November 7, 2003

BBC Questions Israel’s Legitimacy

As a result of mounting worldwide criticism and perhaps in light of the upcoming renewal of the corporation’s royal charter in 2006 — BBC executives have taken a step to address complaints about Middle East coverage. Richard Sambrook, BBC’s director of news, and Mark Byford, head of the World Service division, have appointed former BBC journalist Malcolm Balen as "senior editorial advisor" to monitor the news service’s Middle East reporting. Eventually, this may improve the accuracy and balance in news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
October 27, 2003

BBC-WATCH: BBC on Oslo

BBC’s Robin Lustig did a retrospective feature on the Oslo peace accords which aired on World Service News Hour on October 24, 2003 and appeared in article form on the BBC website. In both, Lustig distorted the facts to blame Israel.

October 22, 2003

Palestinian Leadership Committing the “Unthinkable”

In their Oct. 17 Los Angeles Times article entitled "U.S. Shifts From Ally to Target in Gaza Strip," Megan Stack and Henry Chu wrote: "Presidents such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton remain icons of American friendship, and the idea of attacking an American has been unthinkable to the Palestinian leadership, akin to throwing away one's last, best hope." How do the reporters know what Palestinian leaders have historically found thinkable or unthinkable? Perhaps such speculation would be better left to the editorial pages.
October 19, 2003

Selective Memories: Anti-U.S. Incitement and Prior Murders Omitted

Reporting the October 15, 2003 bombing in the Gaza Strip with little or no reference to this history falsely implies that the bombing represents something new in Palestinian attitudes. Terrorism against Americans is the inevitable result of years of anti-American incitement in the Palestinian media and mosques.

October 17, 2003

Judt Labels Israel “Anachronistic,” Calls for Binational State

"Israel, in short, is an anachronism" charges Tony Judt in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Review of Books in arguing for the elimination of the Jewish state in favor of a binational secular state. He falsely singles out Israel as being the only modern, democratic nation based on "ethno-religious criteria."

October 17, 2003

CAMERA Column: Alienating Readers at the Times

"The harm done by Jayson Blair in The New York Times newsroom may, in the end, be offset by a bit of good it does elsewhere. The incident is serving as a wake-up call for journalism, prompting many papers ... to redouble efforts at accuracy and accountability," wrote Christine Chinlund, the Boston Globe ombudsman, in a soul-searching column on media accountability.