Media Gets Dirty Down Under – Part 1
April 24, 2012 10:54 by GuestPostThis article was written exclusively for HonestReporting by Emily Gian, the Israel Advocacy Analyst for the Zionist Council of Victoria in Australia and a PhD Candidate in Israeli Literature.
There are two major sources of international news in print form available on the more populous eastern seaboard of the Australian continent – the increasingly far left leaning Fairfax Media newspapers (the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age) and The Australian newspaper, a Murdoch publication.
The difference between each media outlet’s reporting of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly since the commencement of the Second Intifada, has always been stark, with the former taking a generally anti-Israel position while the latter is more balanced and nuanced with a wide range of reports on the conflict, some complimentary and some otherwise on each of the parties. It should be added that the Fairfax stable also includes the Canberra Times which often outdoes the SMH and Age, as well as The Australian Financial Review, also known for its elements of bias against the Jewish State.
The difference in attitude between the two was never made more clear to me recently than in the way in which each treated the recent emotional story of the arrival and burial in Israel of the bodies of the four victims of the Toulouse killings in March of this year. Whereas The Australian produced a very moving piece on the funeral by its Middle East correspondent John Lyons, readers of the Melbourne Age received the news in a one-line footnote to an AFP story. It would appear that either the Jerusalem based head of the Age Middle East Bureau or her editors did not consider it necessary to file their own report on the funeral or even have someone attend even though, over the years, Fairfax Media has covered the deaths of Palestinian terrorists (or “militants” as it prefers to call them) with sympathetic stories about grieving families.
It should be added, that a week earlier, the same newspaper provided its readers with a soon to be discredited Fiachra Gibbons’ Op Ed (taken from the Guardian) which speculated that the killer was a right winger who was neither an anti-Semite nor a jihadist. When the emerging facts exposed the Gibbons piece as being shockingly flawed, the Age remained outrageously silent in much the same way as it has, over the past decade, shunning stories on many of the major issues surrounding Israel and its warring neighbours.
I was in Israel during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 and I was shocked at the malevolence and venom of the British media when Israel was falsely accused of committing a massacre in Jenin. The local Fairfax press was not far behind. There was no apology or explanation for the dishonesty of the reporting of the time and, on my return to Australia, I was in for some further shocks after joining the Zionist Council of Victoria at the end of that year. The Age Middle East Correspondent at the time was one Ed O’Loughlin who, in his five years with the Fairfax Media stable would constantly remind his readers where his sympathies lay.
At the end of O’Loughlin’s term and in his very last piece for the Age (which in the 11th hour was pulled from the Sydney Morning Herald), he came out swinging and stated of one incident, “And we knew from long experience that, whatever had happened, the Israeli Defense Force would deny responsibility”. There was of course, no credible evidence to support claims that the IDF was in fact, responsible. O’Loughlin added his own familiar footnote, “Since the present uprising began in 2000, close to 5000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli action… Slightly more than 1000 Israelis were killed by Palestinians. In the first three months of this year, 11 Palestinians died for every Israeli citizen (see more)”.
Neil
3:59 pm
Apr 24, 2012
Israel bashing has become mainstream despite all the facts to repudiate they’re venom.
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Steve Eisenberg
7:00 pm
Apr 24, 2012
“their” venom
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Richard Mather
5:21 pm
Apr 24, 2012
The Left is not concerned with telling the truth – or even reporting the basic facts – but rather with pursuing its own agenda, which is to demonise Israel and advocate Islamic violence against the West. The glorification of terrorism in the left-wing media echoes the Left’s inability to criticise Stalin and Mao during their worst excesses. Following the collapse of communism, the Left has had to scrounge around the gutter to find a new political partner in order to undermine democracy, capitalism and Jewish independence. This new partner is, of course, Islamic extremism. This in itself is an indication of the Left’s moral vacuousness. Islam is against everything the Left is supposed to stand for i.e. human rights, equality before the law, gay rights etc. The only thing they have in common is their anti-Semitism and their hatred of the USA. Unfortunately, the left-wing media is now mainstream, with the BBC, the Guardian and CBS among the worst offenders. This is infecting public debate in the UK and elsewhere, and is rapidly eroding Israel’s reputation around the world. Things have got so bad, that Zionism is now a dirty word, akin to fascism or Nazism! The Left should be ashamed of what is has done to public discourse, but of course shame requires a sense of guilt and responsibility, and I can’t imagine the Guardian and its ilk ever facing up to their obscene anti-Semitism.
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Jack Morrison
11:10 pm
Apr 24, 2012
I cancelled my subscription years ago when I realised that the Age was only publishing stories that showed Israel in a negative light while making Palestinian terrorists, even when they attacked innocent civilians, appear to be fighting a “just cause”. It’s easy to hide good stories about Israel and the Jews when your editors and journalists have pre-existing biases to the other side and this is evidenced in the case of this newspaper by the fact that they even write one sided op eds.
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gary ashton
1:04 am
Apr 25, 2012
i’ve been writing to the herald complaining for years, and the abc who are even worse. they take no notice, these days they don’t even respond. the problem is israel does not sue the media for libel or really challenge it through the courts. i believe if newspapers actually were made to pay for printing ‘false’ reports and news they would think carefully next time.
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lippy
3:19 pm
Apr 26, 2012
i have been saying the same thing for years now. i was told that you can only sue an individual for libel or slander. are there any pro zionist lawyers out there who are willing to take up the cause? Mr. Dershowitz are you listening?
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Heather Kennedy
1:31 am
Apr 25, 2012
Fairfax Media’s treatment of Israel is shameful & unrelentingly negative.
The concepts of balance & objectivity are utterly alien to their editors & staff members.
Sad when one remembers that once upon a time both the Age & the Sydney Morning Herald were fine newspapers.
Today they are an utter disgrace to the craft of journalism.
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Okey
3:24 am
Apr 25, 2012
The ethos of most (it seems) journalists today re the Arab-Israeli conflict was summed up by a “Guardian” “journalist who had been caught out in a blatant lie. His response was that his lie “served a higher truth.”
The world constantly changes in most respects. Journalism is no exception.
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Frances (Rachav)
3:58 am
Apr 25, 2012
I am pleased to say that I only buy one newspaper a week, the Thursday’s Age for the Green Guide. The rest I just read them on the internet if there is some new I am interested in, that way I don’t get as much trash!
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paula Potaznik
4:34 am
Apr 25, 2012
Excellent article. Its not surprising that much of the media has a far left bias as the courses they attend (RMIT) are run by far left anti-Israel professors. They don’t learn to think for themselves and if they actually do they are shunned by their ‘friends’ (http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/nicky-larkin).
Free speech is also being attacked (one way is through the Religious vilification laws where truth is not a defense , and is sadly strongly defended by the jewish community here in Melbourne) and our government has more plans to stop us giving an opinion other than the leftist green multiculturism at all cost one .
I hope the next instalment is about the ABC and SBS. I am looking forward to reading it
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Bill Anderson
1:58 pm
Apr 25, 2012
Yes, a hard-hitting, well argued article. The Age’s bias against Israel is so consistent and venomous as to amount to a campaign. No lie, no nonsense, no bile is too much for them and it is clear that they employ reporters who they know will take a radical anti-Israel line – even their letters page practically excludes any letter which is even mildly sympathetic to Israel, preferring to publish anti-Israel dross from Bill Mathew and the like. The Australian does seem to try to present fair and reasonable coverage of the middle east. It is surely not too much to ask that Israel be treated just like any other country. Israel has nothing to hide and has nothing to fear from honest reporting but it is very unfair that it is treated in such a biased and unethical manner by large sections of tha Australian media. I look forward to reading he next installment of this fine article.
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Nushuktan
2:15 pm
Apr 25, 2012
One only need to review the tweets of The Age’s current mid-east correspondent, Ruth Pollard (@rpollard) and see the people she follows to know where she leans. She is so far left that she is toppling over.
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Meyer Mussry
5:56 am
Apr 26, 2012
The current Fairfax correspondent, Ruth Pollard, follows in the footsteps of her ignominious predecessors. A constant stream of criticism of Israel, and complete whitewashing of the other side. Stupid and unfit to be a journalist are only the first words I would use to describe her.
People and organisations who do this give support to the terrorists and corrupt incompetents who rule the Palestinians with an iron fist, murder at will and repeatedly commit crimes against humanity. That makes them accessories to the crimes, and just as guilty for providing a framework for them to continue.
Shame, Fairfax, shame, shame, shame! Fairness, objectivity, principles, truth and reputation all lost to ideology.
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Media Gets Dirty Down Under – Part 1 | The Conservative Papers
8:02 am
Apr 26, 2012
[...] Continued on Page 2 VN:F [1.9.17_1161]calculating…Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)Source material can be found at this site.topsyWidgetPreload({ "url": "http%3A%2F%2Fconservativepapers.com%2Fnews%2F2012%2F04%2F25%2Fmedia-gets-dirty-down-under-part-1%2F", "style": "big", "title": "Media Gets Dirty Down Under – Part 1 #Australia #Freedom #HonestReporting #Islam #Israel #Jihad #Palestinians #Terrorism" }); Take Action Related posts: [...]
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Michael Burd
3:46 am
May 01, 2012
As someone that actively follows the ant-Israel media and anti- Israel Academia Emily Gian is spot on.
The Age and Sydney Morning Herald part of the very left wing Fairfax group which act as franchises for the UK al’ Guardian and NY Times have the same obsession with Israel.
For example there are not many main stream Newspapers that have a full time Palestinian activist who runs the foreign desk at al’ Age { when Maher Mugrabi is not acting as Foreign desk editor at Australia’s most anti Zionist Newspaper he opens Arab film festivals and is on the speaking Pro- Palestinian tour at Universities and other forums promoting the Palestinian cause and the deligitimization of Israel]
Unfortunately this same Palestinian activist is also a regular guest speaker and promoted amongst other Palestinian activists at our Largest Jewish Study Department In Melbourne. Academics at this Jewish Study department even go as far as participating in Palestinian lobby anti- Israel events. Unfortunately this Jewish study department is funded by a a few of our wealthiest Jewish Families who ignore the complaints about this departments Pro- Palestinian stance by the majority of main stream Jewish community and Main stream Jewish Zionist Organizations.In fact our largest Jewish study department may as well merge with the Arab & Islamic Study Departments .
Similar to Canada and US our government funded broadcasting networks are headed by leftists who follow the usual Leftist Arabist doctrine of obsessively demonizing Israel , hatred of US and acting as advocates for the Arab and Muslim communities.One of these 2 Government TV networks include a Muslim and Arab on a a very small board, is it any wonder this network not only has formed a relationship with AL Jazeera and takes all their feed in Australia it acts as an advocacy outlet for the Palestinians in Australia .
The left wing media In Australia have two standards one under freedom of speech where they should be allowed to incite hatred against Israeli Jews and Zionists , yet they do not use the same Freedom of speech card to ever criticize the Palestinians, Arabs or Muslims for obvious fear of repercussions . The most aggrieved Jewish supporters of Israel may ever do is write a letter to the Editor { which would be unlikely to be published]
Thank heavens we have the Murdoch press here that treats both sides equally.
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Fay Ganly
7:08 am
May 03, 2012
My husband decided not to buy the Age years ago, because of its anti-Israel bias.We recently subscribed to the Australian instead of buying random copies.The treatment of Middle East News is better, and we like their preference for conservative politics. The only fault is the preponderence of commentary over news- for obvious reasons- they do not have correspondents all over the world these days. The big concern is the witch hunt after Rupert Murdoch.
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gary ashton
7:39 am
May 03, 2012
yes. i agree. the current concern over murdoch may have some validity but if the same stringent levels of journalistic standards were applied to the guardian, the bbc, the age, the herald and the abc especially ‘the drum’ who are so far removed from objectivity they require an independent enquiry of their own.
i like the australian because it offers a side the smh totally ignores. this morning on the front page was an official report about the way no global warming scientists received death threats as the smh and the abc have been claiming, yet both media outlets ignored this totally.
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Zelda Cawthorne
3:52 am
May 04, 2012
Emily Gian’s observations about Fairfax’s current and recent Middle East correspondents are correct: these journalists – especially Paul McGeough – have been consistently hostile to Israel and by and large, their reports have lacked balance, fairness and often, truth.
However, like all journalists employed by major media, they are not free to write what they wish, because they don’t set editorial policy. That responsibility rests with the editor-in-chief, who in turn, is often influenced by those to whom he/she is beholden. Further, those influences aren’t uniformly “Left” or “Right”.
The Fairfax dailies are a perfect case in point: far Left in their abysmal treatment of Israel and increasingly, far Right in their equally skewed coverage of federal politics. The combination is nauseating.
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andrew
12:23 pm
Jan 27, 2013
eventually all these people will die, a fact of living, how they die will be interesting, remember, God never forgets sin, trespass or iniquity. As these people are obviously anti-God, anti-Christ, i believe their end will not be peaceful. All not some, All who have defied God and railed against His people have suffered terrible ends, these writers of trash will simply end up as trash, remember, we reap what we sow, without true repentance, there is no salvation. The papers in Britain are under scrutiny, in Australia, they are losing sales, soon they will be no more. Long live the King
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