In conversation with Philipp Nielsen, history faculty and the Adda Bozeman Chair in International Relations, Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief of the Forward and bureau chief of The New York Times in Jerusalem from 2012 until 2016, will discuss the role of American media in shaping U.S. perceptions and politics towards the Middle East.
The current war in Gaza is also a war for and against media coverage. The very language used to describe the events — "war," "conflict," "genocide," Israel and Gaza, Israel and Palestine, Israel and Hamas — is contested and has different political and legal implications. How to describe and contextualize the attack of October 7 remains controversial. The conditions of the war itself create material problems for reporting. Scores of Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza, while access for international journalists is still restricted. At the same time, American and European media coverage has been criticized for being biased, devoting significantly more space to stories about Israeli victims since October 7 than to Palestinians. Classic conspiracy tropes of Jewish control of the media are surfacing on the fringes of the discourse as well.
Rudoren became Editor-in-Chief of the Forward, the nation's leading Jewish news outlet, in 2019. Before coming to the Forward, she spent 21 years as a reporter, editor, and digital innovator at The New York Times, including a tour as Jerusalem Bureau Chief where she led coverage of two wars in Gaza.
This event will be held on campus and is open to the public to attend in person or virtually. A Zoom link will be provided to virtual registrants within 24 hours of the event.