In this volume, Gadi Wolfsfeld of the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem examines the role of the media in political conflicts in
the Middle East. He sets the framework for his analysis by proving
a theoretical model and then employing this approach to investigate
the media's role in three recent events: the Gulf War, the Intifada
and attempts by the Israeli right to dissolve the Oslo
Accords.
Wolfsfeld explains that the media is a vital arena in the contest
for political control and concentrates on its role in conflicts
where the antagonists are not equal, which he believes are where
the media can have the most influence. The structural level of his
analysis focuses on the antagonists' influence on the media when
political power can be translated into power over the media. Such
instances bring competition over the meaning of a conflict as each
side attempts to define the situation according to its own
interpretation.
Using the case study of Israeli right-wing protests against the
Oslo Accords, Wolfsfeld applies his model to outline how social
movements attempt to use the news media to influence government
policies, to explain competition over access to the media and to
describe the struggle over the meaning of the peace process. In
other case studies, Wolfsfeld discusses the role of the media in
insurrections and wars, using the Intifada and the Gulf War as
examples. In the Gulf War, the author concludes that the media
played the role of "a faithful servant dutifully providing services
to their Allied master." The media served the opposite purpose in
the case of the Intifada: "[T]hey were advocates of the underdog
who played a critical role in focusing international attention on
Palestinian claims of injustice."
Finally, the news media's role in the opposition to Oslo "fell
somewhere between these two extremes... the media played the part
of semi-honest broker who, despite the many advantages given to the
Rabin government, offered a significant forum for public debate."
The author concludes by explaining that questions regarding the
role of the news media must be understood within a more general
context of a contest for political control.
This study presents a useful model in the ongoing debate over the
role of the media in Middle East conflicts.
Courtesy of Bulletin of Regional Cooperation in the Middle
East, published by Search for Common Ground in the Middle
East.
