Quotes from "Media Coverage of the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict", a report by Greg Philo published by the Glasgow University Media Group, available online at:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/sociology/Israel.pdf

"Most (82%) listed TV news as their source (of information about the conflict)…but many people had little understanding of the reasons for the conflict and its origins."

"Just 8% knew that the (Palestinian) refugees were displaced from their homes and land when Israel was established in 1948."

"Of 3536 lines of text (transcribed from BBC1 and ITN TV news bulletins from 28th September until 16th October 2000), only 17 explained the history of the conflict.

"The key issue of water was barely mentioned."

"…many people did not understand that the Palestinians were subject to a military occupation and did not know who was 'occupying' the occupied territories."

"On TV news, journalists sometimes used the word 'occupied' but did not explain that the Israelis were involved in a military occupation."

"71% did not know that it was the Israelis who were occupying the territories. Only 9% knew that it was the Israelis and that the settlers were Israeli. There were actually more people (11%) who believed that the Palestinians were occupying the territories and that the settlers were Palestinian."

"…the news, exists in a very commercial market concerned with audience ratings. Pictures and action dominate and it is better (to) have great pictures of being in the middle of a riot with journalists ducking stones than to explain what the conflict is about.

"Israel is closely allied to the United States and there are very strong pro-Israel lobbies in the US and to some extent in Britain. It is clear that a lack of discussion on the news of the origins of the conflict and the controversial aspects of the occupation would operate in favour of Israel."

"Israel prefers to stress the attacks and bombings made upon it and the anti-semitism of some Islamic groups, rather than to have the legality of its own actions subject to public debate. The settlement policy is widely regarded as illegal in International Law and this has certainly been the view of the British Government."

"Some newspaper reports consistently refer to the settlements as 'illegal' but this is not done routinely on television news."

"…we are left with accounts on the news of day to day events, in which it can appear that the 'normal' world is disrupted only when the Palestinians riot or bomb."

"There were many examples of the Israeli viewpoint being actively adopted by journalists and built into the structure of coverage. Palestinian bombings were frequently presented as 'starting' a sequence of events which involved an Israeli 'response'…"

"The extent to which some journalism simply assumes the Israeli perspective can be seen if the statements are 'reversed ' and presented as Palestinian actions. The group did NOT find any reports stating that 'The Palestinian attacks were in retaliation for the murder of those resisting the illegal Israeli occupation'."

"A news journalism which seeks neutrality should not endorse any point of view, but there were many departures from this principle."

"Words such as 'murder', 'atrocity', 'lynching' and 'savage cold-blooded killing' were only used to describe Israeli deaths but not those of Palestinians."

"...only 30% (believed that more Palestinians had died than Israelis). The same number believed either that the Israelis had the most casualties or that casualties were equal for both sides."

"Israelis spoke twice as much on television news as Palestinians and there were three times as many headlines that expressed the Israeli view as that of the Palestinians."

"The notion that there are powerful forces within Israel who do not wish there to be any peace settlement was rarely explored on television news."

"The lack of explanation on the news about the origins of the conflict plus the differences in the manner in which both 'sides' were presented had measurable effects on some public understanding."

"'You always think of the Palestinians as being really aggressive because of the stories you hear on the news. I always put the blame on them in my own head.'
Comment from an eighteen year old in a focus group."

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