Deconstructing Western Media Narratives
Israel's War / Genocide in Gaza
Teach-In Session 29 - July 25, 2024
TEACHING NOTES
In this conversation, our guest, Assal Rad, deconstructs dominant media narratives in the West and the contexts from which they emerge. Assal Rad addresses the state of the Western media landscape covering Israel-Palestine, deciphers the language/terms employed, and provides examples from her now recognized corrections of mainstream headlines. She also places coverage on Gaza in comparative perspective to illustrate blatant duality in addressing context and atrocities, notably with Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Assal Rad is a scholar of Middle East history. She works on research and writing related to U.S. foreign policy issues, the Middle East, and contemporary Iran. Her writing can be seen in Newsweek, The National Interest, The Independent, Foreign Policy and more, and she has appeared as a commentator on BBC World, Al Jazeera, CNN, and NPR. She completed a PhD in History from the University of California, Irvine in 2018 and is the author of The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Follow Assal on X/Twitter: @AssalRad
Bassam Haddad (Moderator) is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam serves on the Board of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of Status Audio Magazine and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding the Syrian Calamity: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).
Adel Iskandar (Moderator) is an Associate Professor of Global Communication at Simon Fraser University, where he is the Director of the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies and the Chair of Graduate Studies in the School of Communication. He is the author, co-author and co-editor of numerous works including Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation(University of California Press, 2010). Iskandar is a Co-Editor of Jadaliyya.
Bassam Haddad (Moderator) is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam serves on the Board of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and is Executive Producer of Status Audio Magazine and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding the Syrian Calamity: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).
Adel Iskandar (Moderator) is an Associate Professor of Global Communication at Simon Fraser University, where he is the Director of the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies and the Chair of Graduate Studies in the School of Communication. He is the author, co-author and co-editor of numerous works including Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation(University of California Press, 2010). Iskandar is a Co-Editor of Jadaliyya.
- Teach-In: Know Your Rights: The Assault on Campus Activism
- For more teach-ins on Palestine: Gaza in Context Teach-Ins
FULL TEACH IN
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CONTENTS
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"The language that is used [in media] is not accidental. It's very intentional because it frames the way that people think about the issue." - Assal Rad
TEACHING GUIDE
In this conversation, our guest, Assal Rad, deconstructs dominant media narratives in the West and the contexts from which they emerge. Assal Rad addresses the state of the Western media landscape covering Israel-Palestine, deciphers the language/terms employed, and provides examples from her now recognized corrections of mainstream headlines. She also places coverage on Gaza in comparative perspective to illustrate blatant duality in addressing context and atrocities, notably with Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- Why is language in media reporting so important?
- What are ways that people can push back against media and hold them accountable?
- What role does social media play in modern news coverage and for the war on Gaza specifically?
- What does responsible and ethical news coverage look like?
- What is the connection between government policy and news coverage? Which influences the other more?
- Headline and Article Revisions: Students can find, compare, and edit news media articles about Gaza, just as Assal Rad does, to make the information more accurate and ethical.
- News Coverage Comparisons: Students can gather news media and analyze and compare the language used between different news topics, news institutions, and political opinions.
- Policy, Public Opinion, and News: Students can research the way that media language and gatekeeping influences public opinion. Students can also look at the way that government policy might affect news is presented or vice versa.
SEGMENTS
1. Assal Rad's IntroductionAssal Rad shares what got her interested in her field of study and research on the construction of narratives
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2. On How Gaza is Portrayed in the WestAssal shares how despite the unprecedented live streamed genocide in Gaza, Western media still shares one sided narratives about Palestine
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3. On the Language Western Media Uses to Talk About GazaAssal shares how the dehumanizing language used to cover Gaza is intentional to frame how people think about the conflict: minimizing Palestinian suffering and avoidinig Israeli accountability
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4. On Why This Language is so Common Throughout Western MediaAssal talks about the conscious and unconscious reasons why this language is so common in Western media
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5. On Assal's Headline Edits/CorrectionsAssal explains her headline edits and shares why she focuses on correcting New York Times headlines
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6. On the Importance of HeadlinesAssal explains how headlines are often the fastest and main way that people consume news media
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7. Ukraine vs Gaza Coverage in Western MediaAssal discusses the double standards ini how Western media covers the war on Ukraine versus the war on Gaza
10. Beyond Media and Political DiscourseAssal talks about the significance/importance of public pressure and how history, the political landscape, and capitalism play into these narrative constructions
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8. Public Opinion in Relationship to Media CoverageAssal talks about how media coverage influences public opinion
11. Pushing Back Against MediaAssal talks about why it is important to push back against media and her hope that mainistream media will humanize Palestinans
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9. On Other Types of Narrative ConstructionsAssal talks about how media parrots and supports political narratives in their reporting
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SOUNDBITES
Dehumanizing Double Standards in Media Reporting |
Language in Western Media to Discredit Palestinian Reporting and Suffering |
Why Assal Focuses oon the New York Times in her Critiques of Western Media Reporting |
