Media Downplay Rocket Attacks on Israel
September 12,
2007
Dear
HonestReporting Canada subscriber:
Six years after the deadly
September 11 terror attacks, it’s easy for North Americans to forget that the
democratic country most directly targeted by radical Islamic terrorists today is
Israel. As Israelis welcome the Jewish New Year, they contemplate yet another
year of violent Arab attacks designed to injure, kill and intimidate them.
Approaching its 60th year of statehood, the small island of democracy
in the Middle East awakes each day to news of fresh attacks – some threatened,
some foiled, and some successful.
By far the most frequent
site of attacks against Israelis is in southern Israel, and especially the small
Israeli town of Sderot bordering Gaza. In the last 7 years, 12 Israelis have
been killed by Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza; in the last 5 years,
over 2,000 Palestinian Kassam rockets have exploded. But if you get
your news from the Canadian media, you might barely know about
the deadly game of
“rocket roulette” that Sderot residents are caught in.
Most Attacks Ignored
An old news maxim says, “If
it bleeds, it leads.” Now that 69 Israeli soldiers were wounded by an exploding
Kassam rocket fired from Gaza, Canadian media have devoted some coverage to this
latest attack. But what of the many other attacks that aren’t quite as
dramatic?
On September 3, a
Palestinian rocket
landed in a courtyard next to a
crowded daycare centre -- one of seven rockets fired at Sderot that day. And
on September 6, a Kassam rocket landed near a
Sderot high school. No one was injured in these attacks; as a result, most
Canadian media ignored these narrowly-averted catastrophes. Click the image
below, or go
here, to view footage from the September 3 attack.
Failing to Name the
Aggressor
Even as
Canadian media reported the September 11 rocket attack that injured 69 Israeli
soldiers, the headlines accompanying the news reports were woefully inadequate.
With the exception of the Vancouver Sun, almost all major news outlets failed
to identify who committed the attack.
(One wonders
if the media would neglect to mention who fired the rockets if the rockets were
being launched from Israel.)
For example:
-
CTV.ca: “Rocket wounds dozens at Israeli army base”
-
CBC Online: “At least 60 wounded as rocket hits Israeli army base”
-
Toronto Star: “Rocket strike injures 36 Israelis”
-
Ottawa Citizen: “Rocket attacks injure 36 Israeli soldiers”
-
Victoria Times Colonist: “Gaza rocket wounds 36 Israeli soldiers”
-
CFRA.com: “Rocket Attack on Israeli Army Camp”
- Montreal Gazette: “36 soldiers hurt in Gaza rocket strike” (Not online)
How
This Distorts Canadians’ Understanding of the Region
The media’s failure to
report on these attacks creates a false sense of reality about what is happening
in Israel. This distortion of the news by
omission (failing to report relevant information) is just as
dangerous as distortion of the news by
commission (reporting unfair or inaccurate information). If the
Canadian media don’t report on the attacks against Israel, how can they
contextualize the eventual Israeli response? The news media need to begin
telling the truth about the ongoing, relentless war of rockets against Israel.
How the Media Can Improve
HonestReporting Canada calls
on Canadian news organizations to
avoid the urge to give in to "story fatigue," in which significant events
that occur repeatedly eventually become part of the background noise. The fact
that rockets keep falling in Israeli school zones is still newsworthy, even if
is becoming an all-too-common occurrence.
How You Can Make
a Difference
HonestReporting Canada is at
the forefront of ensuring fair and accurate news coverage of Israel and the
Middle East. We communicate with news media on a daily basis to correct their
errors and to promote more professional coverage of the region. But we need your
help.
-
Donate:
Support HonestReporting Canada so we can continue holding the media
accountable
-
Spread the word:
Forward this alert to your friends and encourage them to subscribe
-
Take
action: Write letters to Canadian media outlets asking them to give more
coverage to the embattled city of Sderot.
See our
Contact the Media page for contact information.
Pointers for contacting the
media: State your position
clearly in your own words, remain rational and polite, and contact us at
action@honestreporting.ca to tell us you took action. To be considered for
publication, letters must include sender’s name, address and phone number;
street names and phone numbers will not be published.
