If you got your news only from the television, you would have no idea of the roots of the Middle East conflict, or that the Palestinians are victims of an illegal military occupation.
In May, the Glasgow University Media Group, distinguished for its pioneering media analysis, published a study of the reporting of the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict. It ought to be required reading in newsrooms and media schools. The research showed that the public’s lack of understanding of the conflict and its origins was compounded by news reporting, especially on television.
Viewers, says the study, are rarely told that the Palestinians are victims of an illegal military occupation. The term “occupied territories” is almost never explained. Indeed, only 9 per cent of young people interviewed knew that the Israelis were the occupiers and the “settlers” were Israeli.
The selective use of language is important. The study found that words such as “murder”, “atrocity”, “lynching” and “savage, cold-blooded killing” were used only to describe
— source johnpilger.com | john pilger | 1 Jul 2002