Regular readers of this, the Most Important Blog... Ever, will remember that we have begun a project that actively watches US mainstream media (MSM) websites for their coverage of violence in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The project has its problems, but it continues in an attempt to document how effectively the US media reports on events in Israel and Palestine.
Apparently, the editors over at the New York Times have been reading your Most Important Blog... Ever, because they just wrote an amazing, candid editorial (registration req'd) about this very subject -- the difficulties of reporting on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. (Here's a shout out to Burian-sensei for sending me the link.)
OK. The editorial essentially says that no matter what The Times writes on the subject of Israel/Palestine, it gets literally tons of grief from both sides.
Daniel Okrent, The Times' Public Editor, continues, saying that good reporting on this conflict requires one to be completely dispassionate. But, he laments,
I agree completely. But the true light at the end of this article comes when Okrent admits that objectivity is
He's right. Not only The Times, but just about all American news organizations (you name it -- NPR, ABC, CNN, NBC, Fox, the works) are based in Jerusalem. Only the Europeans have bureaus in Gaza City or Ramallah. Often, reports on events in Gaza are filed from Jerusalem -- which, despite their relatively small geographical distance, are in fact worlds apart in terms of social reality. The American news organizations owe it to their readers to open bureaus outside of WEst Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Perhaps after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza happens (if it happens), we can expect a rededication of American news organizations to reporting from the Palestinian territories as well as from Israel.
Apparently, the editors over at the New York Times have been reading your Most Important Blog... Ever, because they just wrote an amazing, candid editorial (registration req'd) about this very subject -- the difficulties of reporting on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. (Here's a shout out to Burian-sensei for sending me the link.)
OK. The editorial essentially says that no matter what The Times writes on the subject of Israel/Palestine, it gets literally tons of grief from both sides.
Daniel Okrent, The Times' Public Editor, continues, saying that good reporting on this conflict requires one to be completely dispassionate. But, he laments,
How could I be [dispassionate] - how could anyone be - when considering a conflict so deep, so unabating, so riddled with pain? Who can be dispassionate about an endless tragedy? But no one who tries to walk down the middle of a road during a firefight could possibly emerge unscathed. This doesn't exonerate The Times, nor does the fact that criticism comes from each side suggest that the paper's doing something right.
I agree completely. But the true light at the end of this article comes when Okrent admits that objectivity is
...limited by geography. The Times, like virtually every American news organization, maintains its bureau in West Jerusalem. Its reporters and their families shop in the same markets, walk the same streets and sit in the same cafes that have long been at risk of terrorist attack. Some advocates of the Palestinian cause call this "structural geographic bias." If the reporters lived in Gaza or Ramallah, this argument goes, they would feel exposed to the daily struggles and dangers of life behind Palestinian lines and would presumably become more empathetic toward the Palestinians. I don't know about empathy, but I do know that the angle of vision determines what you see. A reporter based in secular, Europeanized Tel Aviv would experience an Israel vastly different from one living in Jerusalem; a reporter with a home in Ramallah would most likely find an entirely different world. The Times ought to give it a try.
He's right. Not only The Times, but just about all American news organizations (you name it -- NPR, ABC, CNN, NBC, Fox, the works) are based in Jerusalem. Only the Europeans have bureaus in Gaza City or Ramallah. Often, reports on events in Gaza are filed from Jerusalem -- which, despite their relatively small geographical distance, are in fact worlds apart in terms of social reality. The American news organizations owe it to their readers to open bureaus outside of WEst Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Perhaps after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza happens (if it happens), we can expect a rededication of American news organizations to reporting from the Palestinian territories as well as from Israel.
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