Examples of Media Bias

From StandWithUs

HBO anti-Israel Special: Death in Gaza


"Death in Gaza" Contact HBO Please contact HBO after viewing "Death in Gaza" and let them know what you think. You can E-mail them by selecting the "contact us" option at the bottom of their Homepage or by following this link to their comment section. Synopsis In spring 2003, award-winning filmmaker James Miller and reporter Saira Shah, set out to take a first-hand look at the culture of hate that permeates the Middle East. They captured the lives of three Palestinian children growing up in the bullet-riddled streets of Gaza. Although James and Saira had planned to film the lives of Israeli children as well, in the midst of production, Miller was shot to death by an Israeli tank, falling victim to the very conflict he covered. Premiers Thursday, August 12th at 9:30pm ET/PT Info ...

Dear Friends of Israel,

StandWithUs recieved this alert from Jerry Gordon concerning an upcoming HBO documentary "Death in Gaza". We have been told that this documentary is one-sided, omits facts, and omits context. Check out the films by Pierre Rehov and then tune in to watch the HBO documentary.

Rebutal to "Death in Gaza"

Tonight HBO will air a documentary entitled "Death in Gaza" an uncompleted work by the late British documentarian James Miller, tragically killed in Rafah, Gaza in 2003. He was part of an Emmy award winning team that produces a film on Afghanistan, "Behind the Veil."

To rebut the unfortunate one-sided view of Israel portrayed by the late Mr. Miller's film, "Death in Gaza" Author Phyllis Chesler in conjunction with myself and young Jewish activist, Lisa Magnas and famed French Documentarian Pierre Rehov have provided a instant rebuttal to the message conveyed by this HBO production. Phyllis Chesler has consented to hosting two of Pierre's films: "The Road to Jenin" and "The Silent Exodus," on her website. As those of you who were part of the Connecticut focus group I showed Rehov's film, "The Road to Jenin" this June, it is a powerful rebuttal to Mohammed Bakri's "Jenin, Jenin," that has made the college circuit courtesy of ISM and PSM groups. "The Silent Exodus" tells the largely unknown story of the expulsion of nearly 900,000 Jews from Arab lands following the Israel War for Independence in 1948. Among the speakers in that Rehov documentary are good friends, Bat Ye'or and her historian husband, David Littman.

When Phyllis Chesler called me following a meeting with Pierre Rehov last month and asked how we could assist Pierre in finding distribution in this country, I suggested to her, Pierre Rehov and Lisa Magnas that we might arrange for a webcast or video on demand programming of his "Road to Jenin" back to back with Bakri's Jenin, Jenin" at major college and university programs on Film as propaganda. When the HBO announced the airing on Miller's "Death in Gaza," we drafted and Phyllis sent a letter to HBO documentaries President and executive producer suggesting that Rehov's films would " complement" the unfinished work of the late Mr. Miller who had wanted to complete interviews of Israel children to parallel the several interviews of Palestinian children which forms the core of this uncompleted 80 minute film. Unfortunately, HBO chose not to provide Phyllis with an opportunity to view "Death in Gaza" ahead of tomorrow's airing, and indicated to us that any review of Pierre's works that we had sent Ms. Nevins and chief of HBO documentary programming Nancy Abraham would take fully six weeks. Thus, we took up Phyllis's courageous offer to host the two Rehov films on her website. You can view them by going to: www.phyllis-chesler.com. Send this email to members of your listservs, view the films and perhaps write to Ms. Nevins and Ms. Abrahams at HBO and suggest that they consider programming his works for cable viewing, shortly. Then tune in to HBO and watch "Death in Gaza."

Help HonestReporting.com Fight for Israel's Security

The International Court of Justice (The Hague) says that Israel's security barrier is illegal and unnecessary. That's one opinion. But what matters most is the court of world opinion.

Months of skewed reporting has turned much of the world against Israel's right to defend itself in a non-violent manner. Supporters of Israel cannot let these misconceptions and misrepresentations go unchallenged.

With over 100,000 active, educated and concerned subscribers, HonestReporting is one of the most effective and important vehicles to state Israel's case to the world. Together, we have affected positive change at CNN, Reuters, AP, The New York Times, and nearly every other major news outlet.

Please take a moment now to support our fight for Israel's security. All donations of $100 or more will receive a handsome Israel-America lapel pin (or your choice of Israel-only), just like those worn by world leaders:

Thanks to generous donations like yours, in the last year we doubled the number of HonestReporting readers, plus created HonestReporting on Campus and expanded HonestReporting in Canada, Italy, and Brazil. And Israel's political leaders have hailed the work of HonestReporting, commending us for doing the job that they have not

Click here to make your tax-deductible contribution with a credit card at any level of support:
https://secure.aish.com/donate_to_hr.asp

NPR Soft on Arab Propaganda
(jat.action@runbox.com)

Terry Gross interviewed Jamal Dajani of Mosaic on NPR on July 8.

She asked him about the Hezbollah/Al Manar segments, referring to Hezbollah as a "militant" organization. Dajani
responded that since Al Manar is the third most popular station in the region, Americans ought to see what it says.
Gross just accepted this with no follow-up questions.

The rest of the the interview was 15 minutes of soft-ball questions. Gross accepted at face value Dajani's assertion
that Mosaic gives Americans the chance to see the news as Arabs see it.

Gross also let Dajani rant for three or four minutes about how Arabs don't trust Al Hurra, the Bush-administration
Arabic-language broadcast aimed at the Middle East. This is probably true. What was odd was that Dajani's chief
complaint is that Al Hurra is tax supported and why should Americans be paying for a political propaganda broadcast.

No one mentioned that Dajani's own political propaganda broadcast is doubly tax subsidized: first because it
receives tax-deductible contributions, second because it goes out over stations like NewTV, funded by a government
mandated quasi-tax.

ACTION
------

Write to Terry Gross and ask her why she carried out such an inferior interview.

CONTACT INFO
------------

FreshAir@whyy.org

SAMPLE LETTER
-------------

Please use this only for ideas; put the thoughts in your own words.

Dear Ms. Gross,

I was disappointed by the interview you conducted on July 8 with Jamal Dajani of Mosaic.

Dajani claims that Mosaic offers a way for American viewers to see the news as it is broadcast in the Middle East. You
simply accepted his claim.

In fact, Mosaic is a carefully selected version of the news that Arab and Persian viewers see. It is a kinder, gentler
version of the news, sanitized of the hate-speech, incitement to jihad, and more exaggerated conspiracy theories that run daily on TV in the Middle East.

In the real world of TV in the Middle East, Al Manar, Nile TV, and the others broadcast stories about Jews slitting the
throats of Christian children to bake matzot, about how the CIA was behind 9/11, and about Israel poisoning Palestinian
water supplies. These libelous stories do not appear on Mosaic, presumably because Dajani selects his stories for
the impact they will have on his American audience.

Nor does Mosaic run segments, also routine in the Middle East, in which politicians and religious leaders urge
viewers to murder Jews and promote the jihad against America as a religious duty.

I do not know what Dajani's motives are, although, like many Arabs, he is on record stating that the nation of Israel
ought to be abolished. I do know that he is deliberately misleading interviewers when he claims that Mosaic presents
the news as seen in Middle Eastern countries. You ought to have known it, too.

The soft-ball questions you threw to him are not up to your usual standards.

Sincerely yours,

More classic Israel bashing from the AFP
br>
Take a look at this non-edited AFP article about a incident from yesterday. Notice that the headline chosen does not mention that it by itself is an opinion from Palestinian ¡°eye witnesses¡±. Also notice how 90% of the article uses Palestinian accounts without quotations, yet 10% is left for the Israeli side which is put in quotations ¨C as if it must be questioned. Also notice how the Palestinian account always comes first, and only at the end, we hear what those ¡®damn Israelis had to say¡¯.

Another classic example of Jew bating in the modern international
media.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO OTHER FELLOW JEWS, AWAKE EVERYONE AS TO WHAT
IS GOING ON.

Three Palestinians killed as army fires on stonethrowers in Gaza, West Bank

Sat Jul 3, 3:22 PM ET

Add Mideast - AFP to My Yahoo!

BEIT HANUN, Gaza Strip (AFP) - Three Palestinians, one a nine-year- old boy, were shot dead in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) and West Bank on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire towards stonethrowers, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

Two of the victims were shot dead in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun as troops pressed on with a six-day incursion there, in what the army said was a bid to stop militants from using the area as a launchpad for firing Qassam rockets at Israel.

During the morning, nine-year-old Ihab Shakat was killed and a second child wounded when troops opened fire on stonethrowing youths, medics and witnesses said.

Witnesses said the youths were protesting against the ongoing military incursion which was launched on Monday after a Palestinian rocket left two dead in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.

Several hours later, a second youngster was shot dead in a similar incident on the outskirts of the town, medics said.

Dr Mahmud al-Asali, head of the hospital in the nearby Jabalya refugee camp, said the boy died after being hit by gunfire in the back and stomach.

The boy's identity and his exact age were not immediately clear as he was not carrying an identity card, but al-Asali said he was in his early teens.

In both incidents, an Israeli military source said troops had come under attack by stonethrowers and had fired warning shots in the air.

In the second incident, however, the source said troops had fired at "a person who was about to throw a cement block."

Medics also said two Palestinian teenagers moderately wounded in Beit Hanun. A third Palestinian was shot dead in the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Nablus, Palestinian medical and security sources told AFP.

Mahmud Lehawani, 18, died after being hit by a bullet in the chest when soldiers opened fire towards a group of stonethrowers, they said.

Two other Palestinian youths also sustained gunshot wounds in the incident, one of whom was said to be in serious condition.

Lehawani's death comes scarcely three weeks after his brother Salah, also in his teens, was shot dead by troops while throwing stones, security sources said.

An Israeli military spokesman said troops had shot and killed one person in the camp, "an armed gunman who fired at the force."

In a second incident, troops had shot and injured a person who "tried to activate three explosive devices against soldiers
patrolling the area". It was not clear what became of the injured man, the said.

Meanwhile, the army reopened the main the trans-Gaza highway to traffic for the first time in a week, sources on both sides said.

The road was sealed off last Sunday following a militant attack on an army outpost in southern Gaza, which left one soldier dead and five wounded.

As the violence flared, a prominent Arab Israeli MP began an open-ended hunger strike against Israel's construction of the
controversial West Bank barrier.

Speaking to AFP by phone from the West Bank village of A-Ram, just north of Jerusalem, Bishara said the section of the barrier around the Holy City had "taken on monstrous dimensions, separating brothers and families."

As Bishara began his hunger strike, Israel stepped up diplomatic efforts to secure US support ahead of a potentially negative International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the legality of the barrier.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Friday he discussed the likely fallout from the July 9 ruling during talks in Washington with US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites).

But he declined to specify whether it meant he had secured a commitment from Rice for Washington to use its powers in the Security Council.

"Our aim is ... to bring about a veto," he said. "There is an expectation that this will happen."

Although the court's opinion is non-binding, a negative verdict would be highly embarrassing for Israel.

Israel says the planned 700-kilometre barrier, three-quarters of which has already been built, is a vital protection against the infiltration of Palestinian suicide bombers.

Palestinians, however, say the barrier, which in places juts deep into their territory, is a blatant landgrab, aimed at pre-empting the borders of their promised state.

CAMERA Alert: What NBC Left on the Cutting Room Floor
17 Jun 2004 01:12:44 -0400

Shalom CAMERA E-Mail Team:

All too often journalists sitting across the table from Arab leaders do their utmost to avoid asking any tough questions, lest they give "offense" to people clearly unused to being challenged. But now and then an intrepid interviewer does pose the uncomfortable question to a king or potentate.

Just such a case was Tom Brokaw's interview with King Abdullah of Jordan on Monday, June 14. The veteran newsman didn't hesitate to ask the King the tough questions. For example, after Abdullah blamed Israel for most of the problems of the Middle East, Brokaw countered:

"But isn't a lot of the burden also on the Palestinians, particularly on Yasir Arafat, and then just this week again Hamas
has said, 'We'll send more suicide bombers across the border?'"

Brokaw also challenged the king on why he and other Arab leaders, supposedly friends of the United States, had not forcefully condemned the use of children as suicide bombers:

"Why isn't there more condemnation of the use of young Arabs, Palestinians particularly, as suicide bombers by you, by President Mubarak of Egypt, by the Saudis, by the other Arab leaders?"

Brokaw also noted to an increasingly uncomfortable Abdullah that the leader of the anti-American insurgency in Iraq is a Jordanian named Zarqawi:

"In this country there is the widespread belief that the principle leader of the insurgence in Iraq is a Jordanian by the name of Zarqawi who is ruthless and cunning and extremely effective in carrying out the kind of warfare that he has chosen. Is there no way that Jordanian intelligence can help the United States track him down?"

Tough questions all. There was only one problem -- if you watched the interview on Monday night's broadcast, you saw none of this.

All the challenging questions, including those above, were excised, and all the criticism of Israel by Abdullah was left in, presumably with the express consent of Mr. Brokaw, who is the Managing Editor of NBC's Nightly News.

Surviving the editing process, for example, was Abdullah's assertion that:

"... if you want to deal with terrorism you have to deal with the
core issue in the Middle East, which is the Israeli/Palestinian one.
That is the main recruiter for terrorism. That is the main sore that
we all suffer from in the Middle East... Why do we have terrorists?
Why do we have terrorism?... [T]he answer for our part of the world
is the Israeli/Palestinian issue."

How do we know that Brokaw asked challenging questions of Abdullah
if NBC edited them out? The answer is very simple -- the network
posted on its web site a transcript of what was apparently the full
interview, rather than just the segment as broadcast. It is striking
that Brokaw had the gumption to ask challenging questions, but chose
to exclude them from his television broadcast.

As a result, millions of TV viewers saw only the abridged interview,
and the vast majority of these viewers will never see the full
transcript. (Recent Nielsen Ratings surveys show NBC Nightly News
drawing seven to eight million nightly viewers.) The video clip on
the web site, right above the full transcript, is also the abridged
version.

Why were all the challenging questions excised from the broadcast
interview? Did King Abdullah urge Mr. Brokaw to remove them after
the cameras stopped rolling? Did he threaten that NBC would never
get another exclusive interview unless the questions were edited
out? Or did NBC remove them on its own? We'll probably never know
for sure. But one thing is clear -- all too often, when
interviewing "friendly" Arab leaders on the Arab/Israeli conflict,
tough, challenging questions are not broadcast.

Action Items:

The full interview was informative and nuanced , covering a wide
range of topics, including present circumstances in Iraq and the
future of that country, America's image in the Arab world and the
photos from the Abu Ghraib prison, the relationship between Islamic
culture and Western civilization, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
and Jordan's role in the midst of all of this.

¡ñ Contact NBC to urge that the network broadcast either the full
interview, or a version that includes all the challenging questions
that were omitted in the first broadcast.

¡ñ Ask the network to investigate and make public why the challenging
questions were deleted from the broadcast interview, turning the
segment into one heavily focused on blaming Israel and the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict for Middle East turmoil.

E-mail NBC's Nightly News: nightly@nbc.com
[This is not a link; type this into the "send to" box]

Faxes can also be sent to NBC News President Neal Shapiro
at (212)664-4426.

Please send CAMERA a blind copy of your letter:
cameraletters@aol.com

CAMERA's "Adopt a Library" Project

CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, http://www.camera.org) recently initiated a program to get good books about Israel, its history, and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict into community, high school, and university libraries.

JAT urges its members to join this project by donating new books about Israel to their local libraries. The radical
Islamist front organization CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) and the rabidly anti-Israel AET (American
Educational Trust) have similar projects and they have provided books to over 7000 libraries nationwide. The AET
project is described at:

http://tinyurl.com/2bhqp http://tinyurl.com/2ctv7

As of late June, CAMERA's Adopt a Library Project had provided 111 libraries with reliable books on Israel!

ACTION
------

Please go to the CAMERA website and click on the "Adopt a Library" link at the right, or try the following direct
link:

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=31&x_actionitem=36

JtB Reader Says Upcoming HBO Documentary is PLO Propaganda:

Based on the preview, a JtB reader decries the upcoming HBO documentary "Death in Gaza" on "the lives of Palestinian children growing up in the war-torn streets of Gaza", as one-sided PLO propaganda.

JtB recommends boycotting this documentary. Details available at

http://www.oocities.org/truthmasters/jointheboycott.htm

As American soldiers are being mutilated and burned, you would think threat Jim Dolan of Eye Witness news would refrain from running a 4- 5 minute episode showing sympathetic images of Palestinian terrorists.At around 11:45PM Sunday 4/4, Eyewitness news showed a special interview with a top Palestinian terrorist "marked for death"
or "dead man walking". Jim Dolan nearly SPAT the words "ISRAELI OCCUPATION" out, revealing his own sentiments.
Alos note his description of the "assassination" of Yassin, the leader of Hamas, never mentioning that the guy was responsible for
innumerable terror attacks.

1 The terrorist group was referred to as militants
2 The whole episode referred to feelings of rage and fears the Palestinians feel as a result of Israelis "harsh" actions.
3 Only one sentence towards the end of the segment mentioned that this "militant" was responsible for s many Israeli deaths.
4 Mr. Dolan described how Israel "Destroyed" Jenin, with out mentioning the reason or context for the soldiers going in to Jenin
5 Sympathetic images of Arab babies and women were shown on the screen. No such images or words for Israel.
6 Little was said of the atrocities these "militants" caused.

Please, get on the phone, fax, or email, and complain loud and clear. Tell Mr. Dolan that it is an atrocity for him to show
sympathetic footage of Homicidal murderers days after these exact same types of Arab terrorists lynched our citizens in Iraq. Shame on ABC!!!!!!!

CALL 212-456-3173 NOW while someone is there to take your comments.

MORE EMAILS FOR EYEWITNESS NEWS:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/ontv/contactus.html#education

Their MAIN E-MAIL IS:
eyewitness.news@abc.com

Please note the corrected contact info. PLEASE call now!!!!
A person is there at the phone, and we MUST respond onverwelmingly
right way. Tell ABC that you will be switching to another local news
such as FOX, CBS, or chan 11.

These extremely intelligent 10 points were taken from the web site of the group that is battling media distortions against Israel at
the Los Angeles Times. They should be kept in mind when reading the New York Times and other major newspaper, listening to NPR and watching most network news programs. Please write to journalists and editors each time you encounter distorted news. You are invited to send your letters to Media Response, with some identification, for suggestions and fast turnaround. .

"For the more than sixteen years of the current LA Times anti-Israel campaign, it has used a variety of techniques to slant the news
against Israel. Here are just a few of them:

1) Agenda Bias

The principal form of bias is the editorial choice of subject matter which, when viewed over time, reflects the agenda of the editors.
For sixteen years the LA Times has controlled the agenda in favor of the PLO. This bias is achieved by:

(a) Focusing On Issues That Aid The PLO/Arab Cause

The LA Times focuses public attention on those issues that aid the PLO cause, the key one being constant criticism of the conduct of
the IDF and Israeli defensive measures in general. An example of this was the allegations stemming from the battle of Jenin. Public
attention was riveted on the conduct of Israeli soldiers, and a torrent of criticism was unleashed against Israel, while the more
obvious criminal actions of the PLO terrorists, using civilians as human shields, were ignored.

Recently public attention has been obsessively focused on Israel's construction of a Security Fence to keep out suicide bombers. The ongoing terrorist activities of the PLO, planning and preparing more inhuman acts of violence, are largely ignored.
Even in times when the coverage of Israel has lessened there has been a constant flow of articles criticizing Israel's methods of
self-defense such as house demolitions, deportations, curfews, even the killing of terrorists who are armed combatants at war with
Israel, etc., and articles portraying the Palestinians as the victims exaggerating their suffering out of all proportions while
ignoring Israeli suffering. The subject of so-called "Palestinian refugees" living in Arab countries is another item on the PLO agenda
the LA Times likes to promote. Agenda bias is magnified by the constancy, and the often saturation
volume of coverage.

(b) Ignoring Issues That Harm The PLO/Arab Cause
Ignoring i.e. censoring and/or failing to undertake any signiicant investigative reporting into subjects which may cast a negative
light on the PLO such as the documentary proof of their terror activities, the intimidation of journalists, the personal
involvement of Arafat in terrorist activities, the misuse of funds to buy weapons, the contrary statements in Arabic which call for
violence against Israel, the concealment of the PLO plan to destroy Israel, the desecration of Jewish and Christian holy sites, the
indoctrination of Palestinian children with hatred of Israel, the misuse of ambulances to aid terrorist activities, the cooperation of
Arab States in terrorist activities and their financial support of suicide bombers, the Lebanese provocations, etc.
The effect of this biased reporting is to increase the pressure on Israel not to retaliate and to make concessions, while little or no
pressure is applied to Arafat and the PLO to stop the terrorism and compromise their demands.

2) Using Quotes as Accusations
A reporter may choose any quote that supports his or her political position making this practice ripe for abuse - the PLO propagandists of the LA Times use this method extensively. By repeating the PLO's unsubstantiated allegations over and over again, the LA Times gives credence to them and is able to say about Israel what it cannot state as fact. This technique was used to its fullest regarding the battle of Jenin, but is an ongoing and pervasive form of abuse.

3) Blaming Israel
Consistently placing the blame on Israel. For example, when Israel retaliates against a terrorist act it is blamed for dealing a blow
to the "peace process" or for overreacting or most recently, for complicating America's potential war with Iraq. This is contrary to
the truth for if the world would leave Israel alone to defeat the terrorists there would be peace. On the other hand, the PLO is not held to blame. Their atrocities are excused as the acts of "militants" or "activists" belonging to other groups even though the terror reaches right into Arafat's own Fatah faction. The LA Times' failure to hold Arafat and the PLO responsible, despite extensive Israeli evidence of their being so, works contrary to the interests of peace.

4) The Immoral Equation
Referring to a "cycle of violence" or a "round of violence" - a device to equate the PLO terrorists who intentionally kill innocent
civilians with the Israelis who are forced to battle armed terrorist combatants in self-defense to prevent their horrendous acts of
murder. The comparison is morally wrong. Every civilized country in the world recognizes the right to kill in self-defense he or she who comes to kill you.

5) Biased Terminology
Use of biased terminology - constant use of terms of Arab propaganda such as "the occupation", "the occupied territories", "assassination", and terms carrying an opinion such as "ferocious response", "hardliners", and misnomers such as "militants", "gunmen", and "activists" - one gets the sense the LA Times justifies every atrocity of the PLO because of "the
occupation". The term "occupation" as used by the Arabs is short for "occupied Arab lands" and anyone who uses it has already labeled themselves a supporter of Arab claims and is therefore biased. There is little recognition of, or respect for, the Jewish claim to what is, our 3,700 year old heritage.

6) Biased Headlines
Slanted headlines - when Israel retaliates it is "Israel kills" or "Israel invades" or "Israel defies" - when the PLO does something
it is "Bomb kills" or "Gunmen kill" or "Israelis killed by bomb". The LA Times cannot bring itself to blame the PLO terrorists. This
is a tacit form of justification of PLO violence.

7) Biased Photographs
Suggestively anti-Israel photographs - such as showing the Israelis as persecutors or "invaders" or generally as the guilty party.

8) Biased "Human" Stories
Long, often multiple-paged articles on the lives of suicide bombers - stories and vignettes of their lives meant to "humanize" them and
explain their actions, create sympathy for them, even glamorize their "martyrdom" - while the victims of their bloody massacres are
largely ignored.

9) Quantitative and Qualitative Bias
Sometimes the anti-Israel bias is seen in the positioning of a story, or the amount of column inches devoted to it, or an imbalance
in the number of quotes favoring the PLO side, etc. Media watchdog groups such as CAMERA do a good job in monitoring this more subtle form of bias.

10) Tokenism
There are ocassional interest stories which superficially seem to be supportive of Jewish issues - an example was an article on the
controversy surrounding Egypt's decision to screen a series of programs which contained material based on the anti-semitic
work "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (10/30/02) though these stories often reveal anti-Jewish flaws. We call this tokenism - a
once in a while article that gives the LA Times a certain "plausible deniability" of bias - it is reminiscent of a practice occurring in
country clubs across the US."

JAT and others have been organizing campaigns against National Public Radio because of its continual distorted and biased reporting on Israel. See the story below from the front page of Wednesday's Baltimore Jewish Times. Of course, the notion (see the story) that NPR should provide different coverage for areas with large Jewish populations borders on the insulting. It suggests that NPR's standard distorted Middle East reporting should be acceptable in Omaha but not in New York or Baltimore.

1. Consider writing to Mr. Brandon, praising him for the steps he is taking, but criticizing his notion that biased reporting by NPR is Omaha is acceptable. He should be demanding unbiased and balanced reporting at all times and in all places! Anthony Brandon President & General Manager WYPR 2216 N Charles St Baltimore MD 21218-5718 Email: Tbrandon@wypr.org Phone: 410-235-1660 Fax: 410-235-1161

2. No Pledge Slips: We just received a solicitation from WGBH in Boston, giving us a free membership for half a year and asking for a contribution. We have sent it back with a "No Pledge" slip instead. Whenever any NPR station in your area solicits you, please respond with a "No Pledge" slip. We use their own business reply envelope! To ensure that management knows about our actions, we often send an additional "No Pledge" slip to the station's general manager (at our expense).

Even if you have dropped off their solicitation list, you can take the initiative to let the stations know how you feel. You can also tell your friends and acquaintances -- and give them "No Pledge" slips to send in. You can view or download and print "No Pledge" slips at the following URL: http://NPR.JAT-Action.org/

Cover Story on today's Baltimore Jewish Times (see http://www.jewishtimes.com/2219.stm) NPR Affiliate Signals New Direction Barbara Pash JANUARY 02, 2004

FOLLOW-UP: Whenever you receive a substantive response to your correspondence, please send a copy of that response along with your original correspondence, to: email: FollowUp@JAT-Action.org FAX: 208-247-0658

A recent issue of the Newton TAB carried an article (see below) about a proposal to have the local Newton cable TV channel, NewTV, carry a satellite feed of news broadcasts from the Middle East, supposedly to counteract the propaganda our government is allegedly feeding us. A political goal -- opposition to US policy in the Middle East -- is pretty clearly the real intent behind the proposal. This kind of programming currently violates the policies that govern the operation of NewTV, and we see no reason to change those policies to allow anti-American and anti-Semitic programs to be broadcast into Newton homes over our local cable channel. People who wish to broaden their perspectives with this kind of material can easily do so.

ACTION ------ Send letters to the executive director of the Newton cable TV channel (NewTV) and to the members of the Mayor's Telecommunications Advisory Board (NTAB) expressing your opposition to the proposed change in the policies of NewTV.

*** Executive Director of the Newton Community Access Center (aka NewTV): Paul Berg, Executive Director NewTV P.O. Box 610192 Newton, MA 02461-0192

*** Members of the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Advisory Board (NTAB)": Martin Alpert, Chair Miles Fidelman Daniel Goldman Rona Hamada Jerome Saltzer Eleanor Samuels Bob Rainville, ex-officio Comments to NTAB can be emailed to: cable@ci.newton.ma.us or sent by mail to: Telecommunications Advisory Board (NTAB) Newton City Hall 1000 Commonwealth Ave Newton Center, MA 02459

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=55472

Amidst the talk of an all-too-inadequate public relations campaign on behalf of Israel, some things are getting done. The following is an incomplete list of videos and film clips available for distribution and public or private viewing in the continuing struggle to explain Israel's side:

* The Trojan Horse - http://www.zoa.org/video2.htm - showing that the present conflict is nott just about the "territories," but rather the Arabs' desire to destroy Israel. Yasser Arafat, for instance, is shown telling a massive outdoor rally that the Palestinian Arab struggle for Judea, Samaria, and Gaza is "only the first step" on the way to a state "from the river to the sea."

* Relentless - http://www.honestreporting.com/relentless/new_version/ - an hour-long documentary by HonestReportting.com, showing how Israel has been terrorized by the Oslo process.

* Israel in Danger - A Look From The Inside ( http://www.zoa.org/video.htm)

* Holy Land: Christians in Peril ( http://www.zoa.org/videos/HolyLand1.htm) - about the Palestinian terrorists' take-oover and desecration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the wretched situation of Christians in the PA in general.

* Seeds of Hate - < http://www.cat2002.org/home1.html> - featuring a young PA teacher saying, &quuot;We are teaching the children that suicide bombs is the only thing that makes the Israelian [sic] people very frightful [sic]," and more of the same.

Possibly the latest entry is a 40-minute documentary entitled "The Thin Small Voice." Produced by volunteers of the Mid East Education Team - M.E.E.T. - the film provides the perspective of ordinary people whose daily lives have been impacted by terrorism. Its promotional literature says it "exposes the pervasive hate campaign that infects the Arab world" and "explores the spiritual and historical importance of Eretz Yisrael to the Jews." As M.E.E.T. director Chaya Rivka Schiloni says, "We need many more films and videos about Israel out there." The Thin Small Voice can be previewed at < www.meetnet.org>.

Today's Arutz7 (e-mail edition) reports on how under-funded Israel’s PR efforts are, and how the total annual budget for Israel’s PR is under 40 million Shekels, which is less than what would be needed for an effective cosmetics ad campaign (for the full article, visit: http://israpundit.com/archives/003961.html#more). Not only are

Israel

’s embassies and consulates around the world inadequately funded, the costs of operating them are rising because of the sharp increase in terrorist threats against these offices.

The Israel Project (www.theisraelproject.org) has been working to fill in the gap created by

Israel

’s PR-budget shortfall. The organization, also known by the acronym “TIP,” is run out of the D.C. area by Jennifer Laszlo-Miszrahi, a top political communications consultant who closed her million dollar business to head up the initiative on a pro bono basis when

Israel

’s public image reached its nadir in 2002.

A recent article in New York Magazine about the new anti-Semitism touched on some of the PR-related issues facing

Israel

and Jews around the world (http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/religion/features/n_9622/index.html). Gideon Meir, the deputy director general of

Israel

’s Foreign Ministry, is credited (on page four of the article) with alerting the Israeli cabinet to the scope of the problem. At a presentation to TIP-supporters a few weeks ago, Gideon spoke about how Jennifer helped him to focus the Israeli cabinet on the PR issue by giving him crucial research, as well as specific communication strategies which the cabinet has already begun to implement.

The Israel Project is doing very important work to determine which political messages/arguments will move undecided Americans and Europeans to support

Israel

and to help train the Israeli government spokespeople to stay on those messages. The organization is also trying to develop strategies that address the global anti-Semitism that is being spawned to a large extent by the distorted and virulently anti-Israel press in both Europe and the Arab/Muslim world. TIP’s research also provides critical information and strategies for college organizations trying to advocate for

Israel

in the increasingly hostile college campus environment.

The bottom line is that the work being done by TIP is arguably as important to Israel’s welfare as what AIPAC does, if only because TIP is not only influencing key members of Congress, they are also trying to help shape public attitudes – particularly those of journalists and other opinion-making elites both in the USA and in Europe and Russia. And unlike with AIPAC, donations to TIP are tax-deductible. TIP is also tax deductible!

I am sending a check to The Israel Project, and urging all

Israel

supporters to do the same. I realize that you may already give to Israel-related causes but I hope that you’ll at least consider it and/or pass the word along to others who might contribute. The organization has also produced an excellent guide to pro-Israel advocacy (which summarizes the arguments/points that have proven – through extensive research – to be most effective in persuading the undecided to move towards a pro-Israel stance); if anyone would like a copy of this material, they should contact Jennifer’s assistant Talton Gibson (taltong@aol.com).

Take time to sign the petition at www.terrorpetition.com that calls for the media to correctly label those who take Israeli lives as "terrorists" not "militants." You can also find a form "letter to the editor" (already published in the Bergen Record) at Teaneck's Israel Action Website that calls for the same action from the media. Go to http://www.rinat.org/israel%20action.htm for more information and a sample letter.

If you want to fight bias in the media please visit HonestReporting,com HonestReporting.com is looking to create an email database of at least 10,000 names worldwide. It will scrutinize the media for examples of blatant bias and will immediately inform its database of any offending articles, asking for them to complain directly to the news organization concerned Also, read Media Frenzy - Biased Reporting

here is a growing worldwide disinformation program against both Israel and World Jewry from mostly hostile Arab and Islamic sources. Once 'falsehoods' become 'truths' it is always more difficult to reverse the trend among the general population. Israel's and World Jewry's responses to attacks in the press, media and on university campuses have been minuscule and ineffective by comparison.

We have set up in Jerusalem a voluntary association to instigate an information (hasbara) program to better inform and explain facts to the worldwide general public. This will include educational sessions, giving interviews to press and media, participating at panel discussions, being active at Diaspora universities and taking advantage of spontaneous meetings.

Jewish communities around the world are blessed with a great number of talented and skilled persons in just about every field imaginable. We seek motivated individuals to involve themselves in some way in this program. People of all faiths are most welcome. We need regional monitors, representatives and correspondents.

There is considerable urgency in getting such an ambitious program underway.
GO TO http://info.jpost.com/C002/Info/Organizations/Hasbara/and sign up. Get involved in a ORGANIZED, PROFESSIONAL Manner to fight Israel's PR battle, a battle we will LOSE with out yours and others help