Moeller, S. (1999) discusses the four Habits that media does in adjusting the a story into a more bias appropriate news for the source.
First, Bias through selection of worthy news, simplifying the causes and the solutions of the problem,assigning “Good” and “Evil” role and deliberate wrong usage of pictures.The US media like ‘The Washington Post’ choose to put a picture of an injured Israeli on the first page(Battah, H. (2009), which by now we all know that the first page is the most important in news. In the In this way, bias is proven since the journalist is selectively placing and comparing two images of a Jewish women stressed from hiding in a shelter and Palestinian mother that has lost her children , these both are different news and the Palestinian side of the story should be covered differently. The journalist downgraded the issue and portrayed a different image of the situation. For example, as noted by Battah, H. (2009). the day the front page photographs of the two Israeli women were published, over 350 Palestinians were killed compared to only 4 Israelis.
Second, Bias by headline and leads and usage of words.For example, The Washington Post quote Israeli military and civilians several times before quoting a single Palestinian, as well as giving more information about Israel in a more sympathetic way. This way, they direct the reader into agreeing with the US politics, insuring that the public’s eye will be on their side.
Third, Bias by using metaphors and imagery that resonate but give off the wrong news . In US television, the anchor excludes any facts about Palestinians or the death count, and gives little report on how Israeli is killing Palestinians each day, omitting it on news to ‘People killed’ rather than being attributed specifically to Palestinians, which makes American viewers side with the Israelis.
Fourth, emphasizing on the American connection to the news.As noted by Moeller, S. (1999) ,the way the American news covers news is bias.Arab viewers have a different perspective than US viewers about the Israel and Palestine conflict since in the US networks, bombing of Gaza has been limited to only 2 minute video packages or five minute talk show segments, barely enough time to get a glance or remember a victim. On the other hand, Arab networks only show Gaza. live images from the streets of Gaza are always broadcasted to hours on end, and they’re unedited, giving the actual reality of the war.
Moeller, S. (1999). Four Habits of International News Reporting.
Habib Battah (2009, January 7). In the US, Gaza is a different war. Al-Jazeera. Retrieved from: Battah, H. (2009): In the U.S., Gaza is a Different War.
Media and People 