Gaza media coverage – alternative voices and blogs
News channels rely on far too few Israeli
sources and do not represent the diversity of opinion on the conflict
in Gaza, according to Jeff who commented on yesterday’s post:
“There seems to be clear inconsistencies regarding the
voices from Israel that are often heard on news channels vis-a-vis
those which await adequate attention.It seems that some channels oversubscribe a few well known
spokespersons of Israel who mostly cycle and recycle known arguements
and hence offer little or no new perspective. On the contrary other
credible voices coming out of Israel are under-represented if not
overlooked.”
Jeff goes on to highlight some alternative perspectives.
It’s a view which would no doubt chime with BBC Editor Alistair
Burnett. When he was covering Gaza for Radio 4’s World Tonight
programme back in March 2008 he said:
“In our editorial meetings, we often discuss our Middle
East coverage and how we can shed new light on what can sound a very
repetitive story given that politicians and officials on both sides are
so entrenched in their positions and are often unwilling to budge from
those positions in public – even if what happens behind closed doors
can be different.”
On that occasion the World Tonight team decided to see if blogs
could provide them with some alternative viewpoints. So here are a few
blogs that have been commenting on recent hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
“I have been a mother for more than 20 years, seeing my children
through their baby years, their school years, into their teenage years.
And now, as I see my oldest son enter the army of Israel, I become a
soldier’s mother.”
In this post she replies to Mahmood who has commented on her blog about her son.
Laila El-Haddad’s parents are in Gaza. She gives us an insight into their lives.
3. In Gaza
Eva Bartlett works for the International Solidarity Movement. There’s more background on her blog in this article. Here she claims a news studio where she was conducting an interview was bombed.
As usual, Global Voices is doing a sterling job of collating blog posts. This is their latest round up.