Honest to Goodness

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HonestReporting.com uses one of AP photographer Enric Marti's images to convey to us how the media is manipulated by Palestinians.

I went looking for other stories about photojournalists on that site and I found a story called “Something Fishy at AFP,” taking a jab at how an Agence France Presse photographer covered the bombing of a suspected terrorist's home.

HonestReporting.com calls itself one of the largest media watch groups. I found the anti-Palestinian stance to be too much of a coincidence. So, I dug a little deeper to find out if the site was at all independent.

Give them credit for being, um, honest. HonestReporting.com says this about itself:

Since October 2000, in addition to fighting an anti-terror war, Israel has been fighting a media war. In news outlets around the globe, journalists regularly misrepresent Israel as the aggressor and Palestinians as the victims.

In response, HonestReporting was established to scrutinize the media for anti-Israel bias, then mobilize subscribers to respond directly to relevant news agencies.

While they make somewhat convincing arguments about the photographs and the methods used to “capture” the conflict in Israel, I get the feeling that they would rejoice the end of the Palestinian perspective altogether.

Is there bias in the media? You bet there is. If there wasn't any, it would all be rather boring. No one can deny that corporations, governments and individuals have agendas. Who narrates the story and how is of great consequence. But let's see these stories all played out in the open. What we should be wary of is the temptation to snuff out these different perspectives. And I think that's where I disagree with HonestReporting.com.

Play fair and, um, be honest!