Reprinted by kind permission from Aish HaTorah
We would expect journalists to maintain their independence and objectivity-and certainly not pledge to "cooperate" with one side of an armed struggle. But as is becoming painfully clear, a key aspect to the Mideast struggle today is the manipulation of media to influence public opinion.

If truth is to prevail, we can't just "read" the newspaper. Be discerning and become part of the process. Otherwise, you're just a passive object of someone else's agenda. As Mark Twain once said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." How can readers discern the truth between the lines? Listed here are common methods employed by the media-intentionally or not - - to influence public opinion. By being aware of these methods, we can avoid being used as a pawn in the media war.

VIOLATIONS OF OBJECTIVITY:
1. Using true facts to draw false conclusions.
2. Imbalanced reporting.
3. Distortion of facts.
4. Lack of context.
5. Definitions and terminology.
6. Selective omission.

VIOLATION #1 Using True Facts To Draw False Conclusions.
EXAMPLE: In discussing the recent violence, many articles report that "over 100 people have been killed, the vast majority Palestinians." This is an indisputable fact, yet without qualifying these figures, the reader is led to the false conclusion that Israeli soldiers are the aggressors and have used excessive force.

As an astute observer, consider how many would be dead if Israeli forces were actually doing what they are accused of-shooting indiscriminately into crowds with automatic weapons. If that were the case, many thousands of Palestinians would be dead. The media has failed to publicize Israeli army instructions, where soldiers have orders not to shoot unless they are in direct danger. Israeli soldiers are told never shoot at an ambulance or at women. Unless the Palestinians begin shooting first with live bullets, Israeli soldiers are instructed never to shoot to kill, and then, to aim only at the source of the shooting, never randomly. No other army has such restrained orders.

VIOLATION #2: Imbalanced Reporting
Media reports frequently skew the picture by presenting only one side of the story.

EXAMPLE: In a recent report on CNN, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said: "We are not bombing Israeli towns. We are not sieging Israeli people. We are not firing at Israeli children. The war is being waged against us, and the international community must equate Israel as the aggressor, and us as being aggressed against." Erakat's comments went without challenge or qualification by the interviewer, and in the 20-minute report, not one Israeli was interviewed or given a chance to respond.

EXAMPLE: CNN.com offers a list of web sites relating to the Middle East. Under the heading of "General Information Sites," all 12 sites are Arab-related, including one specific Palestinian site. There are no Jewish or Israel-related sites listed in this category.

The same CNN page lists web sites of each Middle Eastern country. For example, five sites are listed for the tiny under- developed country Yemen, and five sites are listed for Palestine. The Israel category lists four sites.

EXAMPLE: CNN.com posts a running tally of Palestinians killed since the start of the intifada. However, there is no equivalent tally for Jews killed by Palestinians-in suicide bombings, lynchings terrorist attacks, bus hijacking, cafe bombings, etc. By counting only the number of Palestinians killed, the media gives the impression that Palestinians are the sole victims in this conflict.

VIOLATION # 3: Distortion of Facts
In today's competitive media world, reporters frequently do not have the time, inclination or resources to properly verify information before submitting a story for publication.

EXAMPLE: The New York Times, Associated Press and other major media outlets published a photo of a young man-bloodied and battered-crouching beneath a club-wielding Israeli policeman. The caption identified him as a Palestinian victim of the recent riots-with the clear implication that the Israeli soldier is the one who beat him.

It is now well known that the bloodied "Palestinian" depicted in the photograph was Tuvia Grossman, a 20-year-old Jewish student from Chicago, studying in Jerusalem. And that the assailants were not Israelis, but members of a Palestinian mob who beat and stabbed Grossman mercilessly for 10 minutes. And that the infuriated Israeli policeman with a baton was deterring the Palestinians from finishing their lynching.

Media bias assumes that if there's a victim, it must be a Palestinian. Yet who are the real victims and who are the aggressors? The truth is often the opposite of how it appears.

VIOLATION # 4: Lack of Context
By failing to provide proper context and full background information, it is easy to dramatically distort the true picture.

EXAMPLE: The world was horrified by news footage of 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot and killed. The film, replayed again and again as a demonstration of the cruelty of Israeli soldiers, does not provide any context, leading to the false conclusion that the boy was directly fired upon in full view of Israeli soldiers.

As an aerial photo of the area depicts, the scene is actually a highway junction near a Jewish town, with an Israeli military outpost stationed nearby to guard the road into the Jewish town. During the confrontation, the Israeli post was surrounded and fired upon from three sides by Palestinian gunmen. The unfortunate father and son were caught in the crossfire. As the photo clearly shows, Israeli soldiers could not see the father and son from their vantage point at the far side of the intersection.

An astute media observer would ask: Since there are no Palestinian homes or towns in the area, nor are there stores or playgrounds, what were the father and son doing there to begin with? Had they come to riot? Furthermore, why didn't the Palestinian gunmen, who were positioned right next to the father and son and who were presumably aware of their presence, do anything to protect them-or at least signal to the Israelis that innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire?

VIOLATION #5: Definitions and Terminology
By using terminology and definitions in a way that implies accepted fact, the media injects bias under the guise of objectivity.

EXAMPLE: The BBC recently discussed Israeli presence in "the occupied territories," a pre-Oslo term that bears no relation to reality when discussing the areas now under total Palestinian control like Ramallah, Nablus, etc.

EXAMPLE: In recent weeks, The New York Times has subtly altered its references to the Temple Mount, which unbiased historians have always described precisely as what its name represents-the site of the two Holy Jewish Temples. Of late, in apparent deference to Palestinian leaders who claim that no Jewish Temple ever stood on the Jerusalem hill toward which Jews have prayed for millennia, The Times has appended the phrase to include "which the Arabs call the Haram al Sharif."

More recently, The Times referred to "the Temple Mount, which Israel claims to have been the site of the First and Second Temple." No longer established historical tradition but a mere "claim."

Then a day later, The Times described Israeli troops as having "stormed the Haram, holiest Muslim site in Jerusalem, where hundreds of people were at worship." No mention whatsoever in that article of any "Temple Mount."

EXAMPLE: Ariel Sharon, the democratically-elected leader of the second-largest political party in Israel, is consistently referred to in the media by the derogatory moniker "hard-line opposition leader."

EXAMPLE: Arab mobs, whose actions range from stoning Jews praying at the Western Wall, to firing guns at Israeli soldiers, to destroying Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, are typically characterized as "protestors" or "demonstrators."

The New York Times (Oct. 10, 2000) writes: "...the Israeli cabinet decided early this morning to avoid exploding a tense situation and gave Yasir Arafat more time to quiet protests." The article continues: "The demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs at the soldiers, and taunted them over loudspeakers."

VIOLATION #6: Selective Omission
By choosing to report certain events over others, the media controls access to information and manipulates public sentiment.

EXAMPLE: The media virtually ignored the tragic firebombing of a Jewish woman and her 2-year-old child as they drove through the Palestinian city of Jericho. By failing to cover Jewish tragedies the same as Palestinian, the media denies public sympathy for Israel as the victims of Palestinian aggression.

Deadly attacks on Israelis often receive no media attention. Last week, respected American Rabbi Chaim Brovendar barely survived a brutal lynching at the hand of Palestinian rioters, after he accidentally made a wrong turn into Beit Jalla, a neighborhood near Jerusalem.

EXAMPLE: A recent Los Angeles Times editorial cartoon depicted an Orthodox Jew praying at the Western Wall, with the stones of the wall forming the word "hate." The caption read: "Praying to their God."

In defense, L.A. Times artist Michael Ramirez pointed out that that a second man in the cartoon (who was sprawled on the ground and much less noticeable) was actually a Moslem praying. Unfortunately, the keffiah which would identify him as a Moslem is practically invisible to the naked eye.

Furthermore, Ramirez was unable to explain why the chosen venue of "hate" was the Western Wall, a site sacred only to Jews, which has never been used as a place of Moslem prayer.

CONCLUSION:
By being astute media observers, we can make a difference. In response to public pressure, The New York Times reprinted Tuvia Grossman's picture- this time with the proper caption-and a full article detailing his near-death beating at the hands of Palestinians rioters.

Similarly, following reader protest, the Los Angeles Times altered it's cartoon, deleting the unique Herodian frame around the Western Wall stones, to make it look more look a generic wall.

Copyright 2000 AishHaTorah.Com

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