By Andrew L. Jaffee

Jules Crittenden, Boston Herald City Editor, explains why there is a double-standard in the mainstream media when reporting on the Fox News correspondents being held hostage by Palestinian terrorists. I have excerpted salient points here, but you should read the entire essay, entitled “Asking for it: why terrorism vs. Fox TV is not news:”

In the case of Centanni and Wiig, observing the atypical media silence, I had the same suspicions some of the bloggers had, notably www.michellemalkin.com, www.riehlworldview.com, and www.freedomszone.com, that Fox newsmen don’t command the same level of sympathy and interest in our largely left-leaning media that Carroll did.

I am well aware of the complexity of news placement decisions on any given day. It is easy to throw stones.I would not be inclined to believe there might be bias at play here if it wasn’t for the vitriol I’ve seen expressed repeatedly about Fox within the news business and out of it, over the mere existence of a news outlet with the effrontery to offer a rare alternative to the media’s prevalent starched-shirt liberalism … to be unabashedly pro-American, pro-Israel and anti-terrorist at a time when those things are anathema. We are very accustomed to this kind of criticism at the Boston Herald.But it has achieved a new cynical depth. With two men missing and held by an unknown terrorist group, this is what is posted at www.poynter.org/romenesko, a media discussion forum with a marked tendency to highlight liberal views and give short shrift to voices that don’t march in lockstep.

San Diego Union-Tribune TV critic Bob Laurence:”They are far from the first to be kidnapped … the kidnapping or targeting of journalists in Iraq isn’t the story it once was.”

A patently false statement, given the huge coverage Jill Carroll’s retrospective is currently receiving, not to mention the factual issue that these two were taken in Gaza, not Iraq. But a fair discussion of the issue.

Then he goes on to suggest it is Fox’s own fault, that Fox’s honest conservatism in a “fair and balanced” presentation — which we can compare to the bulk of the American media’s sham pretense of “objectivity” — has set Fox apart in its own conservative ghetto.Other media outlets can be excused if they don’t care about these particular newsmen. Fox has been asking for it.

“Fox has deliberately set itself apart from other media … You can’t keep insulting people and then expect friendship when you need it,” writes Laurence.

Proclaiming a desire to be “fair and balanced,” and to have executives and commentators question whether this is true of other news outlets, has placed Fox beyond the Pale. For these ideological reasons, an act of terrorism targeting news professionals just isn’t a big deal.

I have no doubt news organizations will fall over themselves to make up for the silence now. They have the terrorist video to run, and they are not insensitive to jabs from the right.They need to keep their fig leaves in place.

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Categories, Tags: United States, Palestinians, Political Correctness, Media/Blogsphere

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