WASHINGTON, 6 August — A recent study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs has found that neither the Israelis, nor the Palestinians, are doing very well when it comes to US network news coverage.
According to a poll taken by the Washington-based center, which examined 525 nightly newscasts on the ABC, NBC and CBS; 78 percent of the on-air appraisal of Israel on the evening news shows were negative. The Palestinians’ evaluation was even worse, with 92 percent of the newscasters commenting in the negative.
But most negative of all was the rating of the Israelis’ treatment of Palestinians — the score was 96 percent negative. Which, as is being noted here in Washington, is about as bad as one can get.
Everyone involved the Middle East is getting terrible ratings. President Bush’s handling of the Middle East crisis was seventy-two percent negative — which is bad, but not as bad as Israel and the Palestinians’ ratings. Nearly 4 out of 5 (79 percent) of the newscasters’ comments on the Bush administration’s reaction to the conflict were negative.
Secretary Colin Powell, meanwhile, is doing better than anyone; his coverage was most balanced, with 55 percent negative coverage versus 45 percent positive.
“The media has an anti-everybody bias,” CMPA director Robert Lichter, told journalists.
“Both sides think the media a biased against them, and they’re both right. You almost never hear justification for anything; you only hear condemnation. This is pure media negativism... TV news is casting stones on this story all the way from the West Bank to the White House.”
Just as interesting is whom the newscasters blame for the violence. The Palestinians were reproached 42 percent of the time, and the Israelis 33 percent.
When the coverage was more specific, the Center for Media and Public Affairs found that Yasser Arafat was faulted 92 percent of the time, and Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 78 percent.
As for pointing fingers for assigning responsibility for the violence, a majority, 53 percent, faulted the Palestinians, while one-third, 33 percent, targeted the Israelis. Arafat was singled out 50 times compared to 15 times for Sharon.
