Researching Palestine

Resources on Gaza

Contextualizing Genocide

News Sources

Bias and Reliability

Every news article is the product of some bias. Individuals and the organizations relate to the world differently, which in turn impacts the way in the which they collect, edit, and share information as news. Bias is cause for concern when it results in statements without factual basis, reflects purely personal opinion, or produces prejudiced coverage. Ask yourself:

• How might the perspective of this news source, journalist, photographer, etc. consciously or unconscously impact their coverage of Palestine?
• Does this news source, journalist, photographer, etc. have a reputation for reporting on Palestine from a particular perspective?

Every news source varies in how reliable it is. Some news is factually incorrect, out of date, or contains errors. These sources are not reliable. Ask yourself:

• Does this news source, journalist, or photographer have a reputation for factually accurate reporting on Palestine?
• Is the news source reflective of recent developments in Palestine or is it out of date?
• How might the speed of unfolding events change how quickly a news article becomes out of date?

The reliability of news sources can change over time, so keep in mind the date when an assessment of reliability was made.

Resources for Evaluating Bias and Reliability

• "Reliable sources/Perennial sources" | Wikipedia
  • Assessments of world news sources by Wikipedia users.
• "Should you trust media bias charts?" | Poynter
  • Controversial charts claim to show the political lean and credibility of news organizations. Here’s what you need to know about them.
• "The SIFT Method" | Mike Caulfield, Washington State University
  • Key fact-checking strategies in a short list of four moves, or things to do to quickly make a decision about whether or not a source is worthy of your attention.

Regional Voices

News sources located in Palestine and surrounding areas provide firsthand coverage of unfolding events that are presented by journalists with significant cultural and linguistic knowledge. These sources each have their own biases but are considered generally reliable by sources such as Wikipedia and Media Bias/Fact Check; however, these evaluations are only a starting point. Use the SIFT method to make your own evaluations.

• +972 Magazine
  • A left-wing news and opinion webzine, established in August 2010 by a group of four Israeli writers in Tel Aviv.
  • Characterized as a partisan news source; reliability is sometimes disputed (Wikipedia discussion)
• Al Jazeera English
  • A news channel that operates under the ownership of the Al Jazeera Media Network, which, in turn, is funded by the government of Qatar.
  • Characterized as generally reliable; however, Al Jazeera, particularly its Arabic-language media, is also considered a partisan source with respect to the Arab–Israeli conflict. (Wikipedia "Reliable sources/Perennial sources" page)
• Al Monitor
  • A news website launched in February 2012 by the Arab American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel and based in Washington, DC.
  • Media Bias/Fact Check factual reporting score of high (12/23)
• Haaretz
  • An Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel.
  • Characterized as generally reliable; however, it reports with "political slant, particularly with respect to the Arab–Israeli conflict, which makes it biased or opinionated." (Wikipedia "Reliable sources/Perennial sources" page)
• Jadaliyya
  • An independent ezine founded in 2010 by the Arab Studies Institute (ASI) to cover the Arab World and the broader Middle East.
  • Wikipedia "Response" subsection.

The descriptions above are borrowed from their corresponding Wikipedia pages under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licenses.

Additional Regional News Sources

• "Palestinian news sources" | Michael Zank at Boston University
  • A list of Palestinian news sources without comment. The biases and reliability of these sources are not evaluated.
• "Palestinian territories media guide" | BBC
  • Brief descriptions of media outlets in Palestine and their affiliations/funding sources. This information is a first step in evaluating the biases and reliability of these sources.

US and British News Sources

• AllSides
  • An American-based company that estimates the perceived political bias of content on online written news outlets, and then presents different versions of similar news stories from sources.
  • "There is general consensus that reliability varies among the website's articles and should be determined on a case-by-case basis; while the high-confidence ratings are generally reliable as they are reviewed carefully by experts, others depend on blind user surveys that some editors consider opinionated and less reliable." (Wikipedia "Reliable sources/Perennial sources" page)
• BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
  • Characterized as generally reliable (Wikipedia "Reliable sources/Perennial sources" page)
  • Some journalists have criticized BBC coverage as biased in favor of Israel (Wikipedia, "Media coverage of the 2023 Israel-Hamas War")
• The New York Times
  • Characterized as generally reliable (Wikipedia "Reliable sources/Perennial sources" page)
  • Some journalists and scholars have criticized New York Times coverage as biased in favor of Israel and dismissive of Palestinians (Wikipedia, "Media coverage of the 2023 Israel-Hamas War")
• NPR (National Public Radio)
  • Characterized as generally reliable (Wikipedia "Reliable sources/Perennial sources" page)

Mainstream Media Coverage of the War On Gaza, a panel on February 8, 2024. Featuring William Youmans, Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs and Director, Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at George Washington University; Laila Al-Arian, an American broadcast journalist for the Al Jazeera Media Network; and Adel Iskandar, Associate Professor of Global Communication at Simon Fraser University. 

Mohammed el-Kurd and Kenneth Roth spoke about the current situation in Israel/Palestine at UMass-Amherst on November 13, 2023. The event was moderated by Stellan Vinthagen.