When a representative of Italian state television issued an apology in Arabic over the filming of a brutal lynching of two Israelis in Ramallah, and promised to cooperate more fully with the Palestinian Authority in the future, Western sensibilities were shaken.

We expect journalists to maintain independence and objectivity -- and certainly not pledge "cooperation" with one side of an armed struggle. But as is becoming painfully clear, a key aspect to the Mideast struggle today is the manipulation of media to influence public opinion.

If truth is to prevail, we can't just "read" the newspaper. Be discerning and become part of the process. Otherwise, you're just a passive object of someone else's agenda. As Mark Twain once said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed."

How can readers discern the truth between the lines? Listed here are common methods employed by the media -- intentionally or not -- to influence public opinion. By being aware of these methods, we can avoid being used as a pawn in the media war.

The "7 Principles of Media Objectivity" means NO:

1. Misleading definitions and terminology.
2. Imbalanced reporting.
3. Opinions disguised as news.
4. Lack of context.
5. Selective omission.
6. Using true facts to draw false conclusions.
7. Distortion of facts.

Violation #1 Misleading Definitions and Terminology

By using terminology and definitions in a way that implies accepted fact, the media injects bias under the guise of objectivity.

EXAMPLE: The media often refers to Israel's presence in "the occupied territories," a pre-Oslo term which is wholly misleading when discussing the areas now under total Palestinian control like Ramallah, Nablus, etc.

EXAMPLE: In recent weeks, The New York Times has subtly altered its reference to the Temple Mount, which unbiased historians have always acknowledged was the site of two Holy Jewish Temples. Of late, in apparent deference to Palestinian leaders who claim that no Jewish Temple ever stood on the Jerusalem hill toward which Jews have prayed for millennia, The Times appended the phrase to include "which the Arabs call the Haram al Sharif."

More recently, The Times referred to "the Temple Mount, which Israel claims to have been the site of the First and Second Temple." It is no longer established historical fact -- but a mere "claim." Then, in a subsequent article, The Times described Israeli troops as having "stormed the Haram, holiest Muslim site in Jerusalem, where hundreds of people were at worship." No mention whatsoever of its status as the "Temple Mount."

EXAMPLE: Ariel Sharon, the democratically-elected leader of the second-largest political party in Israel, is consistently referred to in the media by the derogatory moniker "hard-line opposition leader."

EXAMPLE: Arab mobs, whose actions range from stoning Jews praying at the Western Wall, to firing guns at Israeli soldiers, to destroying Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, are typically characterized as "protestors" or "demonstrators."

The New York Times (10 Oct. 2000) writes: "...the Israeli cabinet decided early this morning to avoid exploding a tense situation and gave Yasir Arafat more time to quiet protests." The article continues: "The demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs at the soldiers, and taunted them over loudspeakers."

Violation #2 Imbalanced Reporting

Media reports frequently skew the picture by presenting only one side of the story.

EXAMPLE: A recent Los Angeles Times editorial cartoon depicted an Orthodox Jew praying at the Western Wall, with the stones of the wall forming the word "hate." The caption read: "Worshipping their God."

In defense, L.A. Times artist Michael Ramirez pointed out that that a second man in the cartoon (who was sprawled on the ground and much less noticeable) was actually a Moslem praying. Unfortunately, the keffiah which would identify him as a Moslem is practically invisible. Furthermore, Ramirez was unable to explain why the chosen venue of "hate" was the Western Wall, a site sacred only to Jews, which has never been used as a place of Moslem prayer.

EXAMPLE: CNN.com offers a list of web sites relating to the Middle East (http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/sites.html). Under the heading of "General Information Sites," all 12 sites are Arab-related, including one specific Palestinian site. There are no Jewish or Israel-related sites listed in this category.

The same CNN page recommends web sites within each Middle Eastern country. For example, five sites are listed for the tiny under-developed country Yemen, and five sites are listed for Palestine. The Israel category lists four sites.

EXAMPLE: A related violation is where the media presents a speaker from one side of the conflict, who merely ratifies the opposing viewpoint. For example, under the guise of "balanced reporting," the media is found of quoting Michael Lerner, a California rabbi who calls Barak's policies "racist" and "oppressive," refers to the IDF as "barbarous" and "brutal," and accuses Israeli citizens of perpetrating "classic Russian pogroms on Palestinian civilians."

This technique is particularly insidious, since no Arab will express a view inconsistent with the "party line -- lest they be subject to threats and intimidation. On the other hand, Israeli and diaspora Jews enjoy freedom of speech, and it is always possible to find someone willing to express an anti-Israel viewpoint.

Violation #3 Opinions Disguised as News

An objective reporter should not use adjectives or adverbs, unless they are part of a quotation. Also, the source for any facts and opinions should be clear from the report, or alternatively it should be stated that source is intentionally undisclosed.

EXAMPLE: Newsweek (12 October 2000) reports that: "Jihad Fawzi's home... is still a prison. His jailers: the Israeli Army which envelops Gaza."

By using the words "prison" and "jailers," the reporters are injecting personal opinion as to who are the victims and aggressors -- without offering the slightest evidence to substantiate these characterizations. Though this is posted as a "news" report, it more accurately belongs as an opinion column where it would be clearly identified as such.

Violation #4 Lack of Context

By failing to provide proper context and full background information, it is easy to dramatically distort the true picture.

EXAMPLE: The film of Muhammad al-Dura, the 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot and killed, was replayed again and again as a demonstration of the cruelty of Israeli soldiers, does not provide any context, leading to the false conclusion that the boy was directly fired upon in full view of Israeli soldiers.

As an aerial photo depicts, the scene is actually a highway junction near a Jewish town, with an Israeli military outpost stationed nearby to guard the road into the Jewish town. During the confrontation, the Israeli post was surrounded and fired upon from three sides by Palestinian gunmen. The unfortunate father and son were caught in the crossfire. As the photo clearly shows, Israeli soldiers could not see the father and son from their vantage point at the far side of the intersection. And why didn't the Palestinian gunmen, who were positioned right next to the father and son and who were presumably aware of their presence, do anything to protect them -- or at least signal to the Israelis tthat innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire?

Furthermore, the media fails to bring crucial background information: Palestinian children are encouraged onto the front lines, used as intentional sacrifices to garner world sympathy. In the of Muhammad, since there are no Palestinian homes or towns in the area, nor are there stores or playgrounds, what was he doing there to begin with?

Violation #5 Selective Omission

By choosing to report certain events over others, the media controls access to information and manipulates public sentiment.

EXAMPLE: A report by CBS News presents three steps in the cycle of violence: 1) Israeli attacks which result in funerals, 2) Palestinian response, 3) Israeli attack. CBS totally omits the actual first step, which is Palestinian rioters threatening the lives of Israeli soldiers.

EXAMPLE: Deadly attacks on Israelis often receive no media attention. The media virtually ignored the tragic firebombing of a Jewish woman and her 2-year-old child as they drove through the Palestinian city of Jericho. When respected American Rabbi Chaim Brovender barely survived a near-death beating at the hand of Palestinian rioters (after accidentally making a wrong turn into Beit Jalla), the story was entirely ignored by foreign media.

EXAMPLE: When a car bomb exploded at the Machaneh Yehuda market in Jerusalem, the BBC ran an entire article -- never once mentioning that the two people killed and 10 injured were Jews. Nether did the BBC identify the perpetrators as Palestinians, even though Islamic Jihad promptly claimed responsibility the bomb.

Violation #6 Using True Facts To Draw False Conclusions

Media reports frequently use true facts to draw erroneous conclusions.

EXAMPLE: In discussing the recent violence, many articles report that "over 200 people have been killed, the vast majority Palestinians." This is an indisputable fact, yet without qualifying these figures, the reader is led to the false conclusion that Israeli soldiers are the aggressors and have used excessive force.

As an astute observer, consider how many would be dead if Israeli forces were actually doing what they are accused of -- shooting indiscriminately into crowds with automatic weapons. If that were the case, many thousands of Palestinians would be dead. In reality, the ratio of deaths is less than one per riot.

The media fails to publicize Israeli army instructions, where soldiers have orders not to shoot unless they are in direct danger. Israeli soldiers are told never shoot at an ambulance or at women -- despite the fact that women and ambulances often participate in the rioting. Unless the Palestinians begin shooting first with live bullets, Israeli soldiers are instructed never to shoot to kill, and then, to aim only at the source of the shooting, never randomly. No other army has such restrained orders.

EXAMPLE: Teen Newsweek, a magazine distributed to middle school students across America, published a chart illustrating the number of Palestinian and Israeli children killed since 1987. The Palestinian numbers, represented in bright red, many times exceed Israeli losses, shown in a less visible yellow. There is no explanation of circumstances how these children died. The implication is that there is equivalency -- even though the Palestinian children were killed while attempting martyrdom in the context of violent attacks on Israeli forces, while the Israeli children were killed while sitting on a public bus or in a cafe, blown up by a Palestinian suicide bomber.

Violation #7 Distortion of Facts

In today's competitive media world, reporters frequently do not have the time, inclination or resources to properly verify information before submitting a story for publication.

EXAMPLE: Teen Newsweek (23 Oct. 2000) ran a prominent photo of three Palestinians, with the man in the middle holding up his blood-covered hands. The caption reads: "In the West Bank city of Ramallah, bloodied Palestinian protestors express their rage." The implication is that the Palestinians are bloody because they are victims of Israeli aggression. There is no mention whatsoever that these Palestinians are bloody because they just got finished beating, stabbing, burning and disemboweling two innocent Israelis. And how does Teen Newsweek's photo caption refer to these heinous murderers? As benign "protestors."

EXAMPLE: The New York Times, Associated Press and other major media outlets published a photo of a young man -- bloodied and battered -- crouching beneath a club-wielding Israeli policeman. The caption identified him as a Palestinian victim of the recent riots -- with the clear implication that the Israeli soldier is the one who beat him.

In fact, the bloodied "Palestinian" depicted in the photograph was Tuvia Grossman, a 20-year-old Jewish student from Chicago, studying in Jerusalem. And the assailants were not Israelis, but members of a Palestinian mob who beat and stabbed Grossman mercilessly for 10 minutes. And the infuriated Israeli policeman with a baton was deterring the Palestinians from finishing their lynching.

Media bias assumes that if there's a victim, it must be a Palestinian. Yet who are the real victims and who are the aggressors? The truth is often the opposite of how it appears.

CONCLUSION:

By being astute media observers, we can make a difference. In response to public pressure, The New York Times reprinted Tuvia Grossman's picture -- this time with the proper caption --- along with a full article detailing his near-lynching at the hands of Palestinians rioters.

Similarly, following reader protest, the Los Angeles Times altered its cartoon, deleting the unique Herodian frame around the Western Wall stones, to make it look more like a generic wall.

Written by Rabbi Shraga Simmons