Media Survey: Reporting All Sides?
If the circumstances surrounding a man's death are uncertain, media coverage should reflect this uncertainty. But CAMERA's evaluation shows the record is mixed.
AP
AP Revises Hansen’s Comments
A UN official stunned the world when he admitted Hamas members are on the UN payroll. His comments were sanitized by one AP reporter, and readers are kept in the dark.
AP: Palestinian Terrorists “Shocked” at Killing of Children
The international wire service reports without challenge claims that Palestinian terrorists have not and will not target women and children.
Media Downplay Hamas Responsibility for Terror
In covering the recent charges against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, several media outlets downplayed the relationship between Hamas and terrorism, saying only that it is "blamed for" or "accused of" attacks against Israel. This language is misleading in light of the fact that Hamas itself regularly takes credit for attacks.
AP Misleads on Judaism’s Holiest Site
A July 27, 2004 Associated Press article by Dan Waldman about the blocked attempt of an extreme Jewish group to enter the Har Habayit (Temple Mount) on Tisha B'av, a holiday which commemorates the destruction of the two Jewish temples which stood on that site, misled readers both about the mount's significance and its history in Judaism.
Reuters and AP Echo Hezbollah
Reuters and Associated Press covered the slaying of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah terrorists on July 20, 2004 in reports that could have come straight from Al Manar, Hezbollah's main propaganda engine.
UPDATED: CAMERA Obtains Corrections on Sharon Plan at AP, Several Newspapers
Several newspapers ran an Associated Press article which incorrectly reported on West Bank troop withdrawals under Ariel Sharon's separation plan. In response to communications from CAMERA, the AP and at least five newspapers have set the record straight.
Updated: AP Caption Writers Take Sides in Arab-Israeli Conflict
July 1 update follows. With AP photographers around the world producing 1,000 photographs of breaking news daily, it is puzzling that AP would resort to distributing old file photos of events that have no apparent connection to the day's events. But that is exactly what AP did on June 19, 2004, re-releasing five file unrelated photos from the Gaza Strip with only a biased caption in common.
Updated: AP Finally Corrects
July 2 update follows. The foreign desk at the Associated Press wire service apparently has no mechanism in place to correct factual errors. Over the last year, evidence regarding more than half a dozen straight-forward substantive errors was passed from editor to editor until it fell by the wayside. This was the case in a June 10 error by correspondent Ali Daraghmeh, who falsely reported that in the West Bank, "Israel does not allow Palestinian officers to patrol in uniform."
Journalists Fall Prey to Palestinian Booby-Traps
In the labyrinth of concrete homes and competing claims that mark Israel's operation in Gaza, the Los Angeles Times' Ken Ellingwood loses his way, straying from the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics in reporting a Palestinian claim as fact. He is joined in this by the Guardian's Chris McGreal on NPR.