Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Media Bias IQ Question
Which of these is not like the others:
1) Israelis kill Palestinian who attacked soldier (by Atef Sa'ad at Reuters)
2) Palestinian woman killed after stabbing Israeli soldier (AFP)
3) Knife attacker killed in W Bank (BBC)
4) Palestinian Woman Stabs Israeli Soldier (By RAVI NESSMAN AP)
5) Calm in Gaza as Israelis kill Palestinian (AFP)
These are all headlines about the same event--a Palestinian woman (mother of 5), while on her way to conduct a suicide attack in Israel, was stopped at a checkpoint where she stabbed a female Israeli soldier in the face and was then shot in the legs by other Israeli soldiers. The woman died from the wounds.
The top two headlines tell the complete essential story. The next headline is a little less complete but at least manages to get in the knife attack part. The fourth headline talks about the attack but fails to mention the shooting and death of the attacker. And the last headline leaves out the knife attack entirely. One point for guessing number 4; three points if you guessed the last one.
What is it with AFP and headline number 5? The writer can't even mention the knife attack in the first paragraph: Calm returned to the Gaza Strip after deadly internecine clashes and police protests over dire insecurity problems, as Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian mother of five in the West Bank.
Apparently the Israelis aren't fighting just the Palestinians.
1) Israelis kill Palestinian who attacked soldier (by Atef Sa'ad at Reuters)
2) Palestinian woman killed after stabbing Israeli soldier (AFP)
3) Knife attacker killed in W Bank (BBC)
4) Palestinian Woman Stabs Israeli Soldier (By RAVI NESSMAN AP)
5) Calm in Gaza as Israelis kill Palestinian (AFP)
These are all headlines about the same event--a Palestinian woman (mother of 5), while on her way to conduct a suicide attack in Israel, was stopped at a checkpoint where she stabbed a female Israeli soldier in the face and was then shot in the legs by other Israeli soldiers. The woman died from the wounds.
The top two headlines tell the complete essential story. The next headline is a little less complete but at least manages to get in the knife attack part. The fourth headline talks about the attack but fails to mention the shooting and death of the attacker. And the last headline leaves out the knife attack entirely. One point for guessing number 4; three points if you guessed the last one.
What is it with AFP and headline number 5? The writer can't even mention the knife attack in the first paragraph: Calm returned to the Gaza Strip after deadly internecine clashes and police protests over dire insecurity problems, as Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian mother of five in the West Bank.
Apparently the Israelis aren't fighting just the Palestinians.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 12:03 AM 
