News Coverage and Israeli Jewish Religious Websites: The Representation of Religion in Haredi and Modern Orthodox News

This study examines the image constructed of religion in two key Jewish religious news websites in Israel: B'Hadrei Haredim, which is identified with the ultra-Orthodox Haredim, and Arutz 7, identified with the modern Orthodox community. It was found that the key issues covered are the Sabbath, followed by religion; religious festivals; the synagogue (Jewish house of worship); the Western Wall, Jerusalem; modern Orthodox Judaism; secular Jews; Haredim; and prayer (Tefilah). There was a natural emphasis for each religious website to focus on events in their own community: B'Hadrei Haredim on the Haredi community, and Arutz 7 on the modern Orthodox community. Similarly, content about Rabbis found that B'Hadrei Haredim and Arutz 7 were each interested almost exclusively in rabbis from their own respective community. Other differences include, for example, that the Sabbath and Holy Land themes in Arutz 7 included different styles of Orthodox observance, whereas B'Hadrei Haredim focused upon desecration of the Sabbath in public places. Overall, these significant differences in coverage between the two religious news sites reflect the interests and different priorities of the two communities. The study also compares and contrasts the findings of the two religious news websites with two secular news websites' coverage of religion. The findings of the content analysis are important because, in constructing images of Judaism and Jews, the Haredi and modern Orthodox media fulfill important roles in cultural formation within their religious communities in Israel.