Israeli Real-Estate Buzz–Planning Discourse and Media Coverage

This paper analyzes the news coverage of a nationwide Israeli plan, TAMA38. Previous studies have shown that the media support market and state power. I ask whether they can democratize planning communications and improve the representation of ordinary people. Using critical discourse analysis, I compare the media coverage to the planning system’s discourses, demonstrating that the media represented more people but were less critical of the plan. I discuss the plan and the coverage as part of actually existing neoliberalism and argue that planners should challenge the media and include the people and matters that it tends to ignore.