Saturday, September 20, 2008

How To Bias The Media

Here are two sentences from a NYTimes report, copied from Reuters:-

On September 13 dozens of settlers, some firing guns, assaulted Palestinians and damaged houses in Asira al-Kabaliya after a Palestinian stabbed and wounded a 9-year-old boy in a Jewish outpost. Three Palestinians were shot and wounded in the settlers' attack, medical officials said.


Responsible are "writing by Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem; editing by Robert Hart."

Let's see what's wrong, in my opinion.

First, why not write the first sentence this way:

On September 13, following they attempted murder of a 9-year-old Jewish boy in an outpost and the burning down of a residential unit, dozens of residents, some firing guns, assaulted Palestinians and damaged houses in Asira al-Kabaliya, a nearby Arab village.

Second, who are these "medical officials"?

Israelis? Int'l Red Cross? Physicians Without Borders? PA personnel?

Who? Why unnamed and not identified?

That, dear readers, is media bias.

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