Media Watch

The Most Important Prisoner in the Whole Wide World

Its possible that there is a name more well-known than Gilad Shalit this week, but not likely. For the last two days, media of all kinds have been tripping over themselves trying to describe, explain, hagiographize, and contextualize Shalit, who is to be released soon after a five year detention by Hamas in a prisoner swap. 

Dire Consequences for Backing the US State Department's Consensus on the Two State Solution

Nicolas Kristof, the venerable New York Times columnist and champion of foreign policy liberalism, wrote a pretty middling article a couple of days ago, called “Is Israel its Own Worst Enemy?” Kristof has a sort of Groundhog Day dynamic with the Palestine-Israel conflict; every once in a while, he wakes up and rattles off an anguished column, mourning the radicals on both sides that make “pe 

British hacks slander Raed Salah after High Court victory

In his testimony to Sheldon immigration court in Birmingham, I listened to Sheikh Raed Salah making the point that the Israeli press is not credible. He said that he came to this conclusion after long years of bad experiences with it. Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post mis-quoted him, inserting the word “Jewish” into his attacks on Israeli occupation in an attempt to smear him as an anti-Semite. 

Searching for Palestinian voices in the UN bid media coverage

Mainstream media published hundreds of articles on the Palestinian Authority’s UN statehood bid from the point coverage began in earnest in the summer to the day of Abbas’ historic speech in the UN. But where were the Palestinian voices? 

How CNN helped spread a hoax about Syrian babies dying in incubators

A disturbing story is circulating on social networks and the media that a number of premature babies died in their incubators when Syrian forces cut off electricity to hospitals during their assault on the city of Hama. Evidence suggests it is a cruel hoax, and the pictures of the “dead babies” widely circulated online are false. 

How a clueless "terrorism expert" set media suspicion on Muslims after Oslo horror

Immediately after news of the bombing of government buildings in Norway’s capital Oslo, the Internet buzzed with speculation about who might have done it and why. Most speculation focused on so-called Islamist militancy and Muslims. The urge to speculate after grave events is understandable, but the focus of speculation, its amplification through social media, its legitimization in mainstream media, and the privilege granted to so-called experts is a common pattern. 

Pages

  • Activism and BDS Beat

    News about popular struggle, international solidarity and boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activism

  • Arts and Culture

    Palestine-related arts and culture news

  • From the Editors

    Highlighting important stories on and off The Electronic Intifada.

  • Lobby Watch

    An eye on the groups that try to stifle free debate about Palestine

  • Media Watch

    The good and the bad of media coverage of Palestine

  • Power Suits

    We go through the revolving door of the “peace process” and “diplomacy”

  • Rights and Accountability

    News about work to enforce human rights and international law