Jan 11 2013

Disproportional representation: every (BBC chosen) picture tells a story

h/t Dan

Even the highest estimates – and there is plenty of conflicting opinion on the subject – put those belonging to ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) streams at about 10% of the total population of Israel.

Much of the foreign media, however, has a tendency to disproportionately feature the ultra-Orthodox in pictures used to illustrate articles about Israel, thus creating a misleading impression of the make-up of the country’s population. The BBC is no exception.

Take this “In Pictures” item from January 9^th 2013 entitled “Storms sweep Middle East” for example. Four of the eleven pictures featured were taken in Israel – one in Tel Aviv, two in Jerusalem and one in the Golan Heights.

The first three pictures are credited to Reuters. Perhaps, one might think, the BBC pictures editor had no choice: maybe those were the only pictures available.

Well it just so happens that Reuters is running a similar feature on its own website and the first and third pictures used by the BBC also appear there. But alongside them are many pictures which the BBC elected not to use.

Images can evoke a range of emotional reactions from the viewer, one of which is identification. Identification with the subject of an image in turn promotes empathy. The decision by members of the media to disproportionately feature pictures of people who represent a minority group within Israeli society and whose lifestyle, dress and customs do not promote a sense of identification – and hence empathy – for the vast majority of viewers, is therefore very significant.

Once again, we see interesting editorial decisions from the BBC News website’s Pictures Editor Phil Coomes and/or his staff: decisions which contribute towards painting a misrepresentative picture of Israeli society.

Dec 22 2012

Antisemitic trope on BBC comments board – again

Among the already moderated comments on this article currently on display in the “In Pictures” section of the BBC News website, and also promoted on its Middle East page, is the following one.

This is not the first instance of offensive comments being allowed to stand on BBC comments boards, as we documented earlier this month and, as we wrote then, it is the BBC’s responsibility to ensure that its moderators adhere to its own house rules which prohibit racist comments.

Those ‘house rules’ also state [emphasis added] that:

“The blog author or host does not usually moderate the content of the boards, although it is their job to keep the discussions relevant to the topic and within the BBC’s guidelines. They may close off-topic or other rule-breaking discussions, and sometimes make a decision on comments that have been referred to them by the moderators. They may also alert the moderators to rule-breaking comments that they see in the course of their work.”

In this particular case, that would appear to be the BBC’s Picture Editor Phil Coomes.

Nov 24 2012

BBC pictorial portrayals of conflict in Israel and Gaza

On November 23^rd 2012 an “In Pictures” photo essay entitled “Ceasefire” appeared on the homepage of the Middle East section of the BBC News website.

The photo essay features thirteen photographs, of which nine depict Gaza and four are taken in Israel.

Four of the pictures from Gaza depict scenes of destruction of buildings, with interesting repeated – if transparent – use of bursts of colour against a largely grey background . One shows mourning women. Four other pictures depict Hamas leaders and operatives (finally available for photo-ops after eight days of being in hiding), with three of those pictures notably captioned as having been taken at funerals or mourning events, thus adding a ‘human touch’.

Of the pictures taken in Israel, none depict any kind of destruction or mourning.

One shows Israelis demonstrating against the ceasefire in Kiryat Malachi, where three people were killed as the result of a direct hit by a missile on an apartment block.

The remaining three pictures all have a military theme, with any civilians pictured looking relaxed and happy. Two of the three once again suggest a linkage between the Israeli army and religion.

In the three photo essays we have covered here recently (see here and here ), a total of 35 pictures supposedly documenting the conflict have been presented. Twenty of those pictures were taken in Gaza (and one in Hebron), with only two of those images showing Hamas terrorists, both at funerals. Fourteen of the 35 pictures were taken in Israel.

Of the total 35 pictures, damage to homes, buildings or property was depicted in 12 of the pictures from the Gaza Strip and in four of the pictures from Israel. Images related to injury or death of civilians were depicted in seven of the photographs taken in Gaza, but in none of the photographs from Israel.

From the fourteen pictures taken in Israel, eleven show images of soldiers or other security forces. Four of those eleven pictures try to make a clear linkage between the Israeli army and the Jewish religion.

If the BBC’s Picture Editor Phil Coomes would like to expand on the editorial decisions behind these photo essays, we would be very happy to publish his explanations here.