War journalism fuels hatred, violence in Gaza, Israel

As the inconceivable war in Gaza continues to unfold, so, too does the predictable propaganda war playing out in the media.

This propaganda takes several forms. In an insightful piece in the New York Times, writer Jodi Rudoren talks about a “clash of narratives” about the war, and about the use of euphemisms. On the Israeli side, these include substituting “forced obstruction” for “assassination” and “uninvolved” for “civilians.” On the Palestinian side, media are advised by officials to always add the term “innocent citizen” when discussing casualties. 

PeaceVoice Editor Erin Niemela, in an article analyzing coverage of Gaza, cites similar examples. Al Jazeera online currently (July 21) posts a banner headline that says, “Gaza Under Siege: Naming the Dead.” This regularly updated webpage lists the names and ages of the Palestinian victims in Gaza. The war and propaganda journalism viewpoint is also present on the Israeli side. Niemela cites a July 18th article from The Times of Israel. The title is: “20 Hamas fighters killed, 13 captured in first hours of ground offensive.” The lead justifies the campaign: “IDF says soldiers in Gaza destroy 21 rocket launchers, find several tunnel openings; Eitan Barak, 21, from Herzliya, is first IDF fatality; 80 rockets fired at Israel.” 

Not only is this traditional war journalism evident on websites and in articles, but it can also be seen in visual reporting (photos and video) of the conflict. Specifically, I examined a series of 10 photos in two online publications—one Israeli, the other Palestinian. These photo albums were analyzed using a rubric my students at Park University and I have developed during the last three years. This rubric, which is still a work in progress, attempts to put a point value on images that are inflammatory, misleading, or represent propaganda.

My mini-study showed that traditional war journalism was evident in the photos posted on both Hareetz (Israel) and the PalestineTelegraph on July 20. In Hareetz, the 10 photos included one mug shot of two Israeli victims, two shots of injured Palestinians, two photos of tanks, two shots of rocket shell casings that fell into Israel, one destroyed building, one artillery firing shot, and one picture at night of artillery firing. Hareetz’s photos seemed pro-military, showing the efficacy of the IDF campaign, but not showing too much suffering. To their credit, at least there were two shots of injured Palestinians. However, the victims portrayed looked only moderately injured, at worst, thus the photos weren’t especially bloody or gruesome. 

Not surprisingly, the Palestine Telegraph photos told a different story. Of the 10 photos posted or linked from their website, there were four shots of kids in the rubble of blasted buildings. There were three pictures of injured or dead children, one shot of rubble, one of a destroyed building, and one of an Israeli rocket launch. Noteworthy is the fact that seven of the 10 pictures featured children, leaving one wondering if there is a directive of some kind at the Palestine Telegraph mandating photos of young victims. Also noteworthy was one truly awful, heartbreaking photo of a bloody toddler (1 or 2 years old) who was either dying or deceased.

What we are left with, then, are two different narratives—one sanitized and pro-military, and one sensationalized. As peace journalists, we ask ourselves the question, what is the effect of these visual narratives? In Palestine and the Arab world, these sensational images do nothing but stoke hatred against Israel, and empower hard liners who see only violence as the only response. In Israel, these sanitized, pro-military images support the government’s version of events, and reinforce the notion that the military action is succeeding with minimal suffering on the Palestinian side.

Peace journalism—indeed, good journalism—mandates coverage that doesn’t pour gasoline on an already blazing fire, and coverage that values peaceful alternatives while giving peacemakers a voice. Failure to practice peace journalism in this instance is further dividing the parties, inciting hatred, and helping to make peace virtually impossible.

Debunking immigrant stereotypes in the Bronx, NY

You can never go wrong asking people to criticize the media.

Man-on-the street interviews: immigration.

As I began my workshops last week at BronxNet/Lehman College in New York City, I started by asking the participants, “What’s wrong with the media?” The responses were animated, and didn’t deviate much from the common themes of inaccuracy and distortion. Then I narrowed the question, directing it to specific coverage of immigrants. Again, the participants easily listed a dozen tired stereotypes of immigrants perpetuated by the media. 

These immigrant stereotypes, and the media narratives that fuel them, were the theme of my workshops last week at BronxNet. One two-day workshop was for students and young reporters, while two other shorter workshops were for public access TV producers and the general public.

I presented research that confirmed what the participants already knew—that immigrants are stereotyped in the media, that most of these stereotypes are negative, and that negative stereotypes in particular infect audiences. We specifically examined a study by Latino Decisions that discussed the corrosive stereotypes of Latinos and immigrants. (http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2012/09/18/how-media-stereotypes-about-latinos-fuel-negative-attitudes-towards-latinos/) 

Man on the street interviews: immigration.

Then, we discussed using a peace journalism model as a way for media to break out of these stale, distorted narratives about immigrants. While peace journalism was conceived as a way to model war and peace reporting, I’ve found it useful in many other arenas—crime coverage, development issues, politics, etc. Certainly, the peace journalism principles of accuracy, balance, giving a voice to the voiceless (immigrants), being proactive instead of reactive, eschewing us vs. them reporting, and humanizing all sides are useful as we seek to give a more three-dimensional quality to our reporting about immigrants and immigrant issues.

Serving the cause of offering counter-narratives to the usual reporting about immigrants, student reporters were sent out to produce several projects. The first was to collect man on the street interviews about the benefits that immigrants bring to communities like the Bronx. The second was a video package about an immigrant or about a social service agency serving immigrants. The students are still working on these, but I’ve promised them feedback once the stories are complete.

The students and access producers alike, I hope, learned to think about media, and particularly media coverage of immigrants, in a more analytical, critical manner, and to report thoroughly, thoughtfully, and constructively.

ALSO...BronxNet's OPEN TV program hosted me last week. We had a lively discussion about irresponsible partisan media, and about the alternative--peace journalism. To see the eight minute segment, click here: http://www.bronxnet.org/open-vidoes/featured-interviews/viewvideo/4327/open--featured-interviews/peace-journalism

PJ project underway in Bronx, NY

The Center for Global Peace Journalism's third PJ project at BronxNet/Lehman College is underway. The young journalists and I had a robust discussion yesterday about media narratives and how they relate to immigrants. Toward this end, students shot sound bites on the street about attitudes towards immigrants. The seminar will continue as the reporters shoot stories about immigrant families here in the Bronx.

Next week, I'll have a full re-cap of the project.

Headline reflects need for more careful word choice

Peace Journalism teaches us that words matter, and that poorly selected words can, among other things, desensitize us to violence. A case in point is the cavalier use of the headline "Hobby Lobby ruling puts Green family in crosshairs" in today’s Kansas City Star and other media outlets.

The offending headline was widely used. A Google search showed the use of "Hobby Lobby ruling puts Green family in crosshairs" on websites belonging to the Associated Press, ABC news, the Arizona Daily Star, and dozens of others.

It’s clear that this headline represents the very antithesis of peace journalism. My colleague Professor John Lofflin, who called my attention to this headline, put it succinctly when he said, “No matter how you feel about the Supreme Court decision on Hobby Lobby, this headline from the Kansas City Star, in this day and age, has got to go. Totally irresponsible. Period.”

Could “In the Crosshairs” in some way encourage violence against the Greens, Hobby Lobby’s owners? This is a stretch, perhaps, but not completely out of the question. I see the headline as part of a bigger picture, one where the commonplace media use of violent imagery delivers an implicit message that there is something normal, or desirable, to putting those with whom we disagree in the crosshairs. 

The Star, along with every media outlet that used the offending headline, should immediately pull the headline from its websites, and apologize for its use.