NPR
NPR’s Robert Siegel Reacts (Badly) to Bias Charge
NPR Host Robert Siegel responded angrily to criticism of his coverage in a
column by Andrea Levin that ran in the Jerusalem Post and was later circulated
by IMRA, Independent Media Review and Analyis. Name-calling and insults
featured in his rejoinder. The exchange follows:
NPR Wants it Both Ways
NPR News has the staff and financial wherewithal to produce coverage meeting journalism's highest standards, according to its president. Since its Arab-Israeli reporting chronically fails to do so, Congress and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ought to find out why.
NPR Ombudsman Dodges Listener Query
NPR describes ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin as "the public's representative to National Public Radio, serving as an independent source of information, explanation, amplification and analysis for the public regarding NPR's programming." But when an NPR listener contacted the ombudsman on March 21, 2005 for comment on a column by CAMERA Director Andrea Levin about NPR's continuing tilt toward Arab positions, he was met with obfuscation and insults.
Another NPR Winter of Distortion
As sure as the calendar moves toward spring, National Public Radio stations turn to a fresh season of fund-raising. For listeners wondering about the status of the network's longstanding bias against Israel, a snapshot of coverage in early 2005 offers few signs of positive change. Instead, the tilt toward Arab positions continues. Sloppiness with factual precision is still commonplace.
The NPR Switch
NPR reporters are once again routinely misrepresenting the statements of Israeli spokesmen, inserting the term "militant" where the speaker has actually said "terrorist."
Updated: NPR Refuses to Correct House Demolition Error
On December 13, CAMERA urged NPR to broadcast an immediate on-air correction of Peter Kenyon's erroneous statement that Israel demolishes Palestinian homes in order to make way for Israeli construction. NPR's Vice President for News and Information, Bruce Drake, refused to acknowledge the error.
CAMERA ALERT: In NPR Report, Dying With Dignity = Killing Jews?
An October 14th segment on NPR's "All Things Considered" typifies NPR's consistent pro-Palestinian news coverage: a disproportionate reliance on Arab/Palestinian and pro-Arab speakers compared to Israeli and pro-Israeli speakers, a chronic amplifying of Palestinian grievances and perspectives, and a de-emphasis on Israeli concerns.
NPR’s Derogates Israel and Religious Jews
On June 12, 2004, NPR's Scott Simon interviewed Richard Ben Cramer on the topic of the latter's newly released book How Israel Lost: The Four Questions. Though panned by numerous critics who faulted its deceptive depiction of Israel's security needs, Simon chatted appreciatively with the author, urging him to repeat from his book an anecdote about religious Jews that was evidently apocryphal and meant solely to ridicule the religious establishment in Israel. Simon did not stop there. He concluded with a remarkable question posed to the guest that may be a window on NPR attitudes about Israel.