ALSO:
▪ Reuters on ADL
 |
|
Al Jazeera's Studio |
On Feb. 16, the
New York Times ran a highly sympathetic profile of Al Jazeera, the
Qatar-based media outlet that became well-known in the West by
broadcasting taped statements by Osama bin Laden.
(This article was also published in the Times-owned
International Herald
Tribune.)
Under a headline declaring that Al Jazeera
produces "Balanced Coverage," the
Times article is filled with flattering quotes on Al Jazeera's effort to supply
"comprehensive and accurate" news coverage, its lack of "ideological aim," and
noble goal to "bridge the gap" between East and West. An Al Jazeera
spokesman argues that since the station is criticized by both the Pentagon and
Arab regimes, this
"is a sign that what we are doing is right." The Times article supports that
view ― failing to cite any of the myriad examples of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and anti-Western
material that characterize Al Jazeera coverage.
Consider:
▪ The Al Jazeera website has a
special section on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which amounts
to a slick ideological assault against Israel and the facts.
Among the countless examples:
President Bush has given Ariel Sharon a "licence to kill" to eradicate "Palestinian nationalism,"
suicide
terrorists are euphemized as "self-sacrificing
fighters," and
a review of
"massacres" in the Arab-Israeli conflict contains only examples of Israeli
acts, with no Arab acts mentioned. This is what the Times calls "balanced coverage"?
▪ Far from "neutral," Al Jazeera journalists actively supported
anti-American forces in Iraq: In November, US Defense Secretary
Rumsfeld
announced evidence that Al-Jazeera and
another Arab media outlet cooperated with Iraqi forces to witness and
videotape attacks on American troops.
Al Jazeera's presentation of Americans as barbaric, and Saddam
Hussein's regime as heroic, were so outlandish that when Hussein was
captured in a hole, an
Egyptian
government official said, "We discovered that all what the
[Iraqi] information minister was saying was all lies... Now no one
believes Al-Jazeera anymore."
No one except the New York Times, that is.
As journalist and
commentator
Tom Gross says, "This New York Times story is an example
of how the paper, through the myth of 'objectivity,' subtly misleads
its readers on Mideast issues on an almost daily basis." Al Jazeera, with 35 million daily viewers and plans to
enter North American cable, is a growing force in propagating
anti-Israel and anti-American lies under the guise of objective
"news." New York Times readers, unfortunately, are left in the dark regarding
this aspect of the "balanced" Arab media outlet.
Comments to New York Times:
letters@nytimes.com
Cartoonists
Cox and
Forkum provide an appropriate satire of Al Jazeera's "news
coverage":
-- REUTERS: ADL IS A
'PRESSURE GROUP" --
From a
Reuters article on Mel Gibson's controversial new movie, "The
Passion of the Christ":
In an interview with Reuters Television after he met Vatican
officials, Abraham Foxman, U.S. director of the Anti-Defamation
League, an independent Jewish pressure group, said the film
portrayed Jews as bloodthirsty and vengeful.
In Reuters-land, the
ADL is a "pressure group," yet
the ADL's Muslim counterpart, The
Council on American Islamic Relations is "an Islamic civil rights and
advocacy group."
(Hat tip:
James
Taranto)
As HonestReporting continues to fight against Reuters' bias, we acknowledge the fine work of CAMERA to help bring about positive change at Reuters.
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
HonestReporting.com
