Although the first stories posted online by the Times contained quotes by Kerry deploring incitement, the citations were entirely deleted by the time the print edition reached readers – with no sense whatsoever that the American secretary of state had spoken forcefully to connect the savage attack on innocents to the inculcation of hatred.
In conversation with editors, CAMERA staff members have faulted the lack of coverage of Palestinian hate-indoctrination and been told that reporting on the torrent of invective is difficult because it is “so repetitious” and lacks a fresh news hook interesting and valuable to readers. The response is deceptive on multiple counts.
First, it suggests the lack of coverage is driven by a lack of reader interest but there’s no indication of this at all. On the contrary, compelling stories on the subject have as much inherent news interest as any other story if the information is powerfully and fully reported.
Second, such coverage can have great positive impact. On one, rare occasion when the Times prominently reported anti-Jewish bigotry by a high profile figure, there were swift and positive repercussions. That case concerned the former president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, whose record of primitive anti-Semitic slurs – that Jews are descended from apes and pigs – was reported on the Times’s front page in January 2013. There quickly followed denunciations by world leaders and Morsi was compelled to disavow the sentiments and retreat on the matter. The global denunciation of anti-Semitism was an important message.
One can hope that some day The New York Times will cover Israel and the Palestinian issue with the objectivity and integrity expected of a responsible news organization. Almost daily, however, the Times generates additional evidence that – as with all behemoth media organizations challenged by CAMERA for their shoddiness, misrepresentation of facts, and anti-Israel bias – change will require an ongoing, determined effort demanding full, fair, and accurate coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
