Palestine-Israel in the Print News Media

Contending Discourses

Luke Peterson

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780367869656
• eBook ISBN: 9781317670353
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Israel-Palestine in the Print News Media: Contending Discourses is concerned with conceptions of language, knowledge, and thought about political conflict in the Middle East in two national news media communities: the United States and the United Kingdom.

Arguing for the existence of national perspectives which are constructed, distributed, and reinforced in the print news media, this study provides a detailed linguistic analysis of print news media coverage of four recent events in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in order to examine ideological patterns present in print news media coverage. The two news communities are compared for lexical choices in news stories about the conflict, attribution of agency in the discussion of conflict events, the inclusion or exclusion of historical context in explanations of the conflict, and reliance upon essentialist elements during and within print representations of Palestine-Israel. The book also devotes space to first-hand testimony from journalists with extensive experience covering the conflict from within both news media institutions.

Unifying various avenues of academic enquiry reflecting upon the acquisition of information and the development of knowledge, this book will be of interest to those seeking a new approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

1 Introduction: Discourse, Language and the Printed News Media

DOI: 10.4324/9781315769752-1

This book analyzes the construction and representation of Palestine and Israel and the political, military, and civil conflict that has simultaneously united and divided them throughout decades of their shared history on a small plot of semi-arid land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It is not the representation of conflict within the region itself that concerns this investigation but rather its representation in geographical locales far removed from the sites of the physical conflict: the United States and Great Britain. The constructions and representations of Palestine–Israel of interest here are neither visual nor aural, neither graphic nor ancient, but rather textual, of the kind found in the contemporary and authoritative mainstream print news in both of the aforementioned countries. That is to say, this study offers a comparison of the language used to describe some of the more recent and especially newsworthy events (often as determined by those working within the news media themselves) in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. As such, this enquiry is not exclusively a history of that conflict per se, nor can it be classified strictly as an explication of linguistic theory. Rather the analysis to follow combines elements of multiple scholarly disciplines (the work of history, the close study of language, and the circumscription of discourse among them) in order to sketch the boundaries of contemporary epistemology. Comparing the formation, distribution, and absorption of language describing Palestine–Israel between the United States and Great Britain, including the similarities of representation as well as the manifold differences therein, is, then, the ultimate goal of this work.

To put it concisely, this study constitutes an investigation into the print news media discourse on Palestine–Israel in the United States and Great Britain. ¹ In so doing, I offer a comparison of the variances of representation present in the news media institutions located in each of these two national news media communities. Through this process I seek to identify ideological focus and even political orientation present in the two news media institutions. This study undertakes this comparison with an eye toward the connections between language and thought, and the various ways in which print news media language plays a role in the development of knowledge in two contemporary societies. Conclusions in this book speculate as to the boundaries of the available authoritative knowledge on Palestine–Israel within the United States and Great Britain, suggesting how individual and collective perceptions of the conflict may be formulated in distinct ways in each of these two locales. Given that epistemological developments and discursive constructions within any contemporary society are necessarily ephemeral, however, these conclusions can only hope to be snapshots of language, thought, politics, and place. Nevertheless, it is this author’s hope that these conclusions and the methods by which they are reached are as noteworthy as they are informative. It is my further hope that the patterns of language and knowledge here described provide insight into the construction and application of language, into patterns of coverage within the print news media, and into the development of knowledge about Palestine–Israel within two contemporary news media communities.

But while the above introduction suffices to explain what this study is and, to a substantial extent, what it does, none of the above suggests any reason why this research project was undertaken. A word on that is in order here. My background is as a student of the history as well as the contemporary social and political circumstances in Palestine–Israel. As such, I have travelled to, lived in, researched in, and explored both sides of the line in this divisive conflict. As an American citizen, I have also sought out information on the region from major news media sources in my home country. As a doctoral student in the United Kingdom (and as the son of an English mother), I have likewise engaged in this pursuit in England, where I sit now as I compose this work. And from within these multiple venues of scholarly investigation into Palestine–Israel, differences in tone, text, perspective, and presumption in the language used to describe the conflict in the pages of the authoritative newspapers distributed throughout each country became increasingly apparent. Those differences did not strike me as surprising within the media products of Palestine or of Israel; each side of a political conflict has always sustained its own narrative. But those differences that appeared between news media publications from within Great Britain and the United States seemed to me to be especially noteworthy.

Upon further investigation into these sources, questions as to the form and content of these representational incongruities began to arise. I speculated as to how it might be possible to investigate these structural and functional deviations, and what social, cultural, and/or historical motivations might be responsible for their appearance in mainstream news media publications. I worked to apply a quantitative methodology in this investigation for the purposes of scholarly objectivity, but I could never fully retreat from my qualitative roots either (the result of this prolonged internal debate was the formulation of the hybrid investigational methodology that appears in this book’s case study chapters). Throughout all of these investigations however, what lay at the heart of the questions I was asking was the concept of discourse and its manifestation in the print news media of two distinct national news media communities. The resulting study, therefore, provides a comparative sketch of the boundaries of that discourse, and offers speculations as to its impact on the formation of knowledge on Palestine–Israel within the United States and Great Britain.

This study has a cognitive aspect as well, offering a brief and speculative assessment of the effect of language in the news media upon the development of public knowledge (alternatively termed social cognition—both terms and their application to be explained later in some detail) about Palestine–Israel. This assessment is grounded in the erudite research of those linguists and psychologists who specialize in the production and assimilation of spoken and print language in the “mind/brain.” ² This aspect appears in this project because it is not simply the presentation of events in two national media institutions that is of concern here, but also their interpretation and absorption into the communities in which they circulate. That is, it is not only the words on the page and their arrangement in a news media publication that is of interest, but also the potential thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, and actions that those words and presentations engender.

As mentioned, these elements of this book are, to an extent, exploratory. This author’s expertise is as a scholar of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, a commentator on the politics and dynamics of the contemporary Middle East, and as an analyst of discourse. Nevertheless, in the course of this investigation, aspects of the connection between thought and language (inescapable within the study of discourse) arose so often as to effectively render this research project incomplete without the inclusion of this line of argument. As such, considerations of the connection between language and cognition appear regularly in the pages that follow. And while inroads into the possible connection between print language in the news and the processes of individual and collective thought are provided with ample circumspection, these investigative elements nonetheless comprise an important part of this research project. Ultimately, these aspects serve to shed light onto the social and political influence of authoritative print language in the contemporary news media, and suggest related avenues of research into the connections between the mind/brain, language, thought, media, culture, and society. ³

Potential scholarly benefits to be derived from this study are many. One value lies in the employment of the aforementioned methodology; the close reading and careful analysis of nearly a thousand print news articles for the purpose of discursive comparison is, to the best of this author’s knowledge, a unique undertaking. ⁴ Historical sketches that precede each news article analysis are likewise valuable as they incorporate the most recent, expert scholarship on the Palestinian–Israeli conflict available at the time of this writing. Further, the delineation and definition of the concept national news media community, a term already employed in the introductory explanation above, is also an important innovation. Setting down the role of printed news within contemporary nationstates affirms the irrevocable connectivity between collective, national identities and print publication even in an age of instantaneous access to ostensibly landless, electronic information (more on this topic below). The value of conjecture as to the role of printed news language in the formation of individual and group knowledge has been discussed already as a point of extreme interest and potential academic gain in the study of cognition, speculative though it may be. And finally, the evaluation of the practice of print journalism in the Middle East in the words of those who are occupied by it day after day is, I believe, both valuable and illuminating in any study of the news media and their role in the creation of knowledge in contemporary society.

As such, I hope that what follows below is of interest to scholars of the Middle East, students of discourse, practitioners of cultural and identity studies, linguists and cognitive scientists, and experts in media studies, alike. And though walking a tightrope between disciplines and methodologies throughout the course of this research project has been as humbling as it has been challenging, I sincerely hope that I have done justice to each field of inquiry invoked, and to each erudite scholar cited in the pages below. My innovations, whatever they may be, are a credit to each of them. My mistakes, however, are mine alone.

Print in the electronic age

As stated above, the study to follow gives pride of place to the social and cognitive impact of the printed word present in authoritative news publications over and above the news language provided by its ever-present, ever-expanding electronic counterpart. This practice may seem inherently anachronistic given the increasing propensity of news consumers to preference electronic sources over paper ones. And while it is true that electronic news sources have grown exponentially over the last decade while many of their print partners have perished, this author nonetheless holds that the tradition of the printed word in society has an in-built discursive weight, and that electronic sources, or talking-head news programs cannot be said to occupy the same intellectual space as traditional printed volumes. ⁵ More will be said on the connections between news, print, knowledge, and identity in the chapters to follow. For now, a brief discussion on the social and intellectual value of the published, printed word in the electronic age is in order so as to situate the linguistic analysis to follow in its rightful context.

The impact of texts created and distributed by the news media is of critical importance to the discussion of public knowledge and social cognition in this work. Indeed it has been suggested that texts themselves as particular forms of transmitted knowledge constitute agents in the development of cognition and can exert agency through the structure of meaning and conditioning of information. It is through words in print, and the news media as text that language and its concomitant social and political importance is transmitted to consumers of the news. Specifically, it is authoritative language in print that conveys meaning and structures thought in considerations of Palestine–Israel in both the United States and Great Britain.

A variety of forms of electronic or online opinion editorials, online commentaries, consumer talk-backs, and published letters to the editor compete with authoritative newspapers for intellectual space and discursive influence in contemporary news media markets. Internet blogs, special-interest newspapers, and informational products from small interest groups or from members of unique subcultures are also examples of this type of political expression. These alternative forms of media exist primarily in the ever-expanding World Wide Web, a free, open, and virtually unregulated electronic universe where it is possible to read and hear news and perspectives on any conceivable topic with the click of a button. The source material to be found in this world is as diverse as it is unpredictable. News and political information found online might as likely be from educated experts as it is from ignorant, unrepentant bigots. There are methods for the verification of electronic sources and online posts but they are not infallible. Where news is concerned, the internet remains a measureless and wild place.

Existing as they do outside of regulated news agencies and beyond the strictures and conditions imposed by established media conglomerates, alternative sites of news production are modes of communication that work against the institutional news current. They are not bound to conform to the standard, acceptable news narratives embraced and espoused by the authoritative media. Collectively this might make these sources attractive alternatives to the more mundane and predictable narratives touted by their establishment counterparts. Indeed, news consumers often seek out these news sites in order to obtain information that is categorically outside the accepted norm of mainstream political expression. Some of these news providers have become incredibly popular, even to the point of competing with traditional media outlets in the provision of information on certain subjects. As such, these sites and the non-traditional perspectives they endorse occupy an important place when it comes to the provision of news and political perspectives within contemporary media markets.

Still, individual, small-group, highly specialized, and other independent news products are outside of the institutionally-established national news media structure. As such, many scholars of contemporary media believe that these methods of alternative expression do not significantly impact the extent of institutional agency in the creation of the news. ⁶ Rather it is more often suggested that alternative voices working to counteract expansive institutions of news production are subsumed, marginalized, or otherwise rendered ridiculous by authoritative media. In this way, authoritative news sources are able to use alternative sources to solidify their influence within national news discourse. So while increasing in number and popularity among expanding groups of news consumers, alternative, electronic news sources may in fact be situated to serve the needs of the news media institution by maintaining the existing status quo where massive, conglomerate media corporations condition and distribute information to the majority of the news consuming public.

As such, institutionally vetted, authoritative news text remains a crucial avenue of investigation into considerations of discourse, thought, and language. Distinct from alternative modes of communication, including rapidly shifting electronic publications, items in print retain a more lasting, more substantial impact upon cognition. Often repetitive or recurrent themes—such as the frames of representation identified in the case studies in this book—deepen this cognitive impact. Ultimately, conceptual relations, positive and negative associations, and functional memory is significantly informed in each of these processes. It is this value of print in the construction of knowledge, and the value of text and its influence upon individual and social memory that renders the printed news so influential in the construction and distribution of contemporary discourse. Consequently, items in print receive significant investigative attention over and above electronic media in the discussion to follow.

Sources and method

But of course, not all news texts present within these two massive news media institutions are analyzed within this book. Rather this work engages with the authoritative news media and examines the ideological principles upon which its coverage is based. Here, the term authoritative describes a minority of print publications that dominate the intellectual landscape and contribute broadly to the structure of news information disseminated in society. ⁷ As such, the concept of authority that is applicable within this study relates closely to Gramscian hegemony, defined as “intellectual and moral leadership” and is suggestive of authority in i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Routledge Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction: discourse, language and the printed news media
• 2 Discourse and theory
• 3 Nations, publics, and the print news media
• 4 Covering Palestine–Israel in the news media in the United States and Great Britain
• 5 Evacuating Gaza from two sides of the Atlantic
• 6 The Palestinian Legislative Council Elections, 2006
• 7 Covering the Gaza War
• 8 The flotilla attack
• 9 The journalistic perspective: covering Palestine–Israel in their own words
• 10 Conclusion: contending discourses
• Appendix A: evacuating Gaza from two sides of the Atlantic, in-text frames of representation
• Appendix B: print news media articles analyzed in evacuating Gaza from two sides of the Atlantic
• Appendix C: The Palestinian Legislative Council Elections, 2006, in-text frames of representation
• Appendix D: print news media articles analyzed in The Palestinian Legislative Council Elections, 2006
• Appendix E: covering the Gaza War, in-text frames of representation
• Appendix F: print news media articles analyzed in covering the Gaza War
• Appendix G: the flotilla attack, in-text frames of representation
• Appendix H: print news media articles analyzed in the flotilla attack
• Index