A data-driven investigation into the way coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza surpasses actual genocides in Darfur, Rwanda, and beyond
Concept creep describes the phenomenon where morally potent terms expand beyond their original definitions into ever broader applications. As these terms become more diluted, they also become politically weaponized, shifting public perceptions, priorities, and policy.
In August 2020, I illustrated in these pages how terms like “racism,” “white supremacy,” and “privilege” saw a dramatic surge in media usage, significantly reshaping public and political perceptions and discourse. The same dynamic, I feared, was beginning to reshape another crucial term: genocide.
“Genocide” is going the way of “racism” and “white supremacy,” I observed on October 19, 2023. Israel hadn’t yet invaded Gaza, but the mainstream media template for response to Hamas’ murderous October 7 attacks was already set. Sure enough, by 2024, mentions of “genocide” in The New York Times (1.43% of all articles) had eclipsed the paper’s earlier peak for “white supremacy” (1.41% in 2020) and, while not matching the peak for “racism/racist(s)" (7.2% in 2020), still reflected a similar pattern of conceptual escalation.
Continue reading the entire piece here at Tablet
______________________
Zach Goldberg is a Paulson Policy Analyst.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images