Monday, January 14, 2008

MORE CANADIAN "CORRECTNESS"

HonestReporting Canada notes that a report by Canwest Mideast correspondent Matthew Fisher which discussed President Bush’s whirlwind visit to the region was printed in last Tuesday’s edition of the Montreal Gazette and reported the following:

"Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have given President George W. Bush a welcome gift on the eve of his arrival in the Holy Land today. After sharp differences over the Palestinian Authority's failure to stop attacks on Israel…"

"The immense difficulty that peace negotiators have had for decades were underlined again early yesterday by the first Katyusha rocket attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel in several months and on Monday when a rocket fired from Gaza landed farther inside Israel than any before it."

To the naked eye, this report seems accurate but when comparing this article to other Canwest papers that featured Mr. Fisher’s report, one can’t help but notice a stark difference.

The Victoria Times Colonist, Vancouver Province, Windsor Star, Regina Leader Post, Calgary Herald, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, and Edmonton Journal all reported the following:

"After sharp differences over the Palestinian Authority's failure to stop terrorist attacks on Israel ..."

"... on Monday when a terrorist rocket fired from Gaza landed farther inside Israel than any before it."

HonestReporting Canada contacted editors at the Montreal Gazette questioning the editing of the term "terrorists" from the Gazette’s version and was fobbed off with the remark that "the Gazette is free to edit Canwest news service copy for reasons of style and space." This is despite the fact that the only word that suffered from the editing was "terrorist".

The Canadians have a point but the Montreal Gazette doesn't hold a candle to the Jerusalem Bureau chief of the Melbourne Age who not only manages to expunge the “terror” word from his reports but also the actions of the perpetrators of the terror. We're still waiting for word from him about the katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon into the Israeli town of Shlomi last week. No doubt he will give it as much space as he gives the daily rocket attacks on the Israeli town of Sderot - zilch.

No comments: