The new study to be released on Monday analyzes two-years of coverage on ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs. In addition, the report will contain previously unreleased information regarding Associated Press coverage of this conflict.
If Americans Knew Executive Director Alison Weir, who will be presenting the findings, says that these reports should serve as a wake-up call to the American public. “By looking at this coverage statistically, choosing clear, objective categories, we have found an extremely useful, non-subjective tool for measuring the accuracy of media coverage on this extremely important issue. Our findings are highly disturbing. Full and fair reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the ongoing peace process is absolutely necessary if the United States is to act as an honest broker.”
Ambassador Edward Peck, former chief of mission to Iraq, will introduce the briefing, the 11th in the series of public hearings on the Middle East sponsored by the Council for the National Interest in the last year.
To reserve a seat, send an e-mail to inform@cnionline.org or call 202-863-2951.
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I posted the whole thing because it is a press release, and I have through negligence and accident, decreed that BooMan Tribune is press.
Although I cannot claim to be as optimistic as the organization that did the study that mainstream views in the US would change regardless of what they knew, I am glad to see that someone has quantified what even the most casual viewer and reader of news has known for some time.
US media coverage of US funded atrocities against the Palestinian people are presented as acceptable, just, meet and right so to do, and a host of other laudatory nouns.
Just for starters, the frequently used phrase “a period of calm” refers to a period during which only Palestinians are killed.
While almost every victim of every suicide bombing is profiled up close and personal, complete with interviews with grieving friends and family, poignant vignettes of the deceased’s bedroom, prized possessions, photos of happy moments, etc., if the death of a Palestinian is mentioned at all, it is as an afterthought, no name, just something to the effect that 2 or 4 or whatever the number from this attack is, were “reported to have died subsequent to a routine Israeli military operation in a refugee camp.”
I think maybe once or twice since 2000 have their been any little featurettes of Palestinian victims.
While this may be perfectly acceptable to mainstream US viewers – obviously it is, since all those Palestinians are murdered courtesy of the US taxpayers – to most of the world, it seems bizarre, absurd, and jarringly as anti-Semitic as it is anti-Arab, as they bring in the “guests” to explain the “Israeli point of view” which invariably involves some wackjob with a Russian accent attempting to make some connection between Jews and Judaism and crimes against humanity.
As if Yuri Avnery were not Jewish, as if no one from Bt’Salem returned calls requesting someone to come on CNN and give the Israeli point of view.
Time permitting, there is usually some pass at having someone on to give the Palestinian point of view. That usually goes like this:
“Mr Erakat, why isn’t Palestine doing more to reduce incitement against Israel?”
“Today they killed 3 children who were playing soccer! Children! 9-10 years old! The people of Nablus have no water! The elderly people are very sick!”
“OK Mr Erakat, I’ll rephrase my question. What is the Palestinian Authority doing to stop this hostility to Israel, this support for terror?”
“They won’t let food trucks into Ramallah! Even the UN says they are starving people there. Why doesn’t the US help us?”
“Well Mr Erakat, I know our viewers would really like to know why you expect the US to stop this terrorism problem, it sounds like a Palestinian problem to me, but unfortunately we are out of time. When we come back, Former Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will be our guest…”
