Countering shabby journalism
Let us start with a simple example of media coverage. How many times have we heard that Israel "retaliated" to an attack by Palestinians by doing so and so. First, we as individuals need to deconstruct this not only in the completely irresponsible use of the word retaliate (Palestinians always attack and Israeli retaliate or the other way around) but a little deeper. We must deconstruct this mythological symmetry between Palestinians and Israelis. Here are some basic comparisons between the two "parties":
Israel Palestine
Nature Colonial power Occupied/Colonized
Military Personnel
Regular 175,000 --------No Army
Reserves 430,000
Police 30,000 --------30,000 (now less as many killed)
Tanks --------3,800 tanks*--------0
Artillery -------- 1500 large--------0
Submarines --------4 --------0
Warships --------15-20 --------0
Combat airplanes 2000**
Nuclear Weapons 200-300 est.--------0
Military expenditures $8.7 billion miniscule (police force)
(9.4% GDB)
# Killed in three years 600 --------2700
# injured---------- 4500 --------30,000
Children Killed-------- 100 --------550
Homes demolished 0 --------12,000 (only since 1967)
Checkpoints 0 --------130
% Water used from
other side 81% --------0%
Trees Uprooted 0 --------300,000
UN Resolutions
Condemning it >100 --------0
Illegal Settlers/
Colonizers in other
nation territory 400,000--------0
Infrastructure damage
in last 3 years miniscule -------->$500 million
US G-G support $3,000,000,000/year 0
*U.S.-built M1A1a, M-60A3a, and native Merkaavas
** mostly U.S. F-16 and F-15 variants, plus 25 nuclear capable F-15Es; about 80 older F-4 Phantoms.
Sources: CIA, MSNBC
Pointing these facts to editors and journalists may help them understand why the terminology they use is totally damaging. This is a very time consuming but important work. It requires research, persistence, moderation, and reasonable commitment of time and resources. The first task is obviously to have good and reliable information. This is now made accessible to all on the Internet. Educate yourself about where to find information (see other chapters in this book on lists of internet resources). Debunking myths is a good place to start. Here are some links:
http://www.cactus48.com/truth.html
http://al-awda.org/media/myths.html
http://www.iap.org/zioinism19.htm
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/engfaq.html
http://www.palestineremembered.com/ZionistFAQ.html
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article865.shtml
http://pilger.carlton.com/palestine/israeliterror
http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/cast/targettingcivilians.asp
http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/essays/civilians.html
Regarding Barak's Generous Offer, see
http://al-awda.org/media/myths.html#q1
http://www.gush-shalom.org/media/barak_eng.swf
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article865.shtml (myth 5)
Being prepared, scan available information yourself for instances of bias and inaccurate reporting. Alternatively join one of the groups that monitors the media and they will alert you on specific issues. Doing it on your own has the advantage of spontaneity and the editors like readers who respond individually rather than in campaigns. On the other hand, numbers do count. Editors make a choice to go with the majority if there is only space for one letter to the editor and 10 people write in support of a certain view and one against. In many newspapers they also do not try to present both sides but to proportion the material depending on proportion of submitted comments.
Collective work has many advantages and thus try to recruit people with you to do the work. Take stock of available resources around you. Make a listing who's who not only of media outlets but of activists and community members willing to help. Building relationships is an important part of this.
Monitor the media. For good sites on the media check: http://www.journalismnet.com
US Editorials: http://www.opinion-pages.org/united_states.htm
International Editorials: http://www.opinion-pages.org/international.htm
Search US News: http://www.journalismnet.com/searchnewsus.htm
UK media: http://directory.mediauk.com
Europe news searches: http://www.journalismnet.com/searchnewseurope.htm
World news searches: http://www.journalismnet.com/searchnewsworld.htm
Being prepared and reading and viewing media coverage you will find so much that you can respond to. Being limited in time, activists must assess where best to direct their energies by analyzing the situations they encounter. There are many factors that should be weighed against the time and energy commitment:
- how important is this
- how likely are we to make a difference in the particular situation
- how many people do we reach
- how high is this on our agenda
Prioritizing can be done and different people weigh products differently. Considerations can vary from one outlet to another and one activist to another. For example, should an activist spend many hours and months writing letters to the editor of the New York Times with the slim probability that one will finally be published and reach a wide audience or use the time to publish many letters in smaller newspapers (many will be published but have small readership)? Sometimes being part of a group and weighing these things collectively produces better decisions than an individual one.
When writing, make sure your notes are respectful, factual, concise, and pertinent (see Exhibit 15 as example). Use of humor and irony is acceptable. You can also use reverse logic and comparisons to drive your points across. For example, contrast coverage of death of a Palestinian civilian with death of an Israeli civilian.
Write regularly to media (whether once a day or once a week). Write letters to the editor (short) and op-ed pieces (longer editorials) in various local media. To find contact information for your media outlet, see one of these sites:
http://emedia1.mediainfo.com/emedia/
http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html (Fairness and Accuracy in Media -FAIR)
One person can make a lot of difference. A busy mother of two by the name of Anne Annab for example gets up every morning to write a few letters and her persistence pays off with many letters now published including in main newspapers. See Annab’s writings at this web page http://home.comcast.net/~anneseldenannab/ |