« back to Daniel Bennett - Reporting War home

 

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.

1. A Soldier's Mother

"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.

2. A Mother From Gaza

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.

4. Global Voices

As usual, Global Voices is doing a sterling job of collating blog posts. This is their latest round up.