Investigating the Press Through the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Wednesday, June 27, 2007. On the heels of the Middle East peace talks in Sharm El Sheikh comes Israel's first military action in Gaza since Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas separated from the elected Hamas government and moved to the West Bank. Israel moved tanks and troops into Gaza and firefights ensued. How many casualties were there?

The Associated Press claims that there were 10 Palestinian casualties, including two civilian deaths, one of which was that of a 12-year-old boy. The Associated Foreign Press claims 11 Palestinian casualties, stressing three civilian casualties, including a 12-year-old boy. Reuters, in all its suggestive vagueness, reports "at least" 12 Palestinian deaths, including that of a 12-year-old boy and "other civilians." Not only did Reuters provide such detailed "facts," but it also included a vividly gory description of the dead boy of the 12-year-old, clearly depicting the Israeli military as the tyrannical oppressor without regard for human life. Palestinian authorities claim 13 casualties in Wednesday's violence. There appears to be a slight discrepancy in the stories in terms of numbers, as well as occasional editorializing on some of the details.

The fact that so many news sources are present and focused on the same conflict might result in vastly different accounts of the facts, but might they also provide a reliable account that can be verified and checked by the different parties? One can only hope.

Fair Presentation of Both Sides

I take particular issue with the Reuters article. How much color should be added to a factual article? News updates do not require emotional pangs and induced sympathy from online readers. Reading the Reuters article entitled "Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians in Gaza raid," you might think that Reuters was trying to boost ratings, much as a soap opera might bring back a killed-off character to renew interest in the show. How can I help but compare Reuters to tasteless daytime television when the impartiality of a news article is so dubious. Consider two statements made by opposing sides in the conflict and how the author treats each: