The dream of statehood and the reality of conflict: local and international coverage of the Palestinian United Nations bid for statehood

This paper examines whether or not media coverage is biased by the political orientation of the journalists’ country, specifically illustrated by the 2011 bid for statehood by the Palestinian Authority in the United Nations. This bid represents a symbolic step toward international recognition of a Palestinian state, an important event in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A quantitative analysis was conducted on 1577 news reports from American, European, and Middle Eastern outlets to determine the differences in media coverage of the Palestinian bid for statehood among the channels. The findings suggest that Israeli channels broadcasted a relatively low number of items in which the Palestinian declaration itself was the main theme. The BBC broadcasted a relatively high rate of such items, and offered balanced coverage of both Israeli and Palestinian positions, while coverage by American FOX News channel reflected a pro-Israel bias. The findings also suggest that media outlets may be biased toward specific leaders. This work builds on a growing body of research on media framing of political conflicts and the effect of the political context of a country on its media outlets’ coverage.