dagblog - Comments for "What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel"

It only becomes "he said, she

Lurker — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 11:17:37 +0000

In reply to I thought about posting this

It only becomes "he said, she said" if there is no external reality to check the versions against. Friedman's view is that there is such a reality, but it is not being reported, owing to journalist malfeasance.

I don't think you or anyone else actually believes that all "narratives" are equally correct. Is the 'Truther' version of 9/11 just as valid as yours? How about Boko Haram's idea of Christianity?

But I guess this is veering into the "post modern philosophy" you wanted to avoid.

I thought about posting this

artappraiser — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 01:06:18 +0000

In reply to What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel

I thought about posting this a few days back when I first saw it, but then I thought better of it.

Because I thought it wouldn't change the mind of anyone on a politically oriented site like this and might instead inspire a lot the same old same sold passionate arguments going nowhere.

On the other hand, I also thought that where it might inspire some interesting conversation would be on a site devoted to post modern philosophy, being a great textbook case about "truth" and "narrative" and "eye of the beholder."

In the end, with The Atlantic's historic tradition of publishing the provocative essay form and all it entails made the article a very appropriate choice for them. It will stand the test of time that they chose to do so within the context of the I-P coverage of our times in both mainstream and alternative media. Especially as so many agree that the whole I-P issue is like the ultimate in PoMo "he said, she said."

I thought about posting this

artappraiser — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 01:05:12 +0000

In reply to What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel

deleted duplicate

I can offer Friedman one

Aaron Carine — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 00:19:00 +0000

In reply to What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel

I can offer Friedman one example of pro-Israel bias in the media: CNN's 2004 retrospective on Yasir Arafat in their People in the News segment. The report said that "Egypt went to war with Israel" in 1956--when Israel, Britain, and France attacked Egypt. They said that Begin's Lebanon war was started by the PLO(come on) and trotted out the old refrain that the Six Day War was "preemptive"(tendentious at the least).

I meant to write "may have

Aaron Carine — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 00:03:00 +0000

In reply to Friedman shows his own

I meant to write "may have violated the laws of war.

Friedman shows his own

Aaron Carine — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 00:02:12 +0000

In reply to What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel

Friedman shows his own biases in this piece. I don't remember the media reporting Hamas' casualty figures as fact; I remember them citing casualty figures from several sources, without vouching for the accuracy of any of them. Friedman complains that the media portrayed the Gaza war as an "onslaught against innocent people". Well, the media reported that a great number of noncombatants were killed--Friedman doesn't seem to dispute that--and the media noted evidence that some Israeli attacks may not have violated the laws of war. I'd call that honest reporting. Friedman doesn't offer a reason for doubting the reports of Human Rights Watch, apart from his unsupported assertion that they are advocates for the Palestinians.