Ask anyone who<\/span> has followed news about Gaza with even a smidgen of critical thinking, and they will tell you: Media organizations are biased against Palestinians \u2014 and systematically favor Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to say but harder to prove. Doing empirical analysis that shows these biases is time-consuming and complex, full of pitfalls and nuances that can muddy the picture. Yet the double standards are everywhere \u2014 and there are ways to do sober, qualitative work that elucidates not only the differences in how Israeli and Palestinian life are covered, but also also in how other recent conflicts are covered.<\/p>\n For my new book \u201cHow to Sell a Genocide: The Media\u2019s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza<\/a>,\u201d I attempt to demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, that U.S. media coverage of the war on Gaza was one-sided, racist, dehumanizing, and often veered into outright incitement.<\/p>\n I examined over 12,000 articles from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN.com, Politico, Axios, USA Today, and The Associated Press, along with 5,000 TV segments that aired on CNN and MSNBC. The focus is on center-left media outlets influential with the Biden administration during the first year of the conflict \u2014 with an emphasis on the first few months<\/a>, when Israel firmly established<\/a> its narrative justifying the genocide<\/a>, rendering mass death inevitable.<\/p>\n Here are seven statistical findings that prove the U.S. media\u2019s bias against Palestinians.<\/p>\n The media\u2019s penchant for invoking a nation\u2019s \u201cright to defend itself<\/a>,\u201d typically followed by the rationalization of mass civilian killing<\/a>, was reserved almost exclusively for Israel. On CNN and MSNBC, guests, anchors, and reporters mentioned the right to self-defense for Israel 94 times more than they did for Palestinians. In print media, Israel was afforded this right over 100 times more frequently than Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n Watch a supercut below of the phrase being repeated on TV news.<\/em><\/p>\n Israel\u2019s \u201cRight to Defend Itself\u201d<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Right-to-Defend@2x.png?fit=1361%2C2803\")