An Outsider Looking In
Not only the election
by Chris Gelken

Friday, Nov. 17, 2000 -- HONG KONG (gelken.com via AmpolNS) -- Obviously - or so you'd think, for us hard working editors at journals, radio and television stations far away from the real action in Florida - the only story of the week has been, well, Florida. Okay, so it has been my lead story in most of the newscasts I've made this past week. 

But watching the global networks on television and ploughing through reams of wire-service copy, it seems that many of the original disputes in this election are being buried - buried deep.

Whatever happened, for example, to the claim that the layout of the controversial 'butterfly' ballot and the fact that the main contenders should - under Florida law - have their punch buttons running consecutively from the top? The Pat Buchanan admission that he obviously picked up a lot of votes that should have gone to Gore. Surely, this alone would have justified a new ballot - not recounts. 

Over here we've laughed out loud at Bush supporters and their placards saying "We were not confused." Of course you weren't - your candidate and his button were up there, top left and first on the ballot, exactly where you would expect it to be. 

We did have a bit of discussion over Al Gore's offers today. Especially the invitation to Bush for a one-on-one meeting before the final declaration. I suggested that Gore wanted to whisper in George's ear that the Democrats 'had the goods' on him - and unless he allowed the recounts to go ahead - well, who wants to be elected president because the other contender was disqualified for nefarious election deeds...? But it appears the mainstream press believe Gore was just playing to the audience. But what if he wasn't? Saving someone's face isn't an exclusively Asian trait.

If nothing else, this saga has been entertaining. I could live with it for another week.

Okay, enough on that subject, I am supposed to be responsible for foreign affairs. 

A complaint by the Israeli delegation visiting Washington earlier this week raised a chuckle. Apparently they are less than happy with the coverage they have been getting from CNN. Biased towards the Palestinians, the Israeli diplomat claimed. Putting Israel in a bad light, he said. The official said CNN's coverage "doesn't adhere to acceptable norms of journalism." 

Well, compare those claims with this newsletter circulated by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) on November 3rd.

Quote:

November 3, 2000

The turmoil in the Middle East has been a top international story on television news since fighting broke out between Palestinians and Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza in late September. But amid the constant flow of footage showing violent confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, a central fact of the conflict has been missing from almost all network TV coverage: The West Bank and Gaza are occupied territory.

The three major networks' evening news broadcasts -- ABC's World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News -- aired 99 stories mentioning the West Bank or the Gaza Strip from the outbreak of fighting on September 28 through November 2. But only four of these stories informed viewers that Israel occupies those lands.

Virtually the entire world, including the United States and the UN Security Council, regards Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian land seized in the 1967 war as a violation of international law. Even Israel does not contend that the West Bank and Gaza are part of its national territory, instead referring to them euphemistically as "administered territories."

Yet in a typical 90-second news story reporting on "Palestinian violence" (as it is routinely called) against Israeli occupation soldiers, viewers are not told that Palestinians are fighting against a military occupation. The right to use force to resist foreign occupation is universally recognized and enshrined in international law.

Unquote. 

Having quoted that, you'd probably have to agree the Israeli diplomat was a little out of line picking on CNN. He could even be accused of biting the hand that feeds him. Veteran readers of American Politics, however, might remember my diatribes against this particular network for what I considered their biased reporting on the Bosnian War and the Kosovo Conflict. So the Israeli diplomat might have a point... and then again, maybe he doesn't.

Makes you think, doesn't it?