Saturday, August 19, 2006

A Tepid Response to Palestinian Thuggery

The Palestinian kidnapping of Fox news correspondent Steve Centanni and camerman Olaf Wing is now in its fifth day, and it's interesting to note the flabby response from both the media and so-called journalism "protection" organizations -- which are usually quick to condemn Israel and the U.S. authorities in Iraq.

The usually garrulous Committee to Protect Journalists issued a tepid statement expressing "concern," and the media generally has kept its distance. The New York Times, typically, buried a tiny reference to the kidnapping in a news roundup two days later. Obviously the Times was hoping that Centanni would be swiftly released, and delayed mentioning the kidnapping in the hope that it could report news of his release at the same time. Mustn't upset the myth of Palestinian moderation!

Another big problem with the kidnapping, from the standpoint of pro-Palestinian mouthpieces like the Times, is that it is part of a pattern of Palestinian intimidation of journalists, as noted in an excellent FrontPage Magazine article yesterday.

The media has ignored that aspect of the kidnappings, and instead has even used the kidnappings to give a publicity plug to terrorists, such as in this ludicrous AP story today quoting an Islamic Jihad terorist saying what a terrible thing it is to kidnap people.

It will be interesting to see if the media picks up on the FrontPage Magazine article, and puts the kidnapping in context. Don't hold your breath.

------------------

To read the most recent items in this blog, click here!

To donate to Mediacrity, click here!