Here's an update on three recent HonestReporting communiques:
Ithaca Journal contributor Sandy Wold, whose May 8 epistle berated 'Zionist Jews' for 'terrorist attacks' and 'slaughter of Palestinians', sent a letter of apology to HR subscribers:
As
you probably know, I have received dozens of emails from members of your
organization from all over the country and the U.K. in the past few days...Having read your emails and having spoken with many Jewish friends of mine, who have lived in Israel, were born in Israel, and/or know a lot more about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict than I do, I have learned much and better understand why you all are so upset with me.
I sincerely apologize for my lack of sensitivity to and inclusiveness of your group's perspective and experience in my article.
Wold's apology is welcome, and to her credit.
But Wold's admission that she was previously uninformed on the realities of the conflict underscores our central point from this communique ― that the demonization of Israel has seeped into entire communities that would otherwise have no particular interest in this corner of the world. Israel has become an accepted symbol of human evil, to be drawn from one's pocket as an apparent enemy of human progress and transcendent spiritual goodness.
That's the larger issue that, unfortunately, remains very much with us.
The Wall St. Journal's Best of the Web Today cited this HonestReporting item as
'getting it just right.' Comments can be posted on our blog,
BackSpin.
Our March 29 communique noted a trend in news coverage to avoid mentioning the PA's roadmap obligation to uproot terror groups, while holding Israel strictly to its roadmap obligations.
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What
ceasefire? Hamas Kassam
rocket hits Israeli roof, May 5 |
The major media outlets continue to follow this editorial line. The PA's
(non-)disarming of terrorists is consistently downplayed as a mere 'Israeli
and U.S. demand' (Associated Press,
5/4 and
5/7) ―
not as an official, signed commitment on the PA's part.
Meanwhile, the informal ceasefire worked out between Sharon and Abbas in Sharm
on February 8 has crumbled amidst
205 terror attacks in the West Bank and Gaza in April alone. Yet news
outlets such as Reuters are criticizing Israel for 'hardening its line' on
handing over control of additional Palestinian towns and releasing 500 more
prisoners (May
8), while Hamas is misrepresented as still 'observing a de facto
ceasefire' (May
4).
Our March 23 communique noted that the
popular GoogleNews portal includes the neo-Nazi site 'National Vanguard' on
its list of news outlets.
Amidst a flood of complaints, GoogleNews both
removed National
Vanguard from its news aggregator, and
began developing a database of credible news sources so
its search engines can factor in a news outlet's track record.
That's a sensible plan. After all, HonestReporting is now indexed on GoogleNews.
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
HonestReporting
