The Discourse on Antisemitism in the United States as Reflected in the Mainstream Media

Key Findings:

This article presents and analyzes the coverage of antisemitism in the US as presented in online print media in both the US and Israel considering the dramatic events of 2020 — a presidential election, the COVID-19 crisis, and increasing social tension. 

It also considers the similarities and differences in the coverage between the various kinds of media examined. The assertion is that mutual feedback occurs between the media, the general public, and the leadership. In effect, the media (the grand distributor of perceptions of reality to its target audiences) caters to — and simultaneously shapes — the public’s and leadership’s prevailing views, levels of interest, and agendas. 

Despite differences in target audiences, the media overall reflects the trend of politicization of antisemitism. This trend seems to intensify its coverage, as political framing (implicit and explicit) recurs within media discourse on antisemitism. The right blames the left for antisemitism and anti-Zionism, while the left attribute it to right-wing white supremacists. This phenomenon occurs in both Israeli and American media outlets. 

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli media outlets in Hebrew and English and the Jewish media outlets covered the convergence of antisemitism and COVID-19. As the pandemic spread, the US national media followed suit, partly due to public reactions towards increased restrictions (such as the May 2020 anti-lockdown and anti-restriction protests), as well as anti-Jewish expressions toward ultra-Orthodox communities. Extensive discussion was had about the Jews being blamed for the pandemic, as well as the trend of hacking into Jewish community institutions’ livestream video (attributed to right-wing white supremacists). Considerable coverage was also devoted to confrontations between the mayor of New York and the Jewish community about their defiance of COVID-19 restrictions in the city.

Antisemitism in social media was frequently discussed, firstly because of the rise of pandemic-related antisemitic expression online. A later increase in social media antisemitism in July and August was attributed to celebrity statements following the murder of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Further coverage of social media antisemitism was dedicated to Facebook’s policy changes and the following public discussion of how antisemitic content on the platforms hould be handled. 

Social media-related discussion spurred deeper coverages into both antisemitism within popular culture, and within the (non-Jewish) Black community. Israeli media (in Hebrew and English) and US Jewish media reported heavily on vandalism of synagogues in some BLM-associated demonstrations; in contrast, the national media did not report on these at all. Coverage of antisemitism within popular culture followed celebrity statements that were classically antisemitic, statements in endorsement of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and anti-Zionist antisemitic statements (mainly politically leftist ones). 

As befits a US election year, antisemitism and politics had the highest percentage of media coverage at 18% (with 334 items in total) which also could include antisemitism on the right (4%) and antisemitism on the left (3%). Coverage of incidents of antisemitic vandalism or attacks was also prominent at 11%, along with antisemitism in social media (11%) and antisemitism in popular culture (10%).