With 16 people killed in anti-US riots around the world, this incident highlights the power of the media to directly affect life-and-death matters. With that power comes great responsibility to cover news accurately, fairly and honestly. Media scandals, such as Jenin coverage, Jayson Blair, and CBS’ Memogate, to name a few, further highlight the need for the sort of media monitoring that we at HonestReporting have been undertaking for years.
Despite Newsweek’s mea culpa and subsequent retraction, one AFP report quoted a Pakistani cleric saying the magazine’s report was a “conspiracy to widen the gap between Islam and Christianity after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.”
Meanwhile, LGF wonders if Arab outrage over the alleged desecration of the Koran might be hypocritical. Following the 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity, the Jerusalem Post reported on the aftermath of the Palestinian gunmen who occupied the Christian holy site:
Even in the Roman Catholic areas of the complex there was evidence of disregard for religious norms. Catholic priests said that some Bibles were torn up for toilet paper, and many valuable sacramental objects were removed. “Palestinians took candelabra, icons and anything that looked like gold,” said a Franciscan, the Rev. Nicholas Marquez from Mexico.
After the siege, church fugitives received a hero’s welcome in Gaza.
