Behind Media Marginality: Coverage of Social Groups and Places in the Israeli Press

This is an examination of the considerations and decisions which have resulted in the distorted and negative media coverage of minority groups in the Israeli media. To do so this book looks closely at media portrayals of those living on the geographic margins of Israel - kibbutzin, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, development cities and the Israeli-Arab community - from the 1960s through the 1990s. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of newspaper items, interviews with reporters and editors, government spokespersons and statistical and demographic data, author Eli Avraham is able to isolate and explore five factors which influence the way these social groups are covered: characteristics of the group or place where they live, proximity of the group to foci of power, social-political environment, the quality of media relations and the public relations strategies of the groups’ responses to coverage. Both an analysis of media operations and of Israeli society, this book provides insight into the role of the media in national identity formation.