On 6 March 2024, the Centre for Media Monitoring launched its report Media Bias Gaza 2023-2024 at Portcullis House, House of Commons. An attentive audience in the packed Boothroyd Room heard from the founder of CfMM, Miqdaad Versi, and were provided the key findings of the report by author Faisal Hanif (left on image below). The event was chaired by Rizwana Hamid (right), head of CfMM and its advocacy lead with all key stakeholders.
A panel providing comments on the report included the Rt Hon Baroness Warsi, Afzal Khan MP, journalist Peter Oborne, Sky News head Jonathan Levy, BBC News director Richard Burgess, Al Jazeera’s Listening Post journalist, Richard Gizbert and the veteran Palestinian activist Ghada Karmi.
From the CfMM website:
“KEY FINDINGS
- Language Utilisation: Emotive language describes Israelis as victims of attacks 11 times more than Palestinians.
- Framing of Events: Most TV channels overwhelmingly promote “Israel’s right” to defend itself, overshadowing Palestinian rights by a ratio of 5 to 1.
- In broadcast TV, Israeli perspectives were referenced almost three times more than Palestinian ones.
- In online news it was almost twice as much.
- Contextual Framing: 76% of online articles frame the conflict as an “Israel-Hamas war,” while only 24% mention “Palestine/Palestinian,” indicating a lack of context.
- Misrepresentation and Undermining: Pro-Palestinian voices face misrepresentation and vilification by media outlets, perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
- Right wing news channels and right-wing British publications were at the forefront of misrepresenting pro-Palestinian protestors as antisemitic, violent or pro Hamas.”
