against the background of the Israeli occupation, forty years
of occupation.' Only after this was the Hamas-Fatah split discussed - the supposed focus of the report.
· The next two segments of the report remained focused on this stated issue, but the following one ended with the journalist stating, 'The irony for Palestinians is that Hamas and Fatah agree their row helps Israel,' before cutting straight to a Hamas spokesman who elaborated on this theme: 'Anything that weakens the Palestinians, whether as a group or as factions, benefits Israel.'
· Whilst Israeli responsibility was heavily implied in parts of the report, no
Israeli voices were included. Two short references were made to what
'Israel says' justifies its actions.
Watch the report here.
| Israeli democracy and Yigal Amir
| · In an edition of BBC Radio 4's 'A Point of View' programme on the topic of democracy, Clive James highlighted Israel's approach towards the man who assassinated Yitzhak Rabin, Yigal Amir.
· James noted that there has been some debate about whether Amir should be granted a public interview or not, before stressing: 'you have to concede that there is something to be said for a system in which such a controversy can take place.'
Listen to the broadcast here. | | |
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