I was doing a post-doc and living in Jerusalem during the 2001-2002 terror campaign that preceded Operation Defensive Shield, a military campaign best remembered for the media’s false accusations of a “Jenin Massacre.” As the campaign ramped up, many journalist friends came to Israel to report for CNN, BBC, and other major networks. Sometimes we’d meet up for drinks afterwards and talk about work. I was surprised to learn that most paid “fixers” to work in Gaza.
Producers explained—privately—that the implication for not hiring a fixer was that not only would Fatah (at the time still in control of Gaza) and more extreme factions not grant interviews, but they would also not grant “protection.” The flip side of this, of course, was that networks were effectively paying for stories and were also self-censoring based on their fixers’ affiliation.
It was a year after this and after the invasion that ended Saddam Hussein’s grip on power in Iraq that CNN executive Eason Jordan penned a New York Times op-ed in which he acknowledged the network’s self-censorship in pre-war Iraq in order to maintain access. While critics focused on CNN’s behavior in Iraq, they did not ask the network to come clean about what news they sanitized in other countries and, in the case of Gaza, territories.
Perhaps it’s time for the news media to explain alongside their broadcasts what money changed hands for fixers and in which countries they feel their access will suffer if they do not please their hosts.
Explanations shouldn't be necessary. Just executions of these Journalistic terrorists.
Remember when palestinians eviscerated with their bare hands two Israelis who blundered into their territory? n nBloody hands held up for the world to see? n nThe apologies and abasement of the Italian TV crew that filmed it was embarrassing to watch. n nThat was the archetypal model for what goes on. n nThe Book of Journalistic Ethics is has no pages in it.
Just look at the measurable data. CNN covers from inside Gaza about 20x more than it covers from inside Israel.
The meme of "Palestinian suffering" plays better than "Israeli suffering". And foreign journalists get to appear on camera in flak jackets before retiring to the hospitality of Gaza's new 5-star hotels.
Let's take courage from the fact that the situation today is different that even a couple of years ago. The blogosphere and activists in the social media are ripping substantial chunks of credibility from the MSM, the smart remnants of which are cleaning up their act and at least treating conservative opinion seriously. The "Tan Jacket" dude on the BBC and the use of footage of Syrian massacre victims went around like a wild-fires, with more impact than the exposure of the Green Helmet Guy and Al Dura frauds. And ten years ago it would have been "bad form" to even question the use of stringers in these holes, as implying that the Arabs are not as credible as the Swiss would have been "racist."