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| Your Opinions please--- |
ETWolverine |
03/16/04 |
I received this e-mail this morning from a website called Honestreporting.com. This is an organization that battles media bias against Israel. I had to reformat the letter because we can't post tables here. But the information is unchanged from what they sent me. Please let me know what you think.
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REAL PROGRESS ON THE 'T-WORD'
Dear HonestReporting Subscriber,
For over three years, in continual alerts and through TerrorPetition.com, HonestReporting has led the campaign to insist that news outlets call Palestinian terror "terror." (See our extensive webpage devoted to this issue.) Now, as the scourge of Islamic terrorism continues to spread throughout the globe, it is more important than ever that Israel's struggle against terrorism be properly identified as part of the larger battle to preserve civil, democratic society against militant Islam.
The past week saw the horrific bombing of commuter trains in Madrid, and the Palestinian terror attack at the Israeli seaport at Ashdod. While the bombings in Madrid were of greater magnitude in terms of human loss, in essence the two were very similar terror attacks targeting sensitive areas of national infrastructure with the goal of destroying the opposing society.
This time, while some news agencies continued to show a double standard vis-a-vis Israel, we're pleased to report that others are beginning to heed HonestReporting's insistent call to refer to Palestinian terror as "terror." Here's a review, starting with the duplicitous offenders:
News Agency: Associated Press
Coverage of Madrid bombings: Headlined 'Terror Blasts Kill at Least 198 in Spain'
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: Headlined 'Eight Die in Israeli Port Suicide Attack'
News Agency: Washington Post
Coverage of Madrid bombings: "Millions of Spaniards united... to denounce the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 200 people in the capital a day earlier."
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: "Two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up at one of Israel's largest industrial seaports late Sunday afternoon..."
News Agency: BBC
Coverage of Madrid bombings: Interviewed politicians regarding the "Madrid terror attack"
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: Reported "the suicide blasts in the southern Israeli port of Ashdod."
News Agency: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Coverage of Madrid bombings: "..investigators probed a claim that the Al-Qaeda network was behind the deadliest terror attacks in Spain's history."
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: "Two explosions in ... Ashdod were carried out in a joint operation by the hardline Palestinian groups Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades"
News Agency: LA Times
Coverage of Madrid bombings: "The body bags outside Madrid's Atocha train station and the commuters sitting stunned on the tracks were graphic reminders of terrorism's evil."
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: "Two Palestinian militant organizations, Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, claimed joint responsibility for the attack"
Meanwhile, the New York Times, CNN, The Christian Science Monitor and even London's The Guardian are to be commended for breaking from past policies and calling both attacks "terrorism":
News Agency: New York Times
Coverage of Madrid bombings: "when terrorists blew up commuter trains packed with run-of-the-mill people...suddenly the equation changed."
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: " If the terrorists did come from Gaza, south of here, it would be the first time in more than three years of conflict ..."
News Agency: CNN
Coverage of Madrid bombings: "One of the five men identified Sunday as suspects in last week's terrorist attacks in Madrid..."
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: " If the terrorists did come from Gaza, south of here, it would be the first time in more than three years of conflict ..."
News Agency: Christian Science Monitor
Coverage of Madrid bombings: "Terrorist Bombings Jolt Spain"
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: "It was not the first time terrorism exerted its veto power over attempts to lure Israelis and Palestinians back to discussions"
News Agency: The Guardian
Coverage of Madrid bombings: "...the terrorists behind the March 11 attack have ties to a radical Islamist group..."
Coverage of Ashdod bombings: "It was also the first time that militants from Gaza have staged a terrorist attack"
[And of course, the "news" agency Reuters held by their absurd editorial standard to refer to no attack as "terrorism" they called the Spanish bombs a "guerilla attack."]
We reiterate that this is not merely an academic, semantic issue. As the West unites against barbaric Islamic terrorism that now also haunts continental Europe, it is essential that Israel's struggle against Palestinian terror be properly identified as part of the larger battle. When news outlets differentiate between a port attack in Israel and a train attack in Madrid, they expose an editorial decision that the Palestinian attack is somehow more justified. That's wrong, dangerous, and far from "neutral reporting."
It is encouraging indeed that four major news outlets have responded to the hundreds of emails sent by HonestReporting subscribers, and have finally begun calling Palestinian terror "terror." Now is the time to write to the other news agencies above, encouraging them to join their colleagues in rectifying this longstanding anti-Israel double standard.
Comments to Associated Press: feedback@ap.org
Comments to Washington Post: letters@washpost.com
Comments to BBC: newsonline@bbc.co.uk
Comments to AFP: contact@afp.com
Comments to LA Times: letters@latimes.com
STUDY: SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Kudos to HonestReporting subscribers Andrew and Michelle Gross, whose newly-released 5-month study of the San Jose Mercury News (available on the HR site here) focuses on precisely this problem of biased terror reportage when it comes to Israel.
The study found that during the period of August 1 ? December 31, 2003, 108 headlines and 125 lead paragraphs in the Mercury News applied the 'terror' term to specific acts of violence, aggressors, countermeasures, and legal procedures in China India, Indonesia, Iraq, Russia, Turkey, the United States, and elsewhere. But in reporting on nine major terrorist attacks in Israel during this time, the Mercury News never used 'terrorism' in a headline, and only once used the term in an actual article. The conclusion:
Mercury News terminology gives readers the impression that the global scourge of terrorism does not affect Israel. While the newspaper routinely identifies acts of terror and anti-terror actions around the globe, similar acts within Israel are not labeled as such. Moreover, while Al Qaida and allied groups are consistently identified as terrorist organizations, Palestinian groups with parallel goals, targets, and methods are not. This double standard should be unacceptable to a newspaper that declares as its mission, "reporting and writing accurately and fairly."
If you have observed a similar pattern in your local paper, use the Grosses' fine study as model to produce your own study. For more information, see the HonestReporting guide: 'Become a Media Patroller,' as well as HonestReporting's expose of the media's use of the "T-word."
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
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Elliot |
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