Yasir Arafat is buried as he lived, in a shroud of lies. These include lies of commission, omission and of minor facts used to obscure larger truths. Common in coverage of Arafat's death, they stem from uncritical acceptance of conventional wisdom as much as from any intent to deceive. But they are nonetheless dangerous, contributing to revisionist Arab-Israeli history.
Since the discovery of massive journalistic fraud involving plagiarism and fabrication by the New York Times’ Jayson Blair, new revelations have emerged about similar offenses by journalists at other prominent newspapers. Underscoring that journalism is as infallible as any other endeavor, these additional cases of dereliction will hopefully reinforce editors’ willingness to address reader concerns about error and distortion.
The February 13, 2004 edition of USA Today published as an advertisement a large editorial cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon controlling the US media, a cartoon closely mirroring anti-Israeli, anti-American illustrations common in the Middle Eastern press and even neo-Nazi publications. CAMERA contacted the newspaper and was promised that future ads will be more closely scrutinized and vetted.
One resignation after another, reliance on anonymous sources continues to claim high-profile journalists.
In an attempt to draw parallels between the two sides, USA Today's August 21 editorial "Nurture peace hopes" completely misrepresents current Israeli-Palestinian realities by trying to present an Israeli-Palestinian "cycle of tit-for-tat bloodshed." Israeli counter-terrorism is no more part of a "cycle of bloodshed" than police arresting murderers is part of a "cycle of crime."