Study Finds Global Media Coverage of Israel Disproportionately High

Independent researcher Jeremy Musighi released a study analyzing 14.7 million news articles across 65 languages over the last decade, concluding that global media coverage of Israel is disproportionately high. The data shows that in 2024, news outlets published more than twice as many stories about Israel as they did about all 48 sub-Saharan African countries combined. Israel was the most-mentioned country on American cable news, surpassing Russia, China, Ukraine, and Iran, while the BBC mentioned the country once every 17 minutes of broadcast.

Musighi's findings indicate this trend persists during peacetime, noting that in 2019, one in every 112 international news articles focused on Israel. The study highlights a significant disparity in coverage compared to other geopolitical issues, such as China's policies in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, has used the study to argue that global media maintains an obsession with Israel that is often objectively anti-Israel. Goldberg claims the press has repeated false Hamas assertions regarding famine in Gaza and focuses on charges of genocide and settler-colonialism while ignoring similar or more severe human rights abuses elsewhere. He also noted that the United Nations has condemned Israel 187 times since 2015.