How the media portrays the Palestinian-Islaeli conflict, and what the Research Paper

How the media portrays the Palestinian-Islaeli conflict, and what the truth really is - Research Paper Example es that the international public has inadequate understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a consequence of their lack of factual knowledge. While many people lack any information at all about the origins of the conflict, it is evident that most of them are unable to identify the different actors and players in the conflict and therefore have limited or no understanding of what is actually going on in this conflict (Deprez and Karin, 187). The answer as to why public opinion on this long-time topic is so limited or there is significant lack of understanding of what is actually going on is inherent in the news production processes of the international media. The international media finds itself largely influenced by both Palestinian and Israeli lobbies and pressure groups that seek to distort the coverage to favor either side. Although it is unfair to hold the media solely responsible for the distorted public perceptions about the Palestine-Israel conflict, they play an important role in shaping public perception and opinion on international issues. In this light, this paper investigates the portrayal of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict in the media and the various factors that influence the coverage to favor either side. The paper tries to explore what is covered by the media and how it is presented vis-Ã  -vis the real situation on the ground or indeed the truth about the whole conflict so far. Most studies that have been carried out on media representation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict mainly concern the presence of contextual information, reporting on victims, the choice of labels for reporting, and the use of actors and sources from both sides of the conflict (Stein, 137). Almost all the studies reach the conclusion that the media represents the Israelis and Palestinians in different ways. Although the studies mostly highlight a bias in favor of Israeli, it must however be pointed out that the studies largely focused on the Israeli and US