ABSTRACT
Many journalists maintain that their job is to be nothing more than a mirror on the society or event they are covering. Journalists have been participants in political and social processes ever since the profession. The most cynical of daily correspondents abides by it because it is one of the organizational imperatives of the American system of daily journalism. Rule number states that wherever possible, any foreign event must have an American angle. During the intifada, television, in particular, sought both influence over foreign policy decision making and the prerogatives usually accorded neutral bodies in a political dispute. As foreign policy decision making and policy implementation takes place, and as reporting on that policy is conducted in the United States. Members of legislatures usually are consulted only on foreign policy issues as either supporters or opponents of agenda items raised by the elites.
