Accuracy and accountability are among the most important tenets of journalism. In combination, they mean media organizations are expected to publish or broadcast forthright corrections after sharing inaccurate information. The following corrections are among the many prompted by CAMERA’s communication with reporters and editors.
The San Francisco Chronicle published an abridged version of a New York Times article about a Palestinian teenage bomber, including material that gives the impression of an Israeli military that is callous and unfeeling toward a young boy, and omitting all the portions that deal with Palestinian culpability.
Friedman admits he was wrong, sort of, about Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners during the tenure of Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas. But he maintains that Sharon was responsible for Abbas's resignation, a claim which Abbas himself refuted this week.
CAMERA prompted the following correction about a letter by Rhoda Shapiro of Encinitas, Calif., who erroneously claimed that Israel's military is the largest in the region. CAMERA applauds the Times' forthright willingness to correct a letter-to-the-editor.
CAMERA has obtained the following correction from the <I>New York Times</I>:
Correction (12/12/03): An article last Friday about President Bush's meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan misstated the effect that an unofficial peace plan drafted by Israelis and Palestinians, known as the Geneva plan, would have on Israeli settlements. Under that plan, Israel would give up most of the settlements in the West Bank, not keep them. But since the 400,000 Israelis in the West Bank and Jerusalem are concentrated in a few settlements and neighborhoods that Israel would keep under the plan, about 300,000 settlers would remain where they live.</P>
CAMERA has obtained the following correction from the New York Times:
Correction (12/3/2003): An article last Wednesday about the decision by the Bush administration to cancel $289.5 million in American-backed loan guarantees for Israel referred incorrectly to West Bank construction activities that prompted it. Although federal law requires revoking loan guarantees to penalize certain construction deemed contrary to American policy, the United States does not define the activities as illegal.
In a report published today ("Israeli Strikes Kill 2 Militants and a Girl"), New York Times correspondent James Bennet mistakenly asserted that no Israelis had been injured in Qassam rocket attacks. Contrary to the Times' claim, a number of Israelis, including infants, have been seriously wounded by Qassam rockets.
The New York Times has trouble reporting the facts straight about Middle East documents, repeatedly distorting their terms and shifting responsibility — and fault — to Israel. Recent misinformation about the road map by correspondent Steven Weisman is fuel for critics who see the paper increasingly marshaling its news pages to advance an editorial agenda.
