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.
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