May 9, 2008 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Reverence, Yes; Worship, No Mona Charen: Did Israel Drive Out the Arabs 60 Years Ago? JWisdom: Ultimate opportunities by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky May 8, 2008 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Israel at 3,500+ Jonathan Tobin: Still Fighting the Same War Steven Plaut: How ‘nakba’ proves the fiction of a Palestinian Nation JWisdom: Taking Israel for Granted? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher May 7, 2008 Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Israel is irrelevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Dion Nissenbaum: Latest Olmert scandal could derail efforts to force Israel's compromises JWisdom: My Inner Ventriloquist by Sara Yoheved Rigler May 6, 2008 Caroline B. Glick: Anti-Zionism at 60 The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: In honor of Israel's 60th anniversary, the former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with a smorgasbord featuring the taste and essence of the Jewish homeland JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Jewish Deer in Nazi Headlights May 5, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Busy work Jonathan Mark: Remarkable half-century old Mike Wallace interview with Abba Eban puts current anti-Israel sentiment into perspective May 2, 2008 Rabbi Berel Wein: Rote religiosity Caroline B. Glick: Whitewashing Hamas JWisdom: Parent trap? May 1, 2008 David Zwiebel: Faith communities can learn from Orthodox Jews in stimulating private philanthropy for religious education George Friedman and Peter Zeihan of Stratfor: The Shift Toward an Israeli-Syrian Agreement JWisdom: It's time to wake up by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis April 30, 2008 Jonathan Tobin: Pennsylvania's Democratic slugfest may leave some Jewish votes up for grabs The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Fresh herbs, sauteed veal and tiny creamer potatoes makes a light spring dinner JWisdom: How to Build a Mentch by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 29, 2008 Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood Joel Brinkley: On human rights, the U.N. once again strikes out JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: When The Truth is Unbelievable April 28, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I'm often stuck in the doctor's waiting room for hours! Doesn't he owe me something for my wasted time? Steven Emerson: New U.S. government policy advises agencies to avoid using some of the very same words that make up terror groups' names JWisdom: Why You & I Never Die: A Jewish View of Immortality, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron April 25, 2008 Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg: Schadenfreude isn't kosher for Passover --- or at any other time Rabbi Berel Wein: The secret of how the data bank of memory is transferred from one generation to the next JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part III April 24, 2008 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: The successful failure Fred Burton and Scott Stewart of Stratfor: Placing the terrorist threat to the food supply in perspective JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Part II April 23, 2008 Connie Ogle: An intricate game of a novel Jonathan Tobin: Making Sense of the 'J Street' Jive JWisdom: Stepping Up to A Higher Spiritual Life by Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen April 22, 2008 Jonathan Rosenblum: Why Israel's 'Leaven law' matters Caroline B. Glick: Obama the Savior April 18, 2008 Rabbi Harvey Belovski: Multimedia tool of antiquity Caroline B. Glick: Revealed Truths vs. revealed lies JWisdom: More than miracles by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky April 17, 2008 Rabbi Avi Shafran: Deconstructing Dayeinu Rabbi Elazar Meisels: Is innovation at the Seder a slap at tradition? JWisdom: Discovering Your Divine Mission, Part III by Rabbi David Aaron April 16, 2008 Jonathan Tobin: A Prayer for Sderot's Children Ethel G. Hofman: Sumptuous Seder JWisdom: The Divine is in the details by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 15, 2008 Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Let Charlton Heston Go! Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Jimma, tyranny's enabler JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part IV by Dr. Lisa Aiken April 14, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: The Snitching Supervisor Jonathan Tobin: Forget the Fun and Games! JWisdom: Sincerity is Valued Most by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. April 11, 2008 Rabbi David Gutterman: A Mystery in the Middle East Caroline B. Glick: Why Ahmadinejad smiles JWisdom: Elevated illness by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky April 10, 2008 Stratfor Intelligence Briefing by George Friedman: A Mystery in the Middle East The Kosher Gourmet By Steve Petusevsky: The spring elegance of asparagus JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: The Power of Rational Lies April 9, 2008 Michael Feldberg: An all but forgotten Colonial doctor who put his Jewish values before his life Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's "Everything's Relative" gets philosophical JWisdom: Four Rabbis in Bnei Brak by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 8, 2008 Caroline Glick: Covering for the enemy Elliot B. Gertel: 'House' goes Hasidic JWisdom: Relationships: Beyond Mars & Venus, Part III by Dr. Lisa Aiken April 7, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I have a translating business. Recently someone asked me to translate some financial documents that are clearly forged. Should I agree? Jonathan Rosenblum : Israel is unwittingly helping to fuel the international campaign of delegitimization against it JWisdom: Matzah and leaven as a life philosophy by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. April 4, 2008 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The Mystery of Suffering Caroline B. Glick: Fear of democracy JWisdom: Dirty Jews by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky April 3, 2008 Rabbi Y. Y. Rubinstein: Parents --- and the children who would be them The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Tempted by restaurant dressings? Don't be. Here are recipes that can be made at home, healthier! JWisdom: The importance of retaining a 'slave mentality' by Rabbi Mordechai Becher April 2, 2008 Mitch Albom: Child abuse, disguised as faith Jonathan Tobin: Unreasonable Accommodations JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith with Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Eliminating Jewish Influence over Germans 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 Sept. 27, 2004 / 12 Tishrei 5765 Do Journalists Take Sides? By Jonathan Tobin Reuters spat with chain over use of ‘terrorist’ highlights a built-in bias http://www.jewishworldreview.com | The echoes of Rathergate — the decision by CBS News' Dan Rather to broadcast a story that could affect the results of a presidential election based on fraudulent documents weeks before ballots will be cast — will be heard in the mainstream press for years to come. But no matter what this sorry episode means for Rather's career or the election, the main impact will be to solidify the notion that the media is biased. That was a difficult pill for an old newsman like Rather to swallow, and he still maintains that the blunder was made in "good faith." That, of course, is debatable. But his insistence, despite evidence to the contrary, that his decision was made in the tradition of journalism practiced "without fear or favoritism" is very much in line with a more recent tradition. This is one that maintains journalists must pretend to be objective, no matter how subjective they really are. CULT OF OBJECTIVITY Objective journalism is the ideal, but as much as we journalists like to polish this Olympian pose of disinterested reporting, the truth is, in many cases, it's a lot of bunk. Dan Rather isn't the first and won't be the last journalist to buy into false evidence just because it confirmed his pre-existing notions of what the truth should be. And as notorious as this case is, it isn't nearly as important to our understanding of the way institutionalized bias can operate as other, less publicized issues. Case in point is the way the press labels certain people and activities. Like terrorism. The reluctance of many in the media to tag some people — or anyone for that matter — as a terrorist is an ongoing sore point for many readers, viewers and listeners. Various news media style guidelines have made the use of the word controversial for journalists because it is regarded as subjective or judgmental. Indeed, Steven Jukes, the Reuters news service's former global head of news, famously said in the aftermath of Sept. 11 that: "We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist." While many newspapers and broadcast outlets were not afraid to label the 9/11 attacks as the acts of terrorists, this shibboleth against using the word has been generally observed when it comes to describing those Palestinian Arabs who deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians for mass murder. Few in the secular media have challenged this assertion, thus allowing groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, whose singular purpose is the murder of Jews, to be routinely described as associations of "militants" or "activists," as if they were merely trying to organize a union at a textile factory. This is the line taken by CNN, National Public Radio, The New York Times and Knight-Ridder newspapers. But lately, one exception has popped up — and the high priests of this cult of media objectivity are not happy about it. The Canadian chain, CanWest Global Communications, publishers of 13 daily newspapers including The National Post in Toronto, has instituted a policy of calling terrorists "terrorists." This means that when their papers run world news articles from Reuters, CanWest editors are instructed to substitute the word for whatever euphemism the wire service has employed for these killers. AN ‘EMOTIVE WORD’ To cite an example, one recent Reuters story described the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade as a group that "has been involved in a four-year-old revolt against Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank." Instead of this description, the National Post inserted the following: "The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a terrorist group that has been involved in a four-year-old campaign of violence against Israel." According to David Schlesinger, the current global managing editor for Reuters, this is an outrage. For him, the use of the word terrorist is an "emotive word." He told CBC News that this was an unacceptable slanting of the news. Excuse me? The Al Aksa group has murdered hundreds and maimed thousands of Israeli men, women and children in relentless suicide bombings since September 2000. To describe Al Aksa as anything but a terrorist group is not only false, the Reuters line is itself a classic example of the media spinning the news to fit the frame of reference of one side in a dispute. To describe the Palestinian campaign of terror as nothing more than a "revolt against Israeli occupation" is to buy into the myth that theirs is a battle for freedom, rather than an effort to destroy Israel and kill its people. When Reuters and similar news sources obscure this fact and veil these atrocities in nonjudgmental copy, it is they who are editorializing, not the people at CanWest. Scott Anderson, CanWest's editor-in-chief, told The New York Times that Reuters is off base. "If you're couching language to protect people, are you telling the truth? I understand their motives. But issues like this are why newspapers have editors." He's right. But the question remains: Why don't more editors and newspaper chains — like the Knight-Ridder monopoly, which maintains its stranglehold on daily newspapers in Philadelphia — use their judgment and common sense on this issue, instead of following the herd of politically correct sheep? Do they fear retribution? Schlesinger hinted at this when he told the Times that CanWest's policy could possibly "endanger its reporters in volatile areas." Reuters is worried that the people it won't call terrorists will terrorize them. But there's more to this issue than cowardice. For Reuters, the pretense of objectivity about a group of murderers is more important than telling the plain truth about their activities, especially when they seem to favor the murderer's cause. As long as that is the conventional wisdom among journalists, the profession will continue the slide into the pit that people like Dan Rather and David Schlesinger have dug for us all. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. Let him know what you think by clicking here. Jonathan Tobin Archives > © 2004, Jonathan Tobin