A representative from Honest Reporting accused the media of bias against Israel at a lecture hosted by UW-Hillel Tuesday.
Honest Reporting - an organization that works to ensure clear and fair representation of the issues in Israel by monitoring the media in the area - was represented by its National USA Executive Director, Gary Kenzer. According to Kenzer, members from the organization read more than 400 online newspaper editions every day to catch media biases.
Kenzer said Israel is often assumed guilty right away in situations like that of Muhammad Jamal al-Durrah. Durrah, pictured in a photo with his father during a Palestinian-Israeli clash, became a center for debate in 2000. Kenzer said media outlets released the picture of the father huddling with his child, provoking everyone to blame Israel for murdering Durrah.
Israel has to be treated no differently than any other countries around the world. Innocent until proven guilty, not the opposite,"" Kenzer said. ""Israel is also the same as any other countries around the world, which is it's not perfect.""
According to Kenzer, many recent news stories have cast Israel in a negative light. Kenzer argued reporters are accusing Israel of hindering Jimmy Carter's peace mission and standing in the way of peace with Hamas.
He added that there are also photo biases in the media that distort the truth, such as portraying just a portion of an image, doctoring the photo or not printing photographs at all.
""I thought that it was really interesting to hear and see the huge international media bias against Israel,"" UW-Madison international studies major Emily Singer said. ""I definitely think that it's important to talk about international news to see what other people think and say.""
Kenzer emphasized the importance of educating people about the biased media and exposing such cases.
""We certainly hope that you will do something with it like telling other people and sending a letter to certain paper that you protest. It takes only two minutes,"" he said.
