Yesterday the fighting resumed when Hamas fired rockets into Israel some 7 hours before the cease-fire was due to end. Operation Protective Edge continues.
The pictures that the world media purveys from Gaza to its viewers and readers, is distorted, as are the verbal and written reports. In spite of an August 8th report on Honest Reporting (http://honestreporting.com/bbc-and-nyt-admit-gazan-civilian-casualty-stats-not-credible/), the BBC in the introduction to its programme HardTalk, Sunday 19th August, said 'nearly all' of the casualties in Gaza were civilians. Reuters and others repeatedly write, 'the mainly civilian casualties' and even Fox News' anchor Shepard Smith has repeated this 'mainly civilian' myth.
However, Al Jezeera, an Arab TV network owned by Qatar, the sponsors of Hamas terror, have reported that about 80% of the casualties are men of 'military age'. As noted above, both the BBC and New York Times have admitted their errors, but somehow seem to ignore their own admissions, and let their anchors and newsreaders repeat the myth of 'civilian casualties'.
I complained to Reuters. Their answer quoted Tzahi Hanegbi, a member of the Israeli government, saying that 47% of the casualties investigated were terrorists and included the quote, but he forgot to read, a minimum requirement for a Reuters employee, that the investigation was still ongoing. He even had the temerity to say that he was also unable to verify the numbers of Israeli casualties. This in an open society, with freedom of the press and freedom of information - Chutzpah!
In the past two conflicts the ratio of terrorists killed to civilians was about 70% to 30%. I have no doubt that when Israel provides the names of the dead, sometimes with photographs, the statistics will reflect the misinformation which the world media has put about. Whether this misinformation is deliberate, or can be explained by the need to get information out as fast as possible, is a question only the reporters and their editors can answer. However, my impression is that the journalists have lost their integrity when reporting on Israel. Even if errors are retracted, the damage has already been done, because in this 24 hour news cycle, not many readers and viewers get the chance to see the correction or retraction.
The speed with which we get our news today is a two-edged sword, but accuracy and integrity are being sacrificed on the alter of immediate gratification and sensationalism.
The pictures that the world media purveys from Gaza to its viewers and readers, is distorted, as are the verbal and written reports. In spite of an August 8th report on Honest Reporting (http://honestreporting.com/bbc-and-nyt-admit-gazan-civilian-casualty-stats-not-credible/), the BBC in the introduction to its programme HardTalk, Sunday 19th August, said 'nearly all' of the casualties in Gaza were civilians. Reuters and others repeatedly write, 'the mainly civilian casualties' and even Fox News' anchor Shepard Smith has repeated this 'mainly civilian' myth.
However, Al Jezeera, an Arab TV network owned by Qatar, the sponsors of Hamas terror, have reported that about 80% of the casualties are men of 'military age'. As noted above, both the BBC and New York Times have admitted their errors, but somehow seem to ignore their own admissions, and let their anchors and newsreaders repeat the myth of 'civilian casualties'.
I complained to Reuters. Their answer quoted Tzahi Hanegbi, a member of the Israeli government, saying that 47% of the casualties investigated were terrorists and included the quote, but he forgot to read, a minimum requirement for a Reuters employee, that the investigation was still ongoing. He even had the temerity to say that he was also unable to verify the numbers of Israeli casualties. This in an open society, with freedom of the press and freedom of information - Chutzpah!
In the past two conflicts the ratio of terrorists killed to civilians was about 70% to 30%. I have no doubt that when Israel provides the names of the dead, sometimes with photographs, the statistics will reflect the misinformation which the world media has put about. Whether this misinformation is deliberate, or can be explained by the need to get information out as fast as possible, is a question only the reporters and their editors can answer. However, my impression is that the journalists have lost their integrity when reporting on Israel. Even if errors are retracted, the damage has already been done, because in this 24 hour news cycle, not many readers and viewers get the chance to see the correction or retraction.
The speed with which we get our news today is a two-edged sword, but accuracy and integrity are being sacrificed on the alter of immediate gratification and sensationalism.
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