Soccer Dad

Bias by omission

Ynet reports on another aspect of media bias: failure to report on the toll Hezbollah's rockets took on Israeli civilians.

The report did not mention any Israeli casualties, and no interviews with Israeli civilians were conducted.

Other than a momentary statistic appearing on the screen, there is no mention of the large number of Israelis who have become displaced from their homes in the north, and the journey home which awaits them to homes possible destroyed by Hizbullah rockets – although on the Lebanese side of the border, the report takes a long look at the return of Lebanese refugees to their homes in southern Lebanon.

There were no interviews from Israeli hospitals, and no mention made of the million Israelis who had been living in bomb shelters for almost a month. Also glaringly absent were images of destroyed homes and buildings across northern Israel.

A report then followed by CNN's Paul Hancocks, focusing exclusively on Israeli domestic politics. "The military battle for Israel's prime minister is over for the time being. The political battle has just begun. Critics claimed Olmert has gone to war hastily and ill prepared," said Hancocks, before film of Olmert's Knesset speech was shown. The report showed internal Knesset wrangling and the ejection of two Knesset members.

This also happened in 1996 where the Israeli response to Hezbollah rockets was reported to be an attempt by then PM Peres to look tough in the runup to the election, not as a reasonable response to a situation where thousands of Israelis had to flee their homes or live in shelters.

Hot Air notices a different omission that is a subtle sign of bias.

It’s AP, not al-Reuters, but it just confuses everything. Read the headline again:

Rockets hit Lebanon despite cease-fire

What impression does that leave in your mind? That the rockets hitting Lebanon came from somewhere other than Lebanon, right? Which would be Israel. So the head implies that Israel has violated the cease-fire by firing rockets into Lebanon.

(Note: the headline in the article I linked to is similar but not identical to the one Hot Air mentioned. The point still stands.)

It's true, if you pay attention you'll note that Israel doesn't usually fire rockets, but missiles. Still why not headline the article "Hezbollah still firing rockets in violation of ceasefire?"

Technorati tag: Media Bias.