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Nov, 21, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?

Caroline B. Glick: Civilization walks the plank

Nov, 20, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto

Nov, 19, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality

Elliot B. Gertel: 'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?

Nov, 18, 2008

Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason

Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?

Nov, 17, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason

Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?

Nov, 14, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia

Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead

Nov, 13, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic

The Kosher Gourmet by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla

Nov, 12, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers

Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks

Nov, 11, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?

Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate

Nov, 10, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?

Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist

Nov, 7, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality

Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy

Nov, 6, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism

The Kosher Gourmet By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes

Nov, 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors

Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie

Nov, 4, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law

Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East

Nov, 3, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Who says Jews are Smart?

Jonathan Tobin: Was He Wrong About Everything?

Oct. 31, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Our Immutable Noble Essence

Caroline B. Glick: Running against Bush

Oct. 30, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: The End of the Special Relationship?

Steve Lipman: 'Kid Kosher' Gets A Title Shot

Oct. 29, 2008

Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: GET US THE TAPE THE L.A. TIMES REFUSES TO RELEASE, AND WE'LL GIVE YOU CASH!

Dr. Ari Korenblit: Making The Write Choice for President

Oct. 28, 2008

Mona Charen: Denial runs through American Jewry

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Sell-off to capitalism or sell-out to Islam?

Oct. 27, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Are tax deductions for charitable donations moral?

Jonathan Mark: The Mystery Of The Arab-American Vote

Oct. 24, 2008

'Why aren't all religious people vegetarians?': Response by Miriam Kosman

Caroline B. Glick: Testing Obama's mettle

Oct. 23, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Obama Would Fail Security Clearance

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A fast chicken dish with an Asian accent

Oct. 20, 2008

Gary Rosenblatt: Still One Torah

Jonathan Tobin: Government 'Gifts' Are Not Free

Oct. 17, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sukkos and the Great Meltdown

Caroline B. Glick: The disappearance of law

Oct. 16, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Copying DVDs: RIP OR RIPOFF?

Cal Thomas: Blaming the Jews (again)

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review March 27, 2006 /27 Adar, 5766

All bad news, all the time: People are tired of journalistic practices that obscure the reality of good news

By Jack Kelly

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | On March 8, the New York Times ran a lengthy profile of Donna Fenton. The story described how much difficulty she and other victims of hurricane Katrina were having in getting assistance from government agencies.


The Times issued Thursday this embarrassing correction after Ms. Fenton was arrested for grand larceny and welfare fraud:


"Prosecutors say she was not a Katrina victim, never lived in Biloxi, and had improperly received thousands of dollars in government aid.


"For its profile, the Times did not conduct adequate interviews or public record checks to verify Ms. Fenton's account...Such questions would have uncovered a fraud conviction and raised serious questions about the truthfulness of her account."


This was the second front page correction in as many weeks for the Times, which on March 18 admitted that Ali Shalil Qaissi, featured in a lengthy profile the week before, was not, as he had claimed, the man in a famous photograph of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.


"The Times should have been more persistent in seeking comment from the military," that correction said. "A more thorough examination of previous articles in the Times...would have shown that in 2004 military investigators named another man as the one on the box, raising suspicions about Mr. Qaissi's claim."


On Thursday, the Associated Press reported an "unexpected" jump in home sales, and a "greater than forecast" drop in unemployment claims.


"Unexpected" by whom? Economic conditions are nearly the same now as they were at this point in Bill Clinton's second term. The unemployment rate last month was 4.8 percent. In February of 1998, it was 4.6 percent. Gross domestic product grew 4.1 percent last year (even with Katrina), compared to 4.5 percent in 1997.


News coverage then emphasized good economic news (Nexis indicates there were 81 stories in 1997 that used the phrase "booming U.S. economy," versus just 13 last year). News coverage now emphasizes bad news.


This likely explains the substantial disparity between the percentage of Americans who think they're doing well economically and those who think the country is. (According to the Gallup Poll, 52 percent of Americans think their personal finances are excellent or good, but only 34 percent give that description to the economy as a whole.)


Gayle Taylor's complaint has nothing to do with Donna Fenton or the state of the economy. But it's rooted in the sloppy journalistic practices those stories reveal.


Ms. Taylor is the wife of an Army sergeant who just returned from Iraq. At a town meeting in Wheeling, West Virginia Wednesday, she told the president:


"It seems that our major media networks don't want to portray the good. They just want to focus on another car bomb. They just want to focus on some more bloodshed..."


Ms. Taylor's question was greeted by a standing ovation from nearly everyone in the packed hall.


ABC News received hundreds of emails after the town meeting. "The vast majority believed the media were biased in their Iraq coverage," ABC acknowledged.


The media "jump at the chance to report completely unsubstantiated claims by Iraqis of killings or theft or abuse that simply isn't credible when you know even the first thing about the American military," said "Buck Sargent," an infantry squad leader in Iraq, in an email to radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt. "They give the ruthless killers the benefit of the doubt every time, just to spread more nonsense about us."


The news media have run many stories about Abu Ghraib, including the phony one in the New York Times March 11. But when's the last time you read a story about an American hero in Iraq?


There've been many, but journalists never seem to make it the awards ceremonies.


A recent study by the Media Research Center of broadcast network news coverage of the trial of Saddam Hussein is indicative of imbalance.


ABC, CBS and NBC have broadcast 90 minutes of air time of Saddam's trial (compared to 824 for the O.J. Simpson trial). Of that, just 11.5 minutes have been devoted to actual testimony and evidence. More air time was devoted to Saddam's complaint he was not receiving a fair trial, much more to his courtroom disruptions.


"The trial gives the world the opportunity to understand the scope and brutality of the Saddam regime," wrote Web logger Ed Morrissey. "Our media instead talks about Saddam's love of Cheetos, Ramsey Clark's complaints about Saddam's treatment, and the tyrant's utterly predictable and unremarkable political observations. No wonder we hold journalists in such low esteem"

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JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration. Comment by clicking here.

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