Montreal Gazette:
Israel Rally Story "Missed the Mark"
May 20, 2008
By: Mike Fegelman
Dear
HonestReporting Canada subscriber:
Marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel,
over 18,000 people joined in celebration by attending a rally in downtown
Montreal on Thursday May 8.
It was an opportunity for people from all walks of life to gather and celebrate
this joyous and monumental event in peace and harmony.
One would have
expected that news coverage of the event would have trumpeted the celebratory
atmosphere of the rally, or at the very least echoed the significance of this
important and historic milestone, but instead, a
report by Jeff Heinrich in the Montreal Gazette, focused on an isolated
incident where a youth
picked up the fleur-de-lis
(Quebec’s flag) and discarded it, saying “I don’t want this one” in exchange for
the flag of Israel.
Many
people, including several HRC subscribers wrote to the Gazette and complained
that this one incident wasn’t representative of the whole event and that the
tone and content of the report was too “negative.”
Letter writer Michael Finkelstein wrote the following in a
letter to the editor printed in the Gazette in subsequent days:
"The
juxtaposition of the image of the crowd celebrating and waving Israel's
blue-and- white flag with the image of the Quebec blue-and-white flag lying on
the ground, rejected and "trod upon by oblivious students milling around the
monument" is simplistic, divisive and even libellous. When is the
celebration of one country's statehood an automatic rejection of other cultures,
communities, or even nations? Why conjure up an image of conflict when reporting
on the subject of a celebration? La fête nationale is a celebration for all
Quebecers, and isn't a rejection of Canada. Similarly, celebrating Israel's
birthday doesn't equal a negation or rejection of other communities and
cultures, whether Palestinian, Québécois or Canadian, as implied by the bias of
this article.”
Rabbi Michael Whitman, President of the Montreal Board of Rabbis felt that
Jewish patriotism was impugned. According to his letter also printed in the
Gazette:
"I attended a
joyous rally last week to celebrate the miracle of Israel’s 60th birthday,
together with thousands of people from every culture, race and religion, proudly
carrying thousands of flags from Quebec, Canada and Israel – a perfect day
celebrating peace, democracy, brotherhood and idealism. How offensive
that your reporter focused on a single incident by one teenager and used that to
mischaracterize the entire event. How scurrilous that the article implies a lack
of patriotism among Jews for Quebec and Canada when our community is exceptional
for its patriotism. You have sadly replaced reporting news with manufacturing
controversy. You bear the responsibility for much of the ill will
people of different cultures report feeling about each other.
Shame on you.”
Along with
encouraging our members to voice their concerns about the Gazette's coverage of
the Montreal rally, HonestReporting Canada also brought a factual error
contained in Jeff Heinrich's report to the paper's attention.
See our
letter to the editor as printed on May 15 in the Gazette.
As
days followed and letters continued to
pour in, the Gazette reflected on its coverage of the rally. Writing in an
“Ask the Editor” section on Friday May 16, Gazette Editor-in-Chief, Andrew
Phillips
acknowledged that Jeff Heinrich’s story “Missed the Mark” and stumbled at
both the reporting and editorial levels.
It
isn’t every day that a newspaper reflects on its coverage, realizes its
shortcomings, and publicly admonishes itself. Mr. Phillips’ mea culpa
demonstrates that the Gazette is genuinely concerned with ensuring fair and
accurate news coverage of Israel and the Middle East.
How You Can Make a Difference
Commend the Gazette’s Editor-in-Chief for his journalistic integrity and
dedication towards impartial, balanced, and responsible reporting on Israel.
Refer to his
May 16 column entitled "Story on rally missed the mark" and send letters to
Andrew Phillips at:
aphillips@thegazette.canwest.com or call (514) 987-2500.
Pointers for contacting the Gazette: 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 should include sender's name and contact information for
verification purposes.
To
support our continued efforts to hold the Canadian news media accountable for
their reporting on Israel, please
donate here today.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to fair and accurate
media coverage of Israel and the Middle East
