Sources of media bias in coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The 2010 Gaza flotilla raid in German, British, and U.S. newspapers

Abstract

This study examines (1) whether German, British, and U.S. media coverage of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is biased, and (2) if such a bias exists, what its sources
are. Applying Dave D' Alessio's and Mike Allen's framework for measuring media
bias to a sample of 240 newspaper articles on the 2010 Gaza Flotilla Raid, we find
that British and especially German newspapers exhibit a significant anti-Israel bias,
whereas the results for the United States are mixed. Testing five explanations of media
bias commonly mentioned in the relevant literature, we find that a newspaper's political
affiliation as well as a country's public opinion, demographic make-up, and relationship
with Israel explain the occurrence of media bias in coverage of the IsraeliPalestinian
conflict rather well, whereas national business interests do not. Moreover,
our findings suggest the existence of a strong interplay between demographics, public
opinion, foreign policy, and media bias.

Date of Award	2012
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Andrew D. McNitt (Supervisor)