Reply #7: CAMERA.org says AP has skewed Middle East reporting against Israel [View All]

[furman]

CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, has helped the AP with their fact-checking.
For example:

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=2&x_article=1145

July 17, 2006
by Gilead Ini
UPDATED: AP Timeline Obscures Arab Attacks

July 17 update follows.

July 13, 2006 -- As Israel began responding to Hezbollah’s cross-border assault, the Associated Press was rewriting the history of conflict between Lebanon and Israel. On July 12, the wire service dispatched a skewed timeline entitled "A look at key events in Lebanon-Israel conflict."

This isn’t the first time the AP has demonstrated a lack of objectivity by echoing the Lebanese/Hezbollah narrative.

<snip>

Virtually every entry starts by naming Israel as the actor–"Israeli forces invade..."; "Israeli invades again..."; "the Israeli army moves into Beirut..."; "Israeli troops abduct Lebanese guerrilla..."; etc. By contrast, no aggressor is specified for the "attack on an Israeli bus" in 1978, nor the "guerrilla attacks" in 1996. Likewise, using the passive voice in the 1997 entry, AP avoids naming the killers of the Israeli soldiers.

<snip>

July 17 Update: New AP History is More Thorough and Balanced
Less than a week after the publication of AP's problematic timeline and CAMERA's critique, the wire service, to its credit, has dispatched a more thorough and balanced overview, "A look at the history of Lebanese-Israeli conflict."

The updated piece acknowledges ongoing attacks against Israel from Lebanon, mentioning by name the attacks in Kiryat Shmona and Ma'alot and referring to the "Katyusha rockets being fired by Hezbollah into Israel proper."

updated AP timeline referenced by the CAMERA.org article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071700340.html