Back in January 2007, Media Backspin observed that the number of news organizations with Israel (or Middle East) desks was decreasing, a trend that was likely to accelerate (and did).
He quoted an analyst who wrote:
Many news organizations rushed reporters from far-flung locales to the Middle East when fighting erupted between Israel and Hezbollah. But there’s no substitute for coverage by correspondents based in a region and knowledgeable about its history and culture.
I wasn’t much bothered by the trend as I wrote at the time:
The problem hasn’t been the reporting but the analysis that is so often added to or overwhelms the coverage. I don’t need a reporter to give me context; I need the reporter to give me facts. For too long reporters have felt it their job is to provide context that necessarily injects their own feelings into the report. It is that, more than anything else, that has led to the prevailing view that media is biased. And it is because of that, they have lost the trust of so much of the public.
The Jerusalem desk has been a plum assignment for budding editors and book authors. It affords the reporter many opportunities to demonstrate that the Arab-Israeli conflict is more complex than it appears at first.
But now we get another reason for the declining number of Jerusalem bureaus. Daled Amos suggests:
Maybe the answer has more to do with recognized failure of the media to cover the Iraqi War in an honest and balanced way–and how the latest Palestinian vs. Palestinian violence may indicate to the viewers that the media was not exactly accurate on how they were presenting the Israel-Palestinian conflict either.
He’s got a point. Consider that in recent months we’ve seen the NYT do the State Department’s bidding and embarrass the Israeli government into taking security risks. And as I noted, news organization too often uncritically copy the allegations of NGO’s who are out to slander Israel.
Elder of Ziyon followed up and noted that the reporting on the recent Physician for Human Rights report was marred by laziness. Information was available in the full reports that would have made any sentient being question the allegations, but no reporter was motivated enough to do anything more than accept the press release from the organization.
There is a decline of the foreign media presence in Israel. Because of how poorly journalists have been plying their trade in the Middle East, I am still not convinced that’s a bad thing.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
