Yuval Karniel

Comparing group discussion in virtual and physical environments

One of the main promises of collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) is that they would decrease the need for travel and face-to-face meetings. In this study we aim at comparing the dynamics and content of group discussions in desktop virtual environments with physical-world discussions. We have conducted an experiment in which four groups of 712 participants each carried out a political discussion on the same topic; specifically, global warming. Two groups conducted the experiment in a face-to-face setting and two other groups conducted a similar discussion inside the virtual world SecondLife (http://www.secondlife.com). Virtual-world discussions were found to include shorter sentences on average, have a smaller number of themes discussed, discuss a smaller number of themes in depth, and require a longer time for discussion threads to form. In this paper we provide a quantitative analysis of the similarities and differences between virtual-world and physical-world discussions.

Entertainment and Stereotype: Representation of the Palestinian Arab Citizens of Israel in Reality Shows on Israeli Television

The present study aims to gain an understanding of the patterns of representation and appearances of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the genre of reality shows in Israel. This genre has become extremely dominant in the television-broadcasting schedule. The mere fact that Arab people are visually present in TV entertainment, and in reality shows more specifically, should not lead us to conclude that Israeli TV is witnessing a move toward pluralism. It is important to examine the precise mode of representation of the “others.” That is to say: we must look at the visibility of Arab participants in those reality shows in which they appear (research question 1); how Arabs are represented in such programs (research question 2), and at the types of interaction between Arabs and other, Jewish-majority, participants in the program (research question 3). Content analyses were conducted for all reality shows broadcast on Israels commercial TV channels between 2003 and 2007 that included Arab participants. Results show the reality show genre is still firmly ruled by a Jewish hegemony that represents the Palestinian Arab as the “other” and that the overwhelming majority of spectators are Jewish.

Privacy in new media in Israel

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to draw a new map confronting the issue of privacy in the new media age in general, and in the State of Israel in particular.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents an in‐depth review based on professional literature covering the topics of privacy, new media, social networks, and Israel. The paper considers all citizens of Israel (both Jewish and non‐Jewish), the vast majority (over 80 percent), however, of which are Jewish.Findings – The study has found that even though Israeli social network users may be aware of online privacy issues, their adoption of online sharing and exposure, while partly due to third person effect, is to a great extent a reflection of the Israeli collective ethos which emphasises the importance of community and emotional and material sharing.Originality/value – The study proposes a new classification of privacy exposures and violations by analyzing the nature of privacy violations inherent in the new media. The paper then discusses t...

“Our” Criminals—Israeli Press Coverage of Domestic Political Criminals

The study examined media coverage of Israeli citizens convicted of committing political crimes against the state in order to determine how the media portrays such perpetrators, ultimately to discern what these framing choices suggest about citizens involved in political crimes. In contrast to external acts of political crime for which the explanation provided by the media is clear, mainly that the perpetrator, “the other,” is evil and acting against “us,” this study found that when the perpetrator is “one of us” there is a profound need in the media to find a multidimensional explanation for the act. This study found that the Israeli media applies a personalized news frame to portray each of “our” criminals differently and explain their motivations to the public.

‘Bad girls’: the use of gendered media frames in the Israeli media's coverage of Israeli female political criminals

The study examined news media coverage of Israeli female political criminals to determine how the media construct and portray women who commit ideological crimes against the state, ultimately to discern what these framing choices suggest about women involved in political crimes. Studies show that the media tend to rely on stereotypical gender frames to portray female criminals and their motivations to the public. These frames depict women perpetrators as motivated to commit political crime for personal reasons as opposed to political reasons, which are often cited for male criminal behavior. The study examined the Israeli news medias use of stereotypical gender news frames when reporting on three Israeli women who committed ideological crimes against the state. The study compared the coverage of these cases among three Israeli newspapers representing different political affinities. As a country with a long history of political conflict, Israel offers a unique opportunity to examine gender bias in the medias coverage of female actors in the public sphere. The studys theoretical contribution lies in its analysis of Israeli female political criminals who, by definition of their crime, acted within the political sphere. The study confirms previous research on the subject – mainly that the media rely on gender frames and explanations of personal motive in its portrayals of female criminals.

Broadcast coverage of Gaddafi's final hours in images and headlines: A brutal lynch or the desired death of a terrorist?

Gruesome images of Muammar Gaddafis assassination were broadcast on international news networks. The display of such images raises significant questions about the way the media cover an individuals death; in this case, an individual who was the leader of a United Nations member country and, at the same time, considered by many to be an enemy and a terrorist. The study examined 1,380 images of Gaddafis last days, from five international news networks, and found that the Israeli channel displayed the highest number of gruesome images. The article argues that when news networks have a clear political agenda, political considerations may trump adherence to professional ethics.

Professional or personal framing? International media coverage of the Israel–Hamas prisoner exchange deal

This article explores whether national political agendas influenced the content of domestic and foreign television news media coverage of the 2011 Israel–Hamas Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. The deal, which released Israeli soldier Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners, is the largest prisoner exchange agreement in Israeli history for a single live soldier, but the third largest prisoner exchange agreement as a whole. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 2,162 news reports from five international and national news networks – BBC, CNN, Fox and Israel’s Channels 1 and 2. The findings suggest important differences in the way foreign and national news networks cover controversial political events. Findings reveal that Israeli networks strongly aligned themselves with the government’s position, while the BBC provided the most balanced coverage. Prominent differences were found between the two US channels – CNN and Fox News. This work builds on a growing body of research on media framing of political events.

Jewish-Israeli attitudes towards the Iranian football team during the 2014 World Cup tournament

To contribute to analysis of the interplay between sport and politics, this study examines Jewish-Israeli attitudes towards the Iranian football team during the 2014 World Cup tournament. A survey amongst a representative sample of the Jewish-Israeli population reveals that the Iranian team was the least favored team to win the games but, at the same time, young and secular respondents were more likely than other groups to believe that the Iranian team is not controlled by their government. An analysis of Israeli sportscasters’ comments during Iran’s games reveals that the sportscasters regularly referred to the Iranian team as representatives of a terror state. In contrast, an analysis of online mentions of the Iranian team reveals that many of the comments were positive and empathized with Iranian soccer fans. The findings strengthen the notion that sport and politics are fused, but also illuminate that the World Cup games promoted realms, albeit peripheral, of less dichotomist stereotyping.

Narratives used to portray in-group terrorists: A comparative analysis of the Israeli and Norwegian press

Studies of US and UK media reveal that the press adheres to a dichotomous religion-based us/them worldview that portrays Muslims as terrorists but ‘repairs’ the image of Jews and Christians as criminals, creating concerns that the Western media promotes a clash-of-civilizations thinking pattern. To examine whether this pattern is representative of other Western democracies, the authors analyzed Israeli press coverage of Jewish settlers’ attacks against Palestinians (N = 134) and Norwegian press coverage of Anders Breivik’s 2011 attacks (N = 223). Content analysis reveals that the Israeli and Norwegian media labeled all the perpetrators ‘terrorists’, the attacks ‘terror’, and the motivation as ‘ideology’ rather than solely mental. The perpetrators – all subscribing to right-wing ideology – were not vindicated despite being Jewish or Christian. Beyond weakening the clash-of-civilizations notion that terrorism discourse in the West is necessarily religion-related, the findings highlight that the US press was ironically more eager than the Israeli media to ‘repair’ the image of Jewish perpetrators. The authors discuss the implications of our findings and suggest directions for future studies of biases in terrorism discourse.

Globalization and Social Justice in Sports Broadcasting The Case of Al-Jazeera Sport

This article highlights sport broadcasting as an emergent battlefield of “globalization from above and below” based on analysis of the strained relationship between Al-Jazeera Sport (AJS) and sports fans in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over subscription fees to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup games. The article illustrates how sports globalization weakened national broadcasters’ bidding power and allowed corporations to turn the World Cup from a free to high-fee event, leaving angry citizens from the MENA region to fend for themselves. A survey of online media illustrates how these angry citizens shared tactics to resist these fees.