Voices missing: Israeli media’s selective coverageーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
About a month and a half on since Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire over Gaza, Israel is still keeping up its sporadic strikes. A factor that may impact military actions going forward is how Israeli media is reporting the situation. This chart shows that over the past two years, the major networks have reported on the hostage issue five times more than the Gaza famine. We take a look inside Israel’s media and how it may be shaping public opinion. In midepptember, while military operations in Gaza were ongoing, NHK was allowed to film inside the private broadcaster Channel 14. The conservative outlets ratings have risen by about 20% over the past 2 years. making it the country’s second most watched media service. It is known for coverage sympathetic to the government’s claim that military action is justified as part of its goal to destroy Hamas. The report argues that Hamas is to be blamed for civilian casualties. We asked one of the anchors whether the station should be reporting on civilian suffering in Gaza. I don’t think we should ignore what’s happening there, but putting headlines on it and focusing on it as if it were our own war, that would be wrong. The Netanyahu administration is a supporter of channel 14. Its purchases of air time for ad campaigns on the channel have increased to 3.8 times what it was before the military operation in Gaza began. At the same time, the government has withdrawn ads from media critical of its policies, even calling for boycots of some outlets. So, how do ordinary Israelis view the station’s coverage? While critical of the station, the man also had this to say about the misery in Gaza. His view may shed light on the findings of a May survey where 64% of respondents said they were satisfied with the current balance of coverage. Even journalists at media outlets critical of the government say reporting the reality in Gaza is challenging. Shalom. Shalom. Roy Kais, a correspondent for the public broadcaster Khan, is fluent in Arabic and has spent many years reporting from across the Arab world. As someone who covers the Palestinian side, I believe it’s essential to report on what is happening over there. But our viewers are Israelis and that inevitably influences how we report and what we choose to cover. This is Khan’s broadcast on the day Israel launched its ground operation in Gaza City. Nearly 80 people were reportedly killed in attacks that day, but this was not conveyed in the broadcast. Everyone in the media here knows someone who was affected by the Hamas attack on October 7th. One of our fellow editors was killed that day. We are journalists, but human beings first. We can’t simply shut off our emotions. Some people in the media industry conflicted by the situation are quitting. Matan Maron worked as an editing assistant at Israel’s top commercial broadcaster. His job was to monitor footage from the Western news agencies showing the situation in Gaza, but he says the footage was rarely used. I was told by the news desk, “This is not footage we will show to Israeli viewers.” They said it didn’t fit the management’s policy of keeping ratings up and our channel is a commercial broadcaster. We air what our viewers want to see. Management also believed that viewers didn’t want to see scenes of suffering. But how can we know that viewers aren’t being shown what is actually happening in Gaza? In May, after leaving the station, began protesting outside its offices. some experts warned that fulfilling the role of impartial journalism has become especially important for the people of Israel today. Welcome. They don’t know what all the world sees. they are being deprived because then you go and it’s very easy to believe the whole world is against us. You don’t have the tools to to deal with it and to make decisions about what you want your future to look like. What Israel’s media chooses to show and not show may shape the country’s political future. Our correspondent in Jerusalem says that major Israeli media continue to air reports critical of Hamas, adding there’s been little increase in public sympathy toward the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. Although a majority of Israelis support maintaining the ceasefire, some also back continued military action against Hamas and restrictions on aid deliveries.
Israel is keeping up sporadic strikes in Gaza despite the October ceasefire, and domestic media coverage may be shaping public perceptions and political outcomes.
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