Media Gets Dirty Down Under – Part 2
April 30, 2012 11:34 by GuestPostThis is the second part of an article 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.
In mid-June of 2011 it was announced that Fairfax Media had made “two significant editorial appointments designed to strengthen its coverage of overseas news (see more)”. Paul McGeough was appointed Chief Correspondent for both The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald and Ruth Pollard was appointed to the role of Middle East Correspondent.
At the time I felt that the appointment of a woman correspondent to the region might bring about a more balanced coverage of the region’s problems and that rather than vilifying one side, a practice that only serves to widen the gulf between them, we might see the type of journalism that could actually help open doors to a resolution of the conflict.
Sadly, I was wrong and the result has been that Age and Sydney Morning Herald readers are now treated to only one narrative in which every story from the region must delegitimize Israel. Pollard seems obsessed with stories about Palestinian human rights whilst ignoring anything that might paint the Palestinians or their leadership in a negative light. There is little to no interest in the human rights of Israelis that are violated regularly by indiscriminate rocket fire over the border at southern Israeli towns or abuses by the Palestinian leadership against their own, particularly in Gaza against women, gays and the dwindling minority Christian communities. The scourges of honor killing and female genital mutilation are nowhere to be seen in this world view.
In a recent effort published on Good Friday, Pilgrims rent a cross to walk in Christ’s footsteps, Pollard was able to mount an obligatory attack on “the occupation” and even informed her readers that there “are 160,000 Palestinian Christians in Israel and the Palestinian territories”, but omitted to mention that the number of Christians in the West Bank and Gaza is dwindling rapidly whilst growing at an increasing rate in Israel proper. She therefore spared herself the necessity to mention the reason for this phenomenon or the uncomfortable fact that Christians under Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is becoming more and more uncomfortable. On matters such as the firebombing of churches, Pollard remained equally shtum.
Pollard’s “fluff pieces” always contain a sting in their tail at Israel’s expense, such as this story about female, Palestinian racing car drivers, “the speed sisters”, which managed to weave in the usual propaganda about Israeli occupation, prisons and the security barrier.
The number of important subjects not covered as a result of this obsession grows on a daily basis.
The rifts within the so-called unity government of Hamas and Fatah are given short shrift. The Hamas Covenant is ignored and the focus is never on the Palestinian terrorist (usually called “militants”) breaches of international human rights laws by indiscriminate firing of missiles at civilian populations. Recently, when southern Israel was bombarded by over 200 rockets in a number of days and Israel responded by taking out specific terrorist targets, Pollard chose to focus on the regrettable death of a 12-year-old boy, reportedly killed along with 16 terrorists. At the time, I noted that while his death was extremely sad, “by omitting to characterize the majority of the dead as war criminals bent on murdering innocent civilians on the other side, her piece paints a false picture of what is happening in the current conflict”. Two days after Pollard’s story went to print it was revealed that the boy was not killed by Israeli strikes, but by an errant bullet at a funeral procession, fired by Palestinian terrorists (see more). The Age failed to follow up this part of the story, yet again leaving its readers without the means to understand the truth about the clashes between the two sides.
We live in a world where social media is becoming the norm and Pollard, like many of us, tweets these days – @rpollard. Her disclaimer, like most journalists on Twitter is that “all views are my own etc”. All fine and nice, but if she routinely tweets negative stories about Israel and only Israel, then you have to wonder how objective she can be in her everyday reporting.
Michael Burd
3:05 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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Peter Cohen
4:01 am
May 01, 2012
Maher Mugrabi is very correct in taking pride in the many good things that have been done by the Arab Muslim world, but he cannot ignore the nasties. Israel also has some nasties as do the Americans and everyone else, but balance the present Arab nasties with those of the democracies (which includes Israel) and it is clear where the scale falls.
Treatment of women, killing of their own citizens when they protest poverty and poor wealth distribution, stoning etc. Israel has the advantage that it protects its own citizens. Look at the way Hizbolla fired hundreds of rockets in an aggressive attack on Israel, building underground bunkers to store their ammunition but no shelters for their own people when Israel retaliated as any decent administration would. And what was the press reaction? Israel was using excessive force. What a joke.
The press is equally ignorant when reporting technology. Coverage of the Japanese nuclear reactor was so inaccurate I had to go onto Scientific American to learn the truth. Our journalistic standards are so bad it is better to read fiction. At least that is occasionally true. What on earth are they teaching in schools of journalism?
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RMC
7:49 am
May 04, 2012
Maher Mugrabi and all his “pure souls” left-wing friends and collaborators, wisely manipulate the average Australian Anglo-Saxon spectator, by talking about “civil rights”, “human rights” and “identity rights”. he won’t mention his real aim: to destroy Israeli independant entity and to wipe it out of a “holy soil”, as the first step in the Muslim war against the Christian one. extremist or moderate muslims, 99% of the Muslim world is committed to a violent Gihad, and he who dares to confront it, is expelled, hunted and chopped-off.
they wrap oppression and violence in purified terms. if you don’t have the right answer, go and learn Islam and its history. every time that a revolt of liberation took place in a Muslim country, it ended with more oppression, especially violation of women’s-rights. do you want to sit and discuss in European terms with someone that gives legitimacy to violation of rights, in the name of demanding those same rights for himself ? I don’t !!
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