Media Coverage of Gaza

January 22, 2026

Media Coverage of Gaza

The case of Cyprus

Universitas Publications and the Institute for Mass Media have just released the study “Media Coverage of Gaza: The case of Cyprus” which explores the notion that a large segment of the media was partly responsible for the normalization of the war and the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.

The study looks into how the Cypriot media – like most media internationally - were trapped in processing the war in Gaza using information that was not coming from independent, let alone their own, journalists within the Strip. Israel’s ban preventing media from entering Gaza and the sustained control it had achieved and maintained over the narrative surrounding the situation of the Palestinians over the years had framed a questionable context for reporting.

In Cyprus while interest and attention to developments in Gaza was strong and, overall, the coverage was continuous and extensive, the emphasis shifted very quickly to Cyprus-centric narratives, Cyprus’ role and initiatives, the war’s effect on Cyprus’ economy, its diplomatic standing and its unresolved political problem.

These became a distraction, obscuring the fact that the truth wasn’t coming out of Gaza pushing the deteriorating reality into the background. The coverage turned the war and suffering into a distant spectacle and in the process dehumanized an entire people. The study looks at how the coverage panned out and identifies the positives and the negatives. It attempts to answer why it was the way it was and what it reveals about Cyprus, its public sphere and its media.

Ultimately it considers whether the media by not digging for the facts hard enough, by not making distinctions clear enough and by not pressing their leadership and the international community boldly enough, could have themselves eventually facilitated and normalized what happened to the Palestinians.

The study will be presented at the international scholarly conference organized by the Universitas Foundation titled “Reimagining and Rebuilding Palestine: Genocide, Trauma, and the Future of a Suffering Nation” at the University of Cyprus on 30-31 January. It is available at www.imme-universitas.org