Abstract:
This paper argues that media coverage of Israel distorts the public’s understanding of
Israel and its motives, creating an obstacle to a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict. Peace will not be successful with the continued dehumanization and
delegitimization of the other side. The media has the power to help shift the narrative; to
provide a balanced, truthful account; and to show the humanity of the other. To support
this argument, the paper conducts a media analysis of both the articles and photographs
from four different news media sources, the Associated Press, The New York
Times, Reuters, and the Washington Post, using the Gaza Conflicts as case studies. The
article analysis consists of a qualitative approach which identifies three consistent themes
throughout all four sources during the 2014 Gaza Conflict. Then, within the article
analysis, there are four main types of biases that are examined. The photograph analysis
consists of a quantitative approach of all three Gaza Conflicts from the four sources, in
which the content of the collective pictures is quantified to determine what type of
pictures are most prevalent.
