June 21, 2004

Media bias in reporting the Middle East At risk of turning this place into Observer/Guardianfilter ... I thought this was an interesting and brave article about media bias in reporting the Israel/Palestine conflict. More inside ...

It comes from a study by the Glasgow University Media Group who have a history of producing studies claiming the media is biased towards the establishment through the way it constructs its reports ...

  • From the article: That 37 years of military occupation, the violation of the Palestinians' human, political and civil rights and the continuing theft of their land might have triggered this crisis is a concept either lost or underplayed. I'm convinced it's impossible to write anything that is unbiased about that situation. The ad hoc assumptions made in this one sentence tells me where the author's sympathies lie. Is it any wonder he'd see bias in favour of the "occupiers"?
  • It is basically impossible to write anything involving people without being biased. Take for example the choice of "Detriot wins" vs. "LA lost." They are both factually correct but we can guess which was the headline where. The problem isn't in biases, but in not acknowledging them. Fox news is of course one of the most obvious examples (see the bias in my sentence?).
  • Of course, there's always this...
  • Truth is neither objectivity nor the balanced view; truth is a selfless subjectivity. Knut Hamsun, 1889 But then again, the man turned out to be a Nazi, so what the fuck did he know...
  • i heart jernie! great point.
  • It's a duckbit! It's a rabbuck!
  • f8x - nice link! jernie, nice one too! Here's the reference. Also, of course, this could not go unmentioned.
  • If you wish to be deluded, don't read, and do rely on TV for the news.
  • Truth is a fixed star -- Unfortunately it is far Away and lies Quite possibly In another galaxy
  • the reference Sorry, I meant, a reference to a famous discussion of that image.
  • f8xmulder: Was that meant to be a proof that the BBC is anti-semitic or was it en example of someone claiming the BBC is biased whilst not being able to hide they own (considerable) bias?
  • I demand that you shoot me now!
  • I suggest shooting my spelling instead