THE FLASHLIGHT, April 26 - May 2, 2008
THE FLASHLIGHT
April 26 – May 2, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
US Presidential Primaries
NYTimes 4-29. In a commentary, “Demography is King”, David Brooks said that the old US WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) hierarchy has been replaced by an education hierarchy. The different strata have marked differences in towns of residence, divorce rates, and parenting practices. Obama has been winning 70% of the most educated counties, and Hilary Clinton has been winning 90% of the least educated. Social identity has been more influential in voter choice than money spent on persuading them. CNN 4-28. Obama is seen by blue collar white workers has having “elitist” values, and therefore not being “one of them.” Hilary leads Obama by 30 points within this group. Obama does better among Independents and young people.
CNN 4-29. After his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright criticized him and America at the National Press Club et al. Barack Obama described Wright’s speech as a “rant” and said that he was outraged, appalled, and deeply saddened by it.
CNN 5-1. Clinton’s lead among super delegates has been cut to 19. Her threat to “obliterate” Iran if it attacked Israel or obtained nuclear weapons is being criticized as excessive.
CNN 6-1. Young people, 18-30, are preferring Democrats to Republicans by 25 percentage points.
PBS 5-1. Polls show that McCain and Obama have a more positive than negative image overall, but Clinton has a more negative than positive image overall. Obama is collecting super delegates faster than Clinton.
` CNN 4-28. The Supreme Court rules, 6-3, that the Indiana law requiring voters to show a picture ID is constitutional. The ID must be government issued. The ruling does not cover absentee and residential voters. This will hurt the poor, blacks and the elderly, all of whom tend to vote Democratic.
US Polygamist Scandal
` AP 4-28. Of 53 girls, 14-17, taken from Yearning or Zion Ranch in West Texas, 31 had already borne a child or were pregnant.
NYTimes 5-1. 41 children (out of 464) have had bones broken. Some boys may have been sexually abused.
US Education
NYTimes 5-2. The one billion dollar Bush Administration program to improve the reading scores of poor children has failed. Sen. Ted Kennedy blamed it on cronyism.
Economy
NYTimes 5-2. In an op-ed piece, David Brooks said that globalization explains little of US job losses. Rather, technological advance is responsible. Even China has recently lost 25 million manufacturing jobs because it too has advancing technology.
Brooks says that we are in the midst of a “cognitive revolution,” in which workers need a higher level of skills. An important skill is to absorb, process, and combine information.
Tibet/China
NYTimes 4-26. China says it is ready to meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama.
The Israel/Palestine Conflict
CNN 4-29. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, former President Jimmy Carter said that Pres. Bush is “completely mistaken” about Hamas and Sec. Rice is “misinformed.” Bush does not know that that Hamas is willing to recognize the existence of Israel [under certain conditions] and that the top leaders in Damascus have authorized him (Carter) to say so publicly.
Carter said that no one in the Bush Administration, including Rice, counseled him not to go to Syria or not to meet with Hamas leaders. He was advised not to go to Gaza because of dangerous conditions there, and so he met in Cairo with the Hamas leaders from Gaza.
Carter said that the Bush Administration practice of referring to Hamas as a “terrorist” organization is inappropriate. The Bush Administration branded Hamas as “terrorist” only in 2006, after the latter had won a free and fair democratic election among the Palestinians. Al-Qaeda has never won such an election.
[This CNN interview was not mentioned anywhere else in the mainstream media. I checked Google News. It was not even posted on cnn.com.]
Book Review: Pens and Swords; The American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. By Marda Dunsky. New York, Columbia University Press, 2007.
The American mainstream media [such as the New York Times and the Washington Post] report the day to day events of the Israeil-Palestinian conflict fairly accurately, but they fail to provide an adequate context for those events. Consequently the reporting is incoherent and unclear. Reporters fail to explain why the conflict is so intractable.
In particular, reporters portray the US as an “honest broker” trying to stop the conflict. This is not true. The policy of the US is overwhelmingly pro-Israeli. It is expressed in diplomatic support, military aid, and financial support to the tune of $2.6 billion dollars a year.
The roots of the conflict are
1) the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 et seq. which created the Palestinian refugee problem. This was illegal according to international law and an international consensus of opinion.
2) Since 1967, the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land in the West Bank by Israeli settlers. This too is condemned by international law and international consensus. The US indirectly aids this colonization by its annual gift to Israel of $2.6 billion. But the mainstream press does not show that the US is a party to the israeli-Palestinian conflict.
US policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a source of tension and antagonism toward the US in Arab and Muslim countries. It is a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East. It tends to increase Al-Qaeda recruiting and financial support.
Remedies
I. The first step is for the mainstream media to include the above information in their interpretation of daily events.
II. The mainstream media should broaden the sources of their discourse to include:
A. Letters to the editor concerning this issue
B. The opinions of non-partisan experts in the academic world (seldom consulted).
C. Critical reports of events in the liberal Israeli media, such as Haaretz.
D. Instead of trying to appear balanced by using “He said…He said” quotations, reporters should seek out underlying causes and explanations.
III. The mainstream media should reconsider audience reactions.
According to study by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations in 2004, 74% of the American public, and 77% of American leaders favored an even-handed policy toward Israelis and Palestinians. Only 17% of the public and 15% of leaders favored taking Israel’s side. However, American leaders were far off in their estimates of American public opinion on this issue.
IV. Mainstream Media should rethink what is meant by journalistic “objectivity.” Guided by conscience, journalists should dig deeper to find the truth.
April 26 – May 2, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
US Presidential Primaries
NYTimes 4-29. In a commentary, “Demography is King”, David Brooks said that the old US WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) hierarchy has been replaced by an education hierarchy. The different strata have marked differences in towns of residence, divorce rates, and parenting practices. Obama has been winning 70% of the most educated counties, and Hilary Clinton has been winning 90% of the least educated. Social identity has been more influential in voter choice than money spent on persuading them. CNN 4-28. Obama is seen by blue collar white workers has having “elitist” values, and therefore not being “one of them.” Hilary leads Obama by 30 points within this group. Obama does better among Independents and young people.
CNN 4-29. After his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright criticized him and America at the National Press Club et al. Barack Obama described Wright’s speech as a “rant” and said that he was outraged, appalled, and deeply saddened by it.
CNN 5-1. Clinton’s lead among super delegates has been cut to 19. Her threat to “obliterate” Iran if it attacked Israel or obtained nuclear weapons is being criticized as excessive.
CNN 6-1. Young people, 18-30, are preferring Democrats to Republicans by 25 percentage points.
PBS 5-1. Polls show that McCain and Obama have a more positive than negative image overall, but Clinton has a more negative than positive image overall. Obama is collecting super delegates faster than Clinton.
` CNN 4-28. The Supreme Court rules, 6-3, that the Indiana law requiring voters to show a picture ID is constitutional. The ID must be government issued. The ruling does not cover absentee and residential voters. This will hurt the poor, blacks and the elderly, all of whom tend to vote Democratic.
US Polygamist Scandal
` AP 4-28. Of 53 girls, 14-17, taken from Yearning or Zion Ranch in West Texas, 31 had already borne a child or were pregnant.
NYTimes 5-1. 41 children (out of 464) have had bones broken. Some boys may have been sexually abused.
US Education
NYTimes 5-2. The one billion dollar Bush Administration program to improve the reading scores of poor children has failed. Sen. Ted Kennedy blamed it on cronyism.
Economy
NYTimes 5-2. In an op-ed piece, David Brooks said that globalization explains little of US job losses. Rather, technological advance is responsible. Even China has recently lost 25 million manufacturing jobs because it too has advancing technology.
Brooks says that we are in the midst of a “cognitive revolution,” in which workers need a higher level of skills. An important skill is to absorb, process, and combine information.
Tibet/China
NYTimes 4-26. China says it is ready to meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama.
The Israel/Palestine Conflict
CNN 4-29. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, former President Jimmy Carter said that Pres. Bush is “completely mistaken” about Hamas and Sec. Rice is “misinformed.” Bush does not know that that Hamas is willing to recognize the existence of Israel [under certain conditions] and that the top leaders in Damascus have authorized him (Carter) to say so publicly.
Carter said that no one in the Bush Administration, including Rice, counseled him not to go to Syria or not to meet with Hamas leaders. He was advised not to go to Gaza because of dangerous conditions there, and so he met in Cairo with the Hamas leaders from Gaza.
Carter said that the Bush Administration practice of referring to Hamas as a “terrorist” organization is inappropriate. The Bush Administration branded Hamas as “terrorist” only in 2006, after the latter had won a free and fair democratic election among the Palestinians. Al-Qaeda has never won such an election.
[This CNN interview was not mentioned anywhere else in the mainstream media. I checked Google News. It was not even posted on cnn.com.]
Book Review: Pens and Swords; The American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. By Marda Dunsky. New York, Columbia University Press, 2007.
The American mainstream media [such as the New York Times and the Washington Post] report the day to day events of the Israeil-Palestinian conflict fairly accurately, but they fail to provide an adequate context for those events. Consequently the reporting is incoherent and unclear. Reporters fail to explain why the conflict is so intractable.
In particular, reporters portray the US as an “honest broker” trying to stop the conflict. This is not true. The policy of the US is overwhelmingly pro-Israeli. It is expressed in diplomatic support, military aid, and financial support to the tune of $2.6 billion dollars a year.
The roots of the conflict are
1) the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 et seq. which created the Palestinian refugee problem. This was illegal according to international law and an international consensus of opinion.
2) Since 1967, the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land in the West Bank by Israeli settlers. This too is condemned by international law and international consensus. The US indirectly aids this colonization by its annual gift to Israel of $2.6 billion. But the mainstream press does not show that the US is a party to the israeli-Palestinian conflict.
US policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a source of tension and antagonism toward the US in Arab and Muslim countries. It is a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East. It tends to increase Al-Qaeda recruiting and financial support.
Remedies
I. The first step is for the mainstream media to include the above information in their interpretation of daily events.
II. The mainstream media should broaden the sources of their discourse to include:
A. Letters to the editor concerning this issue
B. The opinions of non-partisan experts in the academic world (seldom consulted).
C. Critical reports of events in the liberal Israeli media, such as Haaretz.
D. Instead of trying to appear balanced by using “He said…He said” quotations, reporters should seek out underlying causes and explanations.
III. The mainstream media should reconsider audience reactions.
According to study by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations in 2004, 74% of the American public, and 77% of American leaders favored an even-handed policy toward Israelis and Palestinians. Only 17% of the public and 15% of leaders favored taking Israel’s side. However, American leaders were far off in their estimates of American public opinion on this issue.
IV. Mainstream Media should rethink what is meant by journalistic “objectivity.” Guided by conscience, journalists should dig deeper to find the truth.
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