Reporting Gaza

Israel’s bombardment and siege of Gaza have set many grim records, from the percentage of children killed to the high number of casualties among journalists, doctors, first responders and aid workers. Yet, coverage in the Western mainstream media has failed to capture the scale of the horror and suffering. At times, it has minimized it and at worst, it has manufactured consent for genocide. 

This talk will explore ways Western media has failed to meet the moment and instead—particularly in the first several months of Israel’s war—engaged in a campaign to spread propaganda intended to garner support for the military campaign. Unsubstantiated stories relied on lazy, racist tropes of Arabs and Muslims and a dehumanization of Palestinians that undergirds much of the coverage. When reporting this story, many of the basic rules of journalism go out the window. In this light, we will also examine the unprecedented devastation inflicted on Gaza and the heroic work of Palestinian journalists who have served as the world’s eyes and ears, documenting Israel's attacks while risking their lives.

This event is part of the Hardt-Nickachos Lectures in Peace Studies, an endowed lecture series made possible by a gift from a generous donor. Past speakers have included Stanley Hauerwas, Sari Nusseibeh, Selma Leydesdorff, Pankaj Mishra, David Livingstone-Smith and Timothy Winter.

About the speaker