- Friday, August 10, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
MEDIA MONITOR
THE JEWISH NEWS
The media and its uncritical
coverage of Louis Farrakhan
Serving Detroit's Metropolitan Jewish Community
with distinction for four decades.
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BY BERL FALBAUM
Special to 7'/u' Jewish News
Minister Louis Farrakhan,
whose anti-Jewish rhetoric unfortu-
nately has propelled him to the na-
tional stage with a bang, left Detroit
recently with hardly a whimper from
the media.
The uncritical coverage accorded
the leader of the Nation of Islam— at
PRODUCTION:
least in the print media — on his re-
Donald Cheshure
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES:
cent visit to the Little Rock Baptist
Cathy Ciccone
Laud Biafore
Church on Woodward was puzzling,
Curtis Deloye
Rick Nessel
particularly since it came on the
Ralph Orme
Danny Raskin
heels of the Democratic National
Seymour Schwartz
© 1984 by The Detroit JewistrNews (US PS 275-520)
Convention and the Rev. Jesse
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Jackson's apology to the Jewish
community.
VOL. LXXXV. NO. 24
CANDLELIGHTING AT 8:23 P.M.
While Farrakhan was in Detroit,
the Detroit News and the Detroit Free
Press devoted only routine stories on
Page 3 of each paper and hardly cap-
tured the essence of what is becoming
a standard tirade against the Jewish
community.
Like Presidential elections, the Olympics come every four years. The
What's more, neither paper pub-
same four years, in fact. The two events seem to balance each other. The race
lished a statement issued by the
for the White House can be .2-- and often is — boring, redundant, dulling and
Jewish Community Council the day
uninspiring. Many of the same, tired frayed homilies come out of the political
before Farrakhan's speech which
closet. Usually, they are about patriotism, the noble mission of the U.S. and
called upon him to follow in the
the future of the country.
footsteps of Rev. Jackson to help the
The Olympics are a welcome antidote to the posturing and rhetoric of the
healing process between Jews and
Presidential candidates. There is nothing artificial or calculated about a
blacks.
sports event. A marathon runner does not dissimulate; a gymnast does not
Given that the appearance was
hedge. Either someone runs 26 miles in two hours and 45 minutes or he
billed by its sponsors as the oppor-
doesn't. Either someone does a triple flip off the balance beam or she doesn't
tunity for the Detroit community to
Sports is a more absolute, more clearly defined art than politics. Athletic
hear and judge Farrakhan first hand,
competitions are settled by the hand of the stopwatch or the sharp eye of the
it would seem some more comprehen-
referee. There are rules, regulations and codes. It seems that the rules of
sive coverage was in order.
politics what few there may be — are constantly being redrafted, rewritten
The two papers seemed to accept
and reneged.
his explanation that he referred to
In 1976, Jerry Ford's opponent in the contest for the White House, a man
Judaism as a "dirty religion" be-
named Jimmy Carter, published an autobiography, Why Not The Best?
cause, like some Christians and Mos-
Opinions differ on whether Carter was better than Ford and who is the better
lems, not all abide by the religion's
of the two current contenders for the Oval Office. But few people argue that
principles. If that is true, then why
the best of the world's amateur athletes are out there in the City of the
single out Jews?
Angels, showing their excellence and reaching for the gold that is within each
Farrakhan also sought to
of them. Maybe those who practice the art of politics could learn something
clarify" his reference to Hitler as a
from the dazzling competition.
great man. Stating that he was abid-
ing by the dictionary definition of
"great" as meaning that Hitler had
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Go for the gold
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"
Social outline
In the process of planning appeals for support to the nation's
constituents, Republican and Democratic party leaders are now under
obligation to outline the major needs of concern to all Americans.
There is an encouraging certainty that the friendship with Israel will be
supported and that such cooperation will be enduring from both parties.
The social and human needs, the strengthening of the cultural and
educational aims of a great nation will undoubtedly be taken into
consideration, even with the many differing views certain to play their roles
in the quest for the nation's support of either party.
A major human duty which is often overlooked and which has resulted in
a shocking indifference is the urgency to assure U.S. support for the Genocide
Convention..
From the moment of the adoption of the Genocide Convention, outlawing
for nations the crime of mass murder and thereby also condemning
international terrorism, the United States was unofficially its strongest
supporter. It had the strong endorsement of President Harry S Truman.
Subsequently, Truman's successors supported the U.N. international ideal
for justice among peoples. Yet, at present, the list of 92 nations endorsing the
Genocide Convention does not include the United States.
The Republican and Democratic leadership have an opportunity to
correct this injustice. President Ronald Reagan can lend it great support. The
editorial in this column in the issue of Dec. 16, 1983, made such an appeal to
the President. It is now being renewed and it includes an urgent plea for
action to Republicans as well as Democrats. There should no longer be any
delay in fulfilling a sacred duty.
Berl Falbaum is a longtime Detroit area
journalist.
an influence on history, Farrakhan
said he also meant that Hitler's mag-
nitude influenced the world.
The two Detroit papers and
much of the rest of the media are ap-
parently placated by this explana-
tion without even accepting Far-
rakhan's invitation to consult the
dictionary which, incidentially, in-
cludes such definitions of "great" as
"illustrious" and having "nobility of
mind."
The reporters covering the
church appearance also might have
asked the sponsors after Farrakhan's
address whether they still felt that
the minister had been misquoted in
his anti-Semitic remarks.
If they believed that Farrakhan
had received unjust treatment by the
media, the Rev. Jim Holley, who in-
Rev. Farrakhan should
have been asked whether
it is racist to blame an
entire people for the
actions of a few.
vited the Nation of Islam leader,
might have been asked also if he did
not believe the statements made in
his church were anti-Semitic.
It also would be useful to hear
Farrakhan's differentiation between
a "gutter" and "dirty" religion since
he finds the former word libelous but
admits to , using the latter when dis-
cussing. Judaism. -
Farrakhan also raised some
"new". issues that were ignored by re-
porters or omitted by editors.
In his speech, he accused Jews of
seducing a 19-year-old girl to take off
her clothes but there was no explana-
tion how Jews are responsible for
former Miss America Vanessa
Continued on Page 22