Ella Ben-Atar

The research question addresses differences in the way the Israeli quality and popular press covered two social groups in Israel.

The case study at the center of the research is known in public discourse as “The Kishon Affair”, which was exposed in an investigative report published in the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, and claimed a possible connection between pollution in the Kishon River and the incidence of cancer in naval commandos who came into contact with it. A similar claim was also made in the legal struggle of the Kishon fishermen against the petrochemical plants in the area.

The study examined the differences in the media coverage of the fishermen and that of the naval commandos in Yedioth Ahronoth and Ha’aretz, and reveals that both newspapers considered it important to put the issue on the media agenda, but the commandos gained a high level of exposure in all the criteria in contrast with the scant representation the fishermen gained.

The discussion of the study’s findings raises questions about the media’s moral and social role, and the possible influence of media coverage on the polarization and schisms currently existing between marginal and elite groups, and on shaping the image of Israeli society.