Bias of the Lebanese Media Research Paper

Introduction

Media bias especially in political agenda is omnipresent. Partisan bias regarding politicians or political sentiments is observable in media (Schiffer, 2006). A meta-analysis of 59 quantitative studies has shown the existence media partisan attitude in political broadcasts (D’Alessio & Allen, 2000). However, the main potent of the partisan attitude of media must be such that it should be willful and influential and more importantly such bias must be sustainable rather than on an isolated incident. Therefore, the nature of the media bias has to be essentially discourse the political view among viewers and for a long period. Media bias has been widely studied through various quantitative analyses (D’Alessio & Allen, 2000; Schiffer, 2006). In this paper I will discuss the various aspects of bias, which has been, formed a part of the Lebanese media coverage, concentrating on two electronic media viz. Al Manar TV, and Future TV.

The media bias in Lebanon is present due to the deep-rooted political divide in the country. Here is a brief background of the divide. The fragmented Lebanese political scenario is an outcome after the assignation of the Rafiq Hariri in 2005. This political fragmentation has two groups – a pro-Syrian group following Hezbollah and allies anti-Syrian group. This segregation can also been found in the media scene in Lebanon with Al Manar TV being on the pro-Syrian side and Future TV favoring the anti-Syrian side. In this article, I will trace the biased and partial coverage of these two television stations in 2008. The elements of bias are dealt with the coverage of political programs and the nature of the partisans. Therefore, the main aim of the paper is to identify the elements of bias in the media coverage through an analysis of the media coverage of Al Manar and Future TV in 2008.

Types of Media Bias

Media bias is supposed to be of three types (D’Alessio & Allen, 2000). The first type is media acting as the gatekeeper. This bias actually makes the editors or writers to incorporate the stories, which they feel, should be viewed by viewers. The main purpose of this media is to filter what the media wants to discourse to people. The second type is the coverage bias, which is a codified measure of the issues, which received coverage in physical amount. This analysis is conducted regarding televisions through counting the time given to the coverage of a particular issue (D’Alessio & Allen, 2000). Therefore, in a case of political partisans, the coverage one side gets in one channel than the other is the measure of bias. The other is statement bias wherein the members of the media speak their own beliefs into the media discourse or text or pictorial description of the coverage. Statement bias are of two types, “favorable” or unfavorable” in nature. These can be identified through content analysis of the media coverage. For this research, statement and coverage bias study is important to understand the coverage of Future TV and Al Manar TV and the political message that preside over their discourse.

Methodology

The research uses quantitative research methodology. Bias research has been traditionally conducted as examined by D’Alessio and Allen’s meta-analysis (2000), covers one period. This paper too considers one period i.e. year 2008. Further, all the researches thus described use limited resources. So here, too the aim is to choose only two channels, which is compared, i.e. Al Manar and Future TV. Further most of the researches on political inclinations choose the opposing ideologies as in case of America and research is to count the number of times Democrat and Republicans are mentioned in on the net during the coverage. Then by using balance as a baseline they use the researchers declare towards which party the media houses are inclined. Here the aim will be to identify coverage bias in these channels, as it is relatively easier to measure this bias (D’Alessio & Allen, 2000). This research will study the language and the pictures in this television coverage. There are two methods here in measuring the coverage for TV, (a) “on-screen time” and (b) “lines of texts for network television” programs/news (D’Alessio & Allen, 2000, p. 145). In this research paper, the paper will consider both language and pictures. Here the paper will see which channels have used more anti-Syrian or pro-Syrian stance along with the number of pictures of Hezbollah or other party leaders covered in 2008. This will provide a clear understanding as to the nature of the bias of the Lebanese television.

Lebanese Media Bias

The bias of media coverage are understood through two parts, first is through quantifying the number of mentions of Hezbollah, Sayyad Nasrallah, and pro- or anti-Syrian sentiment in news or political talk shows. Further, here we will also quantify the number of times the speeches of Sayyad Nasrallah had been aired in any of the televisions and for the duration. This will help to identify the number of cases the biased programs or attitude towards any particular political party had been aired through any of the channels.

This section segregates the coverage as provided in the website of the two channels and the clippings available in YouTube. The coverage of the various pro-Hezbollah and anti-Hezbollah sentiments brought out through political talk shows or news clippings. We see that in 2008 the pro-Hezbollah clippings and news available in Al-Manar TV are 205 while that in Future TV is zero in number. This clearly shows a bias of both the television channels towards or against Hezbollah and its political views. The coverage of Future TV on the contrary portrayed a Hezbollah, which was destroying Lebanon through its hard-line Islamic view and international views. More directly Al-Manar showed 12 speeches of Sayyad Nasrallah in 2008 but Future TV showed only two such coverage. These figures are shown through the following table 1, which shows that number of coverage in news or political programs of the bias of both the channels towards or against Hezbollah.

Table 1¹

Exploring the reason for this bias can be traced to the ownership of the television channels, as media in Lebanon tend to follow the political inclination of its owners. For instance, Hezbollah owns Al-Manar and it operates to support the resistant movement of opposition of Hezbollah against Lebanon government while Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri owns Future TV, which shows the reason behind the channels’ anti-Hezbollah stance. The channel is broadcasted in Arabic and Hebrew the channel has a distinct Iranian/Shia character. The political inclination of Lebanese media becomes even more distinct after the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri and the anti-Syrian uprising in 2005. Thus, the channel takes an anti-Syrian, Sunni, and Friendly with the Western world stance. The political view is discoursed through visual and language of live coverage, news items, and talk shows, which echoed the political views regarding the protests swarming the streets. Presently the Lebanese television is divided into two sects the pro- Hezbollah, anti-government side, and the pro-government and anti-Hezbollah side. Al Manar belongs to the former sect while Future TV in the latter sect. as the Hariri and the Hezbollah are the two blocs in the divide; the two channels owned by the blocks are used as means of propaganda. This is proven through a wide coverage of Sayyad Nasrallah’s speeches in Al Manar TV in 2008.

In terms of coverage, Al Manar has broadcasted the speeches of Hezbollah general secretary in 2008 for 12 times all of which are more than 30 minutes in range. The complete speeches broadcasted through Al Manar shows the linkage of the television. Further Al Manar’s programming director Sheikh Nasir al-Akhda has stated that the television channel is going to “wage psychological warfare” and “promote the Islamic resistance.” (ADL, 2008)

Al-Manar broadcast a speech by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on March 24, 2008 on ending the forty-day mourning period of the Hezbollah martyr Imad Mughniyeh who is a Hezbollah military commander who was killed in February 2008 (Al-Manar, 2009). In his speech, Nasrallah firmly stated, “The Zionist entity can be wiped out of existence.” Nasrallah further showed the Zionist American influence in some media broadcast and spoke of the “bloody war of consciousness” which had to be waged in order to cleanse the media of the Israelis who have infiltrated the media. This clearly demonstrates that the in relation of Al-Manar is towards Hezbollah and its broadcast is based on a pro Hezbollah stand.

Further analyzing the language of the broadcast it must be observed the support for Hezbollah and its allies are direct and open. The Al Manar shows clips of promotions of hailing martyrs and speeches of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah, and demeaning the government. Al Manar broadcasts the Martys day on 11^th of November. In 2008 the coverage had statements made like: “The martyrs’ blood was never a sign of frustration or collapse. On the contrary, it has always been destined to draw the long path of resistance and jihad. Victories then came one after another, causing to the Israeli enemy the defeats it has never seen before.” (Al-Manar, 2009). These are distinctly the ideologies portrayed by Hezbollah through its ideologies. The coverage eulogizes the martyrdom of Hezbollah leaders and commanders like Sayyed Abbas Moussawi, Imad Moghniyyeh, Sheikh Ragheb Harb, et al.

Again, on considering the special interviews broadcasted by Future TV are interviews of political personality associated with the Future Party and/or the Hariri(s). The bias of Future TV towards the Hariri bloc can be demonstrated through the following list of people who had been broadcasted through the special interview section of Future TV: Saad Hariri, Basseil Fleihan, Bassem Sabeh, Nayla Mouawad, Dori Chamoun, Samir Jaajaa, Nazek Hariri, etc. Thus the range of interviewees (the list is not exhaustive) shows that most of the interviewees are from the Hariri bloc showing the channels’ political inclination.

The Islamic base of Al Manar can be found through the attire of the female newsreaders and correspondents with the women in scarf covering their head, while in case of Future TV the women are in western attire condoned by the Islamic. Further Future TV has shown a strong pro-Western stand with no anti-Zionist feeling by broadcasting an American Jewish political scientist Norman Finkelstein on 20 January 2008. The interview talks of how the Lebanese people have to make a choice between parties and be the judge of what is best for them. Future TV aired the interview of a captured Hezbollah terrorist from the BaalBek operations, which allegedly revealed all the lies of Hezbollah. In addition, in a broadcast of 25 January 2007Future TV showed a program, which revealed Hezbollah TV or Al Manar of all the lies that it has broadcasted.

Further another broadcast in Future TV showed a Hezbollah supporter removing the Lebanese flag and planting a Hezbollah flag (Future TV, 2009). Further Future TV always showed extremist picture of Hezbollah through their news coverage, which are considered nothing but propaganda clips (Cochrane, 2007). As the Future TV is known to be a Haririst propaganda machine, they use comments like “The Picture Say more than words” (YouTube, 2009). Further in February 2008 broadcast Future TV showed clippings of how Hezbollah supporters attacked Government supporters and the Lebanese army in February 2008 demonstrate the anti-Hezbollah coverage of Future TV while this incidence does not find mention in the coverage of Al Manar (YouTube, 2009).

The two media blocs led to the kindling of the nationalist sentiment of the Lebanese people which has also been observed in the people’s outward display (Cochrane, 2007). So if Al Manar covers an anti-government speech like those of Nasarollah, Future TV will not even mention it. On example of such an event was the February 14 demonstration of thousands of Lebanese gathered to pay solidarity to the assassinated Hariri was covered fully by Future TV, but found only sparing coverage in Al Manar. Further the Lebanese media has also been accused of using clips out of political speeches which are unrelated to demonstrate their point of view (Cochrane, 2007).there exists extreme rivalry between Al Manar and Future TV which extends from guests in talk shows to promo propaganda clippings.

This has been identified through the following: “Indeed, by watching either of the channels one can quickly ascertain the channel’s political allegiance. On Al Manar new promo clips are aired almost weekly, ranging from montages hailing ‘martyrs’ from the July War with Israel to highlights of Hizbullah’s military capabilities, to music videos that depict Southern Lebanon, support for the Lebanese army, commemorating the dead, and Hizbullah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah. Al Manar’s selection of news also reflects its political orientation and viewership, giving extra attention to issues in Southern Lebanon and the Bekaa (predominantly Shia reas), Palestine, Syria and Iran. On Future TV, montages praising Rafik Hariri’s legacy are regularly shown along with promos promoting the March 14^th movement. In terms of news Future focuses on Lebanese issues, albeit with less focus on the South, and gives more airspace to Sunni issues and political backers such as Saudi Arabia.” (Cochrane, 2007, p. 6).

These bitter rivalry and all the apparent denials was removed with Hezbollah destroying the Future TV station in Beirut. Following this destruction Future TV was shut down and a civil war broke out in 2008 in Lebanon. This demonstrated the differences in the ideological warfare between two political parties, which ultimately led to sectarianism, and then war. This demonstrates the politically split personality of the Lebanese media. From the above study, it is apparent that the political rivalries in Lebanon found a peaceful mean of retaliation with media as a propaganda machine. But with Hezbollah destroying Future TV, a violent civil war inevitable because the sectarianism coverage of the televisions had ignited a feeling of hatred and impatience.

Works Cited

ADL. (2008). Al-Manar: Hezbollah Television. Web.

Al-Manar. (2009). Al-Manar TV. Web.

Cochrane, P. (2007). Lebanon’s Media Sectarianism. Arab, Media and Society , 1-13.

D’Alessio, D., & Allen, M. (2000). Media Bias in Presidential Elections: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Communication (Autumn) , 133-156.

Future TV. (2009). Future Television. Web.

Schiffer, A. J. (2006). Assessing Partisan Bias in Political News:The Case(s) of Local Senate Election Coverage. Political Communication, 23 , 23–39.

YouTube. (2009, ). YouTube. Web.

Footnotes

1. Source: Al Manar TV website, Future TV website and YouTube.