Israel Matzav

There's no media bias in America

How many of you took your children to see An American Tail back in the '80's? Okay, how many of you were taken by your parents to see it?

If you saw it, I'm sure you remember this. Let's go to the videotape.



My eldest daughter used to sing, "there are no cats in America and the streets are covered with chocolate."

But there's a new generation (that daughter has two children bli ayin hara) and so we need a new song that's equally as delusional. Hence my proposal: There's no media bias in America. You say there is media bias in America? You're right. Look at how al-AP is insisting the Ground Zero victory mosque be reported.

"We should continue to avoid the phrase ‘Ground zero mosque' or ‘mosque at ground zero' on all platforms," reads the advisory, which was issued by the AP's Standards Center.

Instead of the "Ground Zero mosque," AP recommends that reporters use the terms "mosque 2 blocks from WTC site," "Muslim (or Islamic) center near WTC site," "mosque near ground zero," or "mosque near WTC site."

The AP suggests that it might "useful in some stories to note that Muslim prayer services have been held since 2009 in the building that the new project will replace." In addition, the news service offers a "succinct summary of President Obama's position" on the mosque, but doesn't include the positions of any other politicians.

Also included in the advisory is a "Fact Check" to provide "additional background" for reporters.

"A New York imam and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates - mostly Republicans - despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood," reads the first paragraph of the Fact Check. "And that Muslims pray inside the Pentagon, too, less than 80 feet from where terrorists attacked. And that the imam who's being branded an extremist has been valued by both Republican and Democratic administrations as a moderate face of the faith."

One of the "facts" that the AP feels the need to "clarify" is that Ground Zero mosque organizer Feisal Abdul Rauf is a moderate Muslim.

"Rauf counts former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright from the Clinton administration as a friend and appeared at events overseas or meetings in Washington with former President George W. Bush's secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and Bush adviser Karen Hughes," says the article, though it does also mention briefly Rauf's comments about America being an "accessory" to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Will your local media adhere to AP's guide to reporting the news?

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:35 PM