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March 20, 2007
Erlanger vs Landes on media manipulation
Tune in to ZOA internet radio here tomorrow (Wednesday March 21) at noon:
Steve Erlanger, NYT Jerusalem Bureau chief, will join us as we question him about his coverage of the Middle East, and particularly his "news" story that ran in the NYT on March 12th: A GENERATION LOST: The Second Intifada; Years of Strife and Lost Hope Scar Young Palestinian Lives.Following the interview with Erlanger, we will be joined by Richard Landes, BU History Professor and an expert on media manipulation. Landes will discuss the various levels of dangers presented by the mainstream media's portrayal of Israel - and the NYT is the Mother of all Mainstream Media!
We will also have the opportunity to chat with H. Patrick Swygert, president of Howard University. Swygert swiftly and courageously nullified a decision by a rogue portion of the Howard University faculty to force the university to divest its holdings from Israel.
Our friend Landes fisked Erlanger's latest piece and has said unkind things about him in the past (not on record) so this should be fun.
At a media conference in Israel (not the one I was at) Erlanger confirmed all the worst stereotypes about the MSM:
A number of journalists claimed during a convention in Jerusalem Monday evening that Israel and the IDF were mostly to blame for the way the foreign media covered the Lebanon war.. . . . The New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Steven Erlanger, expressed surprise that Israel's view of the war was different to that of its critics, and said that Israelis didn't "quite grasp how the war was perceived outside of Israel." He lamented the lack of "proportionality" in the war, adding: "This is a charge that came against Israel from the United Nations… the French, the Italians."
The New York Times bureau chief also said that Israelis "were not interested in whether 1,000 Lebanese civilians needed to die," adding that the question of "whether Israel fought a proportional war is not much of interest here (in Israel)."
Erlanger added that during the war, he "took General Yadlin (who briefed the press on IDF operations) too seriously." Erlanger told the panel he turned down an offer by the IDF Spokesperson Unit to gain access to IDF efforts aimed at enabling humanitarian aid to reach Lebanon, saying he was not interested in the story. [may emphasis-JSW]
Judith | 03/20/07 at 07:24 PM | Categories: - The Fourth Estate
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Comments
Judith,
In Meaningless Sacrifice I took a look at the same NYTs piece and came away with a different view.
First off I ignored the editorialising and just looked at the statements of the Palestinians.
They are the statements of a defeated people. The kind of stuff you heard out of the Soviets in 1980 (a bit more extreme due to the violence aspect).
Not even the Palestinians believe in Palestine.
As the depression grows the whole house of cards will eventually collapse.
It may be that as long as even half the Israelis believe in Israel and its Zionist roots they will outlast the Stupidstinians.
A people bred on war who keep losing eventually have no hope. In a way the Palis did themselves no favor by educating their children the way they have. It was not just bad for Jews. It was not just bad for the Palestinians. It was bad with respect to the elite reaching their war aims.
M. Simon ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.keshertalk.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| March 20, 2007 10:23 PM
So... these folks are going to host a person with whom they disagree and accuse of media minipulation and then host an expert in media manipulation to prove that the person with whom they disagree is manipulating the message. Let me know if I got that right...
POLJ | March 21, 2007 10:34 AM
Erlanger knows who his hosts are and what the agenda is. I'm sure he will tailor his presentation to address that. Perhaps he wants to make his case to a hostile audience; many people do. He's a grownup, he can take care of himself.
Judith | March 21, 2007 04:10 PM
M Simon, you and I can tell read between the lines, but if an article is presented a certain way, with a bad guy somewhat identified, then most others might not see it.
Judith | March 21, 2007 04:11 PM
POLJ, if you listen to the interview, you can appraise Erlanger's defense of his work. He comes across as weak and clueless - he doesn't even defend himself well. And this guy is a bureau chief of a major geopolitical hotspot!
His showing is his own fault.
Judith | March 23, 2007 05:29 AM
