jorgelito

Oftentimes I hear the complaint that the media is biased; left-wing bias or right-wing bias. To further confuse things, simple newscasts or reporting has bled into or merged with editorial/commentary style reporting amking any bias much more apparent.

But by and by, I would say and bias occurs on a sublter level, in what is or not reported.

For my news, I choose the NPR, BBC World, and CNN international. I find these sources to be great and straight. The BBC routinely serves up both sides of the story. EX: During the recent war, the BBC showed damage in Lebanon and right next to it, damage in northern Israel. It also interviewed residents in Lebanon and Israel as well. What also stands out in my mind is that the BBC would publish reports daily about Israel announcements of new campaigns for civilians to clear the area.

TO answer your question host, to me the US media (as a collective) is neither anti nor pro-Israel. But if you distill the various outlets, then there would probably be slight favoritism either way. That's why I choose the above "neutral" sources (hey it works for me). Also, keep in mind, there are "independent" editorials and commentaries that are inherently biased that appear on different outlets. EX: NPR, CNN, often interview AEI scholars as well as Brookings scholars. This to me is a good indicator of balance.

Since I was in Egypt and Israel for most of the war, I did not access US media too much save for the occassional yahoo or CNN.com, BBC.com reports. I did watch some Arab and Israeli TV news (not that I could undertande any of it). But if you watch long enough, you can get a sense.

I was watching an Israeli news report and the images showed IDF soldiers firing into a crowd of youths/protestors and one guy bent/keeled over. I exclaimed, "Oh my God!", as the images were graphic (not bloody). The Israeli next to me said, "Just so you know, those were rubber bullets and those guys were throwing stones". Regardless of justification or right or wrong, having all the facts makes a difference.

For a good spoof or funny way of understanding media manipulation, go to the photochoppin thread. Really.

The Arabic TV was mostly interview style - they would show images of destruction then interview some angry guy and loop this. THen they would cut to an "anchorman" which was some guy all covered up (only eyes exposed). I have no idea what he was saying, but I could venture a guess.

I think US media is mostly sensationalist and "fear-mongering" - both left and right with the above few exceptions. While our official stance is pro-Israel, there are still many anti-Israel and/or Pro-Palestinian views as well.