Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a sore spot for Israel and its supporters. For years, the pro-Israel community has accused the media of bias in their reporting, especially during times of near-war skirmishes.
The most recent clashes in Gaza were no exception, with some media watchdog groups claiming that coverage of the flare-up, which saw more than 450 rockets fired towards Israel in less than 48 hours, failed to take into account the months-long attacks by Palestinian rioters, prompted by Hamas, upon southern Israel leading up to the rocket attacks.
"Journalists never cover the Gaza situation fairly. Never," Dan Gainor, vice president of business and culture at the Media Research Center, a media watchdog group, told JNS.
"Hamas has been trying to tear down the border fence, has sent terrorists across the border, and has launched rockets and fire kites into Israel, but the media have almost completely ignored every attack," he said.
"They won't call them 'terrorists,' even though the U.S. considers Hamas a terror organization, and they claim 'dozens' of rockets," said Gainor. "There have been hundreds and hundreds. That's not journalism. It's public relations."
An example of such bias occurred at a State Department briefing last week.
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