Gary Fitleberg, January 12, 2005

Major media outlets are avoiding coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict to avoid charges of bias from both sides, an ombudsman said.

Jeffrey Dvorkin, the National Public Radio ombudsman, suggested that NPR may have delayed a recent report on Palestinian Authority/Palestine Liberation Organization (PA/PLO) so-called democratic elections because the network is trying to avoid airing such reports altogether.

"Can it be that some journalists, along with some listeners, just wish this story would go away?" Dvorkin asked in his online column Tuesday. "Most ombudsmen can attest that coverage of this subject draws constant allegations of bias. Anecdotally, I am told that some news organizations are now so battered that they tend to avoid the story as much as possible. Some of my colleagues at other news organizations say they report the story only when the outrages from one side or the other are too appalling to ignore."

NPR, or as we sometimes half-kiddingly joke National Palestine Radio, has been accused and is guilty of problems of accuracy, bias, content, defamation against Israel and the Jewish people. Finally, NPR is taking time to check out its reports before broadcasting the erroneous false information that has been the staple of their reporting. Kudos NPR!!!

Gary Fitleberg is a Political Analyst specializing in International Relations with emphasis on Middle East affairs.

Copyright © 2005 Gary Fitleberg