What Officials Say, What Media Show, and What Publics Get: Gaza, January 2009

Fighting, worrying and sharing: Operation ‘Protective Edge’ as the first WhatsApp war

“…An inquiry into the role of the media during wartime is one of the most traditional and fertile grounds for mass media studies. Research in this field addresses a vast range of topics, including the following: analysis of the characteristics of war event coverage and the patterns of representation of the players involved (Kalb, 2007;Liebes and Kampf, 2009;Nobrstedt et al, 2000); examination of how war coverage affects decision makers and public opinion, both locally and internationally (Wolfsfeld, 1997(Wolfsfeld, , 2004; and institutional aspects, such as the reciprocal relationships among the representatives of the military-government-media triangle and the ways in which governments and other political players enlist the media to promote their policies (Bennett et al, 2007;Blondheim and Shifman, 2009;Brown, 2003;Zaller and Chiu, 1996). In addition, studies have investigated various uses of media during war, largely in comparison with periods of stability and calm (Dotan and Cohen, 1976;Lev-On, 2012;Peled and Katz, 1974).…”

“…In addition, studies have investigated various uses of media during war, largely in comparison with periods of stability and calm (Dotan and Cohen, 1976;Lev-On, 2012;Peled and Katz, 1974). Among the most well-known and frequently studied aspects of national crisis is the transformation of media into an active arm of the establishment, sometimes along with government organizations and at other times as a substitute for them (Blondheim and Shifman, 2009;Dayan and Katz, 1992;Hallin, 1989).…”

Health journalism in the service of power: ‘moral complacency’ and the Hebrew media in the Gaza–Israel conflict

“…The resulting coverage highlighted Israel's power alongside its vulnerability, showing traumatised children in shelters. Hamas was construed as the source of the suffering, including that of Gaza residents (Blondheim and Shifman ). Though they were free to present their own versions of events, most Israeli journalists accepted the closure on the media and the army's version of events.…”

“…The suffering of Gaza residents was marginalised in the media coverage. The few commentators who presented more critical approaches achieved but limited success among domestic audiences (Blondheim and Shifman ). Notably, even when the army revised its reports towards more self‐critical versions, the press often ignored the correction.…”

The footprint of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in online world news: The puzzle of salience

“…This controversy is fed by widely shared assumptions concerning news media's effects on public opinion, on decision makers, and consequently on the shaping of policy and on its implementation (Bennett, 1990;Katz, 2009;Wolfsfeld, 1997Wolfsfeld, , 2004. With thoroughgoing changes in recent years in the technical nature of news gathering and in its institutional and business environment, paralleled by major changes in the international system and its frameworks of interdependencies, the significance and impact of foreign news reporting is thought to be increasing dramatically (Blondheim & Shifman, 2009). This article, too, is concerned with the bias of international news media in reporting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.…”