Opinion
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Editorial
Grappling With
Bad Journalism
T
here is a shining line in journal-
ism that separates reporting
from propaganda. Cross it and
your credibility is shattered.
But it has taken seven years before the
television network France 2 was shown
to have manipulated film shot in Gaza
that made it appear that a 12-year-old
But in the appeal of a libel verdict
brought against him for challenging the
truthfulness of the film, French news
media commentator Philippe Karsenty
last month won a reversal and exposed the
duplicitous practices of France 2.
Karsenty's organization, Media Ratings,
monitors French print and broadcast
outlets for examples of bias
against Israel and Jews.
They have no shortage of
material.
"It's very positive for your
career [in French media]
... to say that Israel is an
evil state and you want it to
disappear;' says Karsenty.
Israel has long con-
tended the shots that killed
Mohammad al-Dura in
2001 were not fired by its
soldiers. But such denials were dismissed
in most of Europe because of the dramatic
impact of the French film footage.
In Karsenty's appeal, however, several
examples of staged coverage by France
2 were shown in court, and the network
could not account for nine crucial min-
utes of missing footage from the al-Dura
incident that purported to connect the
Some American editors even
justify stories that make it
appear Israel is an aggressor by
pointing to the time constraints
of the news cycles.
Palestinian boy was gunned down by
Israeli troops.
The emotional coverage galvanized
French public opinion against Israel
and was also a factor in the tide of anti-
Semitism that swept over the country
earlier in this decade. The damage caused
by this apparently phony report is incal-
culable.
dead boy with Israeli
gunfire.
In addition, its
cameraman, Talal
Abu Rahma, is an
admitted Palestinian
sympathizer. The
court ruled that such
partisans operating
in a non-democratic
regime are inher-
ently less reliable
and France 2 should
have considered that
before airing the
footage. Challenging
its coverage was thus
a legitimate act and
not libelous.
Unfortunately, in the international dis-
information campaign carried on by the
Palestinians and their sympathizers there
are few clear-cut victories. It is also prob-
able that most of the media outlets that
trumped up the original story will either
ignore or play down this one.
Some American editors even justify
stories that make it appear Israel is an
aggressor by pointing to the time con-
straints of the news cycle. Since print and
broadcast media want to lead their stories
with the latest angle, the original rocket
attack or bombing that provoked an Israeli
response is buried in the story and Israel's
retaliatory strike is the lead.
It's difficult to understand how such a
knee-jerk response can be a justification
for anything but bad journalism.
But as the Karsenty case shows, there's
plenty of that going around. ❑
Reality Check
Growing Up, Growing Old
T
he notice has been lying on my
desk for a few months now and I
guess I can't ignore it anymore.
Mumford High, Class of 1958, is holding
its 50th reunion this August. That means
me. How'd that happen?
I won't pretend that my four years at
Mumford were the happiest of my youth.
I wasn't miserable, either. I just kind of
sat in a corner and hoped no one would
bother me.
I hadn't yet discovered journalism as
a calling. Well, not a calling, really. More
like an insistent buzzing in my ear, like a
dragonfly's drone in summer. That didn't
come until my sophomore year at college,
and after that I was one formidable dude.
I'm lying about that. But it did seem like
I had a lot more fun.
I was a year ahead of myself in high
school, a victim of reading too well in
the first grade and a semester of summer
school in the sixth so that I'd graduate in
summer. A year is hardly a blip
now but in my mid-teens it
was a chasm.
Socially awkward doesn't
tell the half. It was more like
a case of speaking in tongues
whenever a person of the
alternative gender came near.
There probably are still some
female classmates walking
around who thought I was
an exchange student from
Slovenia.
The most significant thing that hap-
pened to me at Mumford was failing
geometry in the 10th grade. It proved
two things to me. I wasn't as smart as I
thought I was and I needed glasses.
I had been assigned a seat in the back
of the first row for this class and the
blackboard was fuzzy. I thought that's
how everyone viewed the world and
never complained, although I couldn't
see a thing when Mr. McDaid
explained a problem.
After cataract surgery last
year, I finally put aside my
glasses, although I still doubt
that I'd be able to do much
damage on a geometry proof.
Stupid Euclid, stop pickin' on
me.
That's probably why I don't
have much sympathy for
today's students who complain
that they can't meet the state's new man-
datory algebra requirements. Suck it up,
kids. If I got through three years of high
school math, anyone can.
But enough of that. I'll pick up the
reunion card, fill it out, mail in a check.
Reconnect for a few moments.
I've been to more of my wife's reunions
than I have to my own. Not intentionally.
Things just happened that way. We seem
to socialize more with people of her age
rather than mine. I wouldn't socialize with
me, either, given the choice.
The years roll on. The old neighbor-
hoods and old grievances disappear. The
people we were are alien to us now The
songs we sang are out of fashion.
Wisps of memory are half a century
old and the angst of finding a date for the
prom cannot quite compare with getting
the latest readings from the oncologist.
I hesitate now before eating a Coney, but
the spring wind still can stir me when I
listen hard enough and on a summer day
a part of me still wants to reach for a mitt
and a ball. I hope that never changes.
But I no longer have to wonder who
wrote the book of love. I get that answer
each time I look into my granddaughter's
eyes. 111
George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor614@aol.com.
June 12 2008
A25