In an earlier post I mentioned that the Age had surprised with the inclusion of an opinion piece from Fania Oz-Salzberger about the weekend's Israeli air strikes at Hamas.
There was of course, another surprise on the front page - a story attributed to the Guardian about the tragic deaths of a family of Palestinians caught in an Israeli attack on the Hamas infrastructure 'I didn't see any of my girls ...'. The online edition doesn't name the author but his name does appear on the front page of the print edition. It's Hazem Balousha reporting from Jabaliya.
Look at the names of the victims, then look again at the name of the "journalist" who wrote the report.
No doubt, the Age wants its readers to get a totally objective picture*.
Or perhaps not - here's an interesting viewpoint from Romeo Mike's blog that might help us understand the pathology behind this sort of journalistic bastardry.
STILL WAITING FOR THE FULL PICTURE
Mike points out how effective Hamas has been in frightening away all of the decent journalists from Gaza through the use of murder, kidnapping, torture and intimidation.
"Over the past two years Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been subjected to a systematic campaign of intimidation that has resulted in the death of some and the detention of others.The campaign, which is being waged by both Hamas and Fatah, has received almost no attention from human rights groups and advocates of the freedom of expression throughout the world.
By contrast, when a Palestinian journalist is accidentally wounded by Israeli gunfire during clashes with Palestinians, the incident makes headlines in major media outlets in the US and EU."
And all that's left are those who push Hamas propaganda through its willing accomplices in media channels throughout the world.
* Of course, it may be a co-incidence and there may be no family relationship whatsoever between reporter and subject matter. There could well be thousands of Baloushas in Jabaliya. However, in such a situation it is incumbent on the media outlet to produce some sort of disclaimer or explanation. The Age failed to do this and the fact that its on line edition referenced only "GUARDIAN" and kept the Balousha connection in its blank pages, makes it sound all the more an unprofessional and seemingly deceptive piece of journalism, if indeed, "journalism" is how you can describe what Al Age is doing in this instance.
There was of course, another surprise on the front page - a story attributed to the Guardian about the tragic deaths of a family of Palestinians caught in an Israeli attack on the Hamas infrastructure 'I didn't see any of my girls ...'. The online edition doesn't name the author but his name does appear on the front page of the print edition. It's Hazem Balousha reporting from Jabaliya.
Look at the names of the victims, then look again at the name of the "journalist" who wrote the report.
No doubt, the Age wants its readers to get a totally objective picture*.
Or perhaps not - here's an interesting viewpoint from Romeo Mike's blog that might help us understand the pathology behind this sort of journalistic bastardry.
STILL WAITING FOR THE FULL PICTURE
Mike points out how effective Hamas has been in frightening away all of the decent journalists from Gaza through the use of murder, kidnapping, torture and intimidation.
"Over the past two years Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been subjected to a systematic campaign of intimidation that has resulted in the death of some and the detention of others.The campaign, which is being waged by both Hamas and Fatah, has received almost no attention from human rights groups and advocates of the freedom of expression throughout the world.
By contrast, when a Palestinian journalist is accidentally wounded by Israeli gunfire during clashes with Palestinians, the incident makes headlines in major media outlets in the US and EU."
And all that's left are those who push Hamas propaganda through its willing accomplices in media channels throughout the world.
* Of course, it may be a co-incidence and there may be no family relationship whatsoever between reporter and subject matter. There could well be thousands of Baloushas in Jabaliya. However, in such a situation it is incumbent on the media outlet to produce some sort of disclaimer or explanation. The Age failed to do this and the fact that its on line edition referenced only "GUARDIAN" and kept the Balousha connection in its blank pages, makes it sound all the more an unprofessional and seemingly deceptive piece of journalism, if indeed, "journalism" is how you can describe what Al Age is doing in this instance.
2 comments:
Where are you Alan Johnson?
Poor form from the Age and Guardian.
Fairfax looks like the next victim of the global meltdown.
Post a Comment