Study: Possible To Mention Gaza Rocket Fire Not In Context Of IDF Retaliation

Experts are divided on whether the study will have any impact on the way reporting is conducted.

New York, April 4 – A new analysis of data suggests that it is possible for a reporter to mention that Palestinians have fired rockets at Israeli communities without first reporting that Israel has hit the Gaza Strip with subsequent airstrikes.

Scientists at the Blaine Institute of Analytical Studies (BIAS) looked at media reports of IDF operations against militants in the Gaza Strip over the last several years and determined that it might not be strictly necessary to mention Israeli action first when that action did not occur first. The finding goes against the widespread practice in journalism of finding only Israeli strikes newsworthy, with the Palestinian terrorism that precipitated them included in the story as an afterthought, if at all.

Experts are divided on whether the study will have any impact on the way reporting is conducted. “While I can’t see the New York Times, for example, abandoning its age-old practice of humanizing Palestinian militants and demonizing Israelis, other outlets might do well to experiment with this new approach,” suggests Ray Cist, who analyzes media coverage at the Princeton-Rutgers Educators in Journalism Unified Department of Israeli Criminality Examination (PREJUDICE). “One of the traditional elements of Western journalism is the characterization of any Israeli act of self-defense as perforce a deplorable violation of Palestinian rights of some sort, whereas the very act that provoked the Israeli strike is given all sorts of mitigating context: grievances, occupation, and the like. So the more established, traditional media, such as the BBC, might shy away from reporting unprovoked rocket attacks, but there’s no reason all outlets must follow that model.”

Former New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller disagrees, noting that no serious journalist would entertain the notion that Israelis and Palestinians should be judged by the same standard. “We’re Western liberals – it’s part of our job description to downplay the negative attributes of developing societies and accentuate the evil in anything Westerners do to others,” he explained. “I can’t see any outfit that values its reputation ever reporting on Palestinian rocket fire by itself. There always has to be a mention of any associated Israeli action, lest the audience get the idea that Palestinian violence occurs independent of it.”

The study echoes an earlier body of research suggesting it was possible to report a violent crime without mentioning the perpetrator’s skin color.