Jason Koutsoukis and Paola Totaro are the Melbourne Age's correspondents based in the Middle East and Europe respectively. Today they report on the reaction of world leaders to the American operation which killed Osama Bin Laden - World leaders praise the US
Koutsoukis quotes Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, its Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib. All of the above expressed support for the American action. Khatib is quoted saying, "Getting rid of bin Laden is good for the cause of peace worldwide, but what counts is to overcome the discourse and the methods, the violent methods, that were created and encouraged by bin Laden and others in the world." I'm not sure if Khatib was looking closely at himself in a mirror when he made that statement but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
Koutsoukis goes on to cite Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood which reportedly said that bin Laden's death "should be a catalyst for the withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan."
So what's missing?
Curiously, Koutsoukis fails to mention the reaction of Hamas which condemned the killing of "holy warrior" bin Laden.
Consigning Hamas to the blank pages is not a new phenomenon in the Fairfax press but the failure to report on the reaction of Gaza's terror rulers is extraordinary in view of the recent announcement that Hamas and the PA has concluded "unity" talks.
Surely, this was the first test of whether the new pals were singing from the same hymn book of peace but here they are coming out with diametrically opposite views on the merits of the killing of the world's greatest terrorist menace.
There's a great story for a good journalist here but Koutsoukis either missed it, refuses or is not permitted to expose the fact that the new rapport between the competitors for Palestinian leadership as a complete sham.
Perhaps it's not newsworthy for readers of the Age who, in their inner suburban cafes, would be horrified to know that the Palestinians have never given up their jihad against the Jewish State and the West and that the absence of peace is a result of their conniving and not because of Israel's policies.
Fairfax issued another profit downgrade today. Its share price was down almost 10% this morning and sinking deep into the ocean.
What else is sinking in the oceans today?
Fairfax lifted the cover price of Saturday's Al Age to $2.70 on the weekend. No wonder I prefer reading The Blank Pages of The Age.
ReplyDeleteFairfax journos are threatening to strike over job cuts. Rumour has it that the ME bureau will close and be replaced by Al Jazeera and reports from official Hamas and PA sources. Apparently, nobody is expected to notice.
ReplyDeleteHamas said today that it would observe the truce with Israel. That should get it in Al Age.
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing being biased but once you start acting as as censor then you're failing in your purpose as a respected conveyer of news. The Age has gone a long way down since it was a respected broadsheet. I suppose that's probably why it's losing money. A lot of people simply no longer trust the paper.
ReplyDeleteExcellent resume of current coverage.
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