Other War: Israelis, Palestinians and the Struggle for Media Supremacy by Stephanie Gutmann

Other War: Israelis, Palestinians and the Struggle for Media Supremacyby Anonymous

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February 25, 2006: This extremely relevant and well written study subjects the media coverage of the Palestinian/Arab-Israeli conflict to a meticulous scrutiny. Providing a behind the scenes perspective & an abundance of examples, the writer documents what she describes as the distorted, inaccurate and egregious bias against Israel throughout the realm of the mainstream media. The book reveals how so many journalists, photographers and editors are sometimes guided by what is cited as a 'hardened anti-Israel ideology' often selectively omitting pivotal factors thus portraying a false image of the reality on the ground. The writer emphasising the public now need to become what she calls 'experts at inspecting, analysing and demystifying the news product' with a need to know who/what is behind the source providing the news itself. One of the reasons for writing this book being described as the fact that 'pictures do lie' and that behind every picture is a long story & a list of people who decide how and in what manner that particular picture is presented, as the full background is rarely depicted. Throughout the book the reader is confronted with the fact that the news media is the world's spokesman and through controlling the information provided to the public and the manner in which it is presented, subsequently controls the public's judgement and perception. The writer strives to underscore how those within media are very much aware of their enormous power to manipulate and use their power & platform to their full advantage, with most of the world, allegedly having yet to learn that the media is NOT a non-profit organisation working for the betterment of the human race. To the contrary, the book reveals how the media competes fiercely for elite positions, career making scoops and headline supremacy. Many instances are shown which reveal that, purportedly, the media will readily falsify, fake and fabricate news to achieve it's own ends, staging events for the benefit of the ever present cameras. The cover of the book itself displayed scores of media photographers lined to obtain a controlled/staged photograph of a Palestinian throwing a missile. The writer illustrates how that in the early years of the Palestinian intifada about 95% of the TV pictures on satellite were supplied by Palestinian film crews and that many journalists have shown themselves unwilling to attribute any blame to the Palestinian side as such would allegedly endanger their physical welfare and prevent future access to essential sources/areas upon which the news entities utterly rely for their coverage. Other issues examined include Jenin, the Ramallah lynching of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian celebrations after the September 11th attacks on the US where some 3,000 Palestinians were filmed rejoicing in the streets in the wake of the murders of so many innocent people. The study describes how the footage of such events was destroyed due to the fact that a photographer was then allegedly held in the office of the Governor of Nablus with gunmen holding the barrels of their weapons held against his skull. A demand then being made that if the video of the celebrations was not destroyed, the photographer would be executed. The film was subsequently destroyed. (Page 152) Another issue studied is the visit of Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem's Temple Mount which media sources have blamed for the outbreak of the second intifada. Detailed analysis in...