-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message ----- From: "FAIR-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 1:35 PM Subject: [FAIR-L] NPR Continues Distortion on Mideast "Calm"
> FAIR-L > Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting > Media analysis, critiques and news reports > > > > > ACTIVISM UPDATE: > NPR Continues Distortion on Mideast "Calm" > > February 5, 2002 > > On January 10, FAIR put out an Action Alert asking people to write to > National Public Radio about an apparent blind spot in its Middle East > reporting. NPR had been referring to the situation in Israel and Palestine > around the New Year as a time of "relative calm" or "comparative quiet," > explaining at one point that "only one Israeli has been killed in those > three weeks." What NPR didn't explain was that during this "quiet" period, > an average of one Palestinian per day was being killed by Israeli occupation > forces. (See http://www.fair.org/activism/npr-israel-quiet.html .) > > In answer to our alert, at least several hundred people wrote to NPR, > calling for Middle East reporting that paid attention to the victims of > violence on all sides. Yet even as these letters were pouring in, NPR > continued to present the same distorted view of the conflict. > > All Things Considered anchor Noah Adams opened a January 14 report on the > assassination of a Palestinian militia leader, and the militia's revenge > murder of an Israeli civilian, by declaring that "deadly violence returned > to the Middle East today"--as if deadly violence hadn't been happening to > Palestinians on an almost daily basis all along. On the January 17 All > Things Considered, anchor Melissa Block prefaced a question by asserting, > "Until early this week there'd been almost a month of relatively reduced > violence there"-- a premise that was not corrected by correspondent Linda > Gradstein. And on January 18, correspondent Peter Kenyon referred on > Morning Edition to "the recent lull in violence." > > NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin, to whom the activists' letters were > addressed, does seem to recognize the problem. Appearing on January 17 with > media critic Ali Abunimah on WJHU, a Baltimore NPR affiliate, Dvorkin agreed > with the criticism and said that NPR's foreign desk had told hosts and > correspondents to reflect the reality of the situation. But this > intervention does not seem to have resulted in changed coverage-- in fact, > two of the repetitions of the distortion noted above occurred within the > next 24 hours. Even as late as January 30, Linda Gradstein was referring to > the "period of relative calm," as if no one had ever pointed out to NPR that > this characterization ignored the deaths of dozens of Palestinians. > > Despite the hundreds of individual letters he has received, Dvorkin has yet > to issue a formal comment on the issue. But in a brief January 25 response > to a FAIR activist, Dvorkin wrote, "After FAIR pointed out the phrase > 'relative calm,' NPR corrected that inaccuracy in future reports." In fact, > the inaccuracy was repeated, and keeps being repeated. Something seems to be > amiss in the way NPR handles legitimate complaints from the public. > > ACTION: Please write to NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin and ask him to respond > substantively to the hundreds of letters he has received about NPR's Mideast > coverage, including an explanation of how NPR can repeat the same distortion > after it has been "corrected." > > CONTACT: > Jeffrey Dvorkin > NPR Ombudsman > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ---------- > > Feel free to respond to FAIR ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ). We can't reply to > everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate > documented example of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of > your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to us > at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > > FAIR ON THE AIR: FAIR's founder Jeff Cohen is a regular panelist on the Fox > News Channel's "Fox News Watch," which airs which airs Saturdays at 6:30 pm > (Eastern Standard Time). Check your local listings. > > FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 130 stations in > the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit > http://www.fair.org/counterspin/stations.html . > > Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra! For > more information, go to: http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call > 1-800-847-3993. > > FAIR's INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: FAIR accepts internship applications for its New > York office on a rolling basis. For more information, see: > http://www.fair.org/internships.html > > You can subscribe to FAIR-L at our web site: http://www.fair.org , or by > sending a "subscribe FAIR-L enter your full name" command to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Our subscriber list is kept confidential. > > You may leave the list at any time-- just send a message with "SIGNOFF > FAIR-L" in the body to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . > > FAIR > (212) 633-6700 > http://www.fair.org/ > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > list administrators: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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