Reporters Report with Bias Against Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

                                               Reporter ready to record                                        

Oh happy days!  AJC just had a reporter speak at their forum showing how our assumptions that reporters were not reporting facts but their own biases from their companies was true.  It really doesn't make me happy at all to find out it's true, but knowing so is better than believing what they have been peddling, which I couldn't do.

Paratroopers serving in their 6 Day War getting to see the wall for the first time in Jerusalem in 1967; kept from it by Egypt.  Born in 1949 in Israel, they are 18 years old and were overjoyed at seeing the famous Wailing Wall.  The "Wailing Wall," also known as the "Western Wall" or "Kotel," is a sacred Jewish site in Jerusalem. It's called the Wailing Wall because Jews were perceived as crying or wailing at the location during prayers, potentially due to the loss of the Temple or the emotional significance of the site. The wall is believed to be the Western Wall of the Second Temple, destroyed in 70 CE, and is a crucial site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage, and Jews had been kept from it !  It was created by their King Solomon originally, the restored by King Herod, the only good thing he had accomplished.  

Yes, AJC stands for American Jewish Committee. This is a global advocacy organization dedicated to the Jewish people, supporting Israel, combating antisemitism, and upholding democratic values. On April 28, 2025, at AJC Global Forum 2025, Dr. Steven Grinspoon, AJC Board of Governors, introduces a powerful lunch session, "Exposing Bias: The Truth Behind Media Coverage of Israel." In the wake of October 7, 2023, the coverage of Israel’s self-defense efforts has been marked by distortion, misinformation, and bias.; This forum was held in New York City.                                             

They were joined by  Matti Friedman, an award-winning journalist and author known for his critical insights into media coverage of Israel, this session dives deep into the problem of bias and explores its global consequences. 

He started off with a population count showing that there are only 1/100 of 1% of the world's population that make up Israel's Jews or about 7 million people, while there are at least 300 million Arabs.  Considering these numbers, there are more reporters covering what the Israelis are doing than covering the Arabs.  A Jew can't seem to move without squads of reporters following him or her.  

The world has changed for reporters today in that they must be activists instead of just reporters, by orders from their bosses to squash any piece that shows Jews in good light doing something right and instead, try to villianize them. Yes, that's what they're doing to the Jews;  To "villainize" someone or something means to portray them as wicked, evil, or malevolent. It's about representing them as a villain, often through disparaging language or actions. Essentially, it's to deliberately paint someone in a negative light, making them out to be a bad guy.  

Matti, the speaker, sees himself as a centrist Israeli.  In the Israeli political context, a centrist is someone who holds political views that fall between the left and right wings of the political spectrum. They generally favor a balance of social hierarchy and social equality, opposing both extreme left-wing and extreme right-wing ideologies. Centrists often prioritize moderation, pragmatism, and stability, and may support gradual political change through institutions like the welfare state. 

Matti is speaking on how we can combat misleading narratives and advocate for fair, fact-based journalism in the fight against misinformation.  Don’t miss this thought-provoking discussion on how biased media coverage shapes global perceptions of Israel and the Jewish people.

Resource:

https://www.ajc.org/news/matti-friedman-exposes-bias-the-truth-behind-media-coverage-of-israel