Podcast: Reporting Gaza – Why the Media Bias? Featuring EJN Director

The recent conflict in Gaza is just the latest chapter in a decades-long dispute, with the media facing accusations that they have become sucked up into the vortex of sensationalism and bias that surrounds the issue.

This podcast from the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom looks at why there has been such a lack of balance in the press, and what the media should be doing differently. Appearing on the programme, Director of the Ethical Journalism Network Aidan White called for journalists to do a better job providing context and background to these extremely complex and volatile situations, to explore the depths of the story and to offer greater balance.

He also added that, while the explosion in the use of social media and blogs has allowed access to torrents of information that would never have been previously available, reporting on the conflict should not be left up to the online community, with its personal prejudices and special interests. Journalists have a crucial role in filtering and extracting what is useful and accurate and placing it into the wider context of what is going on and why.

Yet the financial concerns facing many organisations and the resulting cutbacks have meant that new ways also need to be found to fund journalism itself, and greater pressure needs to be placed on outlets to ensure their ethical standards aren’t sacrificed in the pursuit of profitability.

Aidan was joined in the discussion by Tim Llewellyn, former Middle East correspondent for the BBC, and Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition. The segment was hosted by Nicholas Jones. (via Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom)