More on Media and Perspectives

The following is a homemade news briefing of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict in Gaza that I found on Youtube:



There has been quite a bit on discussion on this blog about the position of the media on the struggle in Gaza. After watching this video, I had several conflicting thoughts as to its responsibility as a piece of media. First of all, it is obviously an unprofessional, which shows in many ways—Not only does it broadcast several mistakes, one being an obvious slip up by calling Palestine Pakistan, but it also exhibits blatant biases, calling anyone crazy who doesn’t believe in a two state solution with a shared Jerusalem. Furthermore, it is in many ways tactless, and is at times offensive by simplifying this extremely complex conflict.

With this said, however, we must question the responsibility this video assumes. Does this person feel that he is fulfilling a duty as an informer or is it simply a means of expression, and if the latter, does that excuse its faults? It is also interesting to consider how many people watch and accept this video as a reliable news source.

Another note I wanted to point out is the significance of the producer using his dog as a subject while delivering the briefing. He admits that the conflict is so convoluted and tragic that many times it is easier to just detach oneself, in this case by viewing a harmless and friendly object in the midst of news on grief and destruction. Is it irresponsible of the man behind the camera to enable and even encourage this detachment or is he merely mocking our physical distance in America from the conflict and how most of the public usually reacts to this kind of news. One must question how much it differs from the somber newscaster on any broadcast news station who delivers a briefing on the Israeli offensive in Gaza and then after a commercial break, greets viewers once again with a bubbly smile. I don’t have many answers but was interested in hearing all of your opinions.

Is the Israel/Palestine situation going nowhere

It may just be me, but I am of the opinion that after increased periods of conflict the amount of attempts at dialogue from outside sources seems to increase while the dialogue between the two sides seems to decrease. This relates to a lecture I attended by Dr. John Freeman, a political scientist from the University of Minnesota. He received a NSF grant for this work on "Bayesian Time Series Models for the Analysis of International Conflict". In this he spoke on how there is a relation between the sentiments of both the Israel and Palestinian people. As the Israelis become more inclined towards peace, the Palestinians are not as excited about it and then vice versa. For all you math people think of it as cos(x) and -cos(x). He used surveys/polls of both Israelis and Palestinians and found a striking inverse relationship very similar to this mathematical model.

Considering the radicals in both camps are we destined to continue along this oscillating path or will one side prevail? Here is an article from the English version of Al Jazeera about the UK's willingness to talk to Hezbollah. 

I am having problems loading and linking to the actual paper about the time-series but here is the citation. You can find it searching on  Macalester Library website in the WorldCat search box.

Brandt, P. T., and J. R. Freeman. "Advances in Bayesian Time Series Modeling and the Study of Politics: Theory Testing, Forecasting, and Policy Analysis." POLITICAL ANALYSIS -ANN ARBOR THEN OXFORD-. 14. 1 (2006): 1-36.

BBC Refuses to Air Gaza Aid Appeal

The BBC has itself made news by refusing requests to air a charity appeal for the people of Gaza following the destruction there that has left more than 50,000 homeless. British news channel Sky has joined the BBC in refusing to air a message from the Disasters Emergency Committee asking for donations for Palestinians affected by the recent conflict. Citing the need to remain impartial and apolitical in their coverage of the situation in the Middle East, BBC has drawn wide criticism from prominent voices in politics, religion, and the media. Not being able to count on free airtime to broadcast the appeal, the DEC reports more difficulty in raising awareness and funds. The DEC is not a political group and many have said that the sudden calling on "editorial independence" to justify not airing the aid appeal is itself a political decision. In the past the DEC has gotten airtime to request aid for victims of sensitive political-military situations without British broadcasters worrying that granting that space would be a political move or speak to an editorial ideology.



Does the BBC have an obligation to use its public role to give access to those seeking to direct towards war victims or is its mission as completely removed from the conflict more important? With this issue many question how giving time to “endorse” Palestinians affected by the Israeli invasion is an endorsement of Hamas that would undermine the objectivity of the Beeb. In fact by publicly refusing to give voice to these appeals, critics now wonder if the BBC is trying to deny the extent of the devastation inflicted on Gaza by the IDF. What many see as a politicization of a humanitarian crisis by the BBC has provoked questions of what political impartiality the BBC can claim. The BBC is playing with the consideration of not wanting to appear aligned politically towards the Israelis or Gaza in this conflict or incite controversy. It seems a dangerous amount of sensitivity to avoid appearing biased towards the victims of violence.

Links from the Comments page

The following links were in the comments of the Gallup Poll post. They didn’t link automatically so I’ve put them in as a post so you can get to them more easily.

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=348984&story_id=12953839

Economist article: Adrienne


http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.macalester.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T5964478281&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T5964098517&cisb=22_T5964478284&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&selRCNodeID=9&nodeStateId=101en_US,1&docsInCategory=12&csi=306910&docNo=4

Lexis nexus link: Morgan


http://freedomfolks.com/?p=5730

Freedom Folks link: Andrew