A Skewed NY Times Story on BDS, Then a Skewed Letters Section
After the New York Times published a skewed story about the anti-Israel BDS campaign, we detailed how the newspaper’s reporters “put their fingers on the scales in support of BDS.”
One of the many examples we noted: The authors quoted all of five words by critics of the BDS movement, which seeks to eliminate Israel. (This was alongside over 75 quoted words by the movement and its founders.)
The newspaper hardly did better in its subsequent Letters section, which was likewise skewed in favor of anti-Israel and pro-BDS voices.
In all, three short letters totaling 308 words focused on criticism of the BDS campaign. In the remaining five letters, 815 words were dedicated to defending BDS, attacking Israel, and slamming critics of BDS.
So the final words of our critique of the Times news story bear repeating, this time about the Letters section:
If the BDS movement’s few successes were “public-relations victories,” as the Times put it, perhaps it is only because they have people in the media who serve as good PR agents. The New York Times reporters might want to consider how they fit in to this.
More from SNAPSHOTS
CNN’s Amanpour Condemns “power grab” By Israel’s Prime Minister and Others
April 1, 2020
We’ve said it often, but it’s worth repeating: Anyone interested in reasonably unbiased information about Israel (at least) should avoid the broadcasts of CNN’s Chief International Correspondent and Anchor, Christiane Amanpour. In characterizing responses to [...]
Seattle Media Oblivious To Imam’s Hateful Indoctrination Condemning Jews
January 7, 2020
The Masjid Ar-Rahmah mosque teaching – that Allah transformed Jews into apes and pigs for disobeying him – delivered by Imam (prayer leader) Mohamad Joban – was posted online by mosque personnel. This December 2019 [...]
AP Distorts: Bethlehem ‘Almost Completely Surrounded’
December 10, 2019
Over two years after improving inaccurate language falsely citing Israel's security "barrier surrounding the biblical city" of Bethlehem, the Associated Press once again misrepresents. AP's Joseph Krauss and Mohammad Daraghmeh wrote yesterday ("Palestinians in Bethlehem [...]
Reuters Errs on Administrative Detention For ‘Anti-Israel Activity’
November 5, 2019
The Ofer Prison, near Ramallah (Photo by Tamar Sternthal) A Reuters article today egregiously misrepresents administrative detention, erroneously asserting that it is mainly applied to "Palestinians suspected of anti-Israeli activities," when in fact the Israeli [...]