The Media is the Message

"[K]ey elements in the lobby strive to influence discourse about Israel in the media, think tanks, and academia, because these institutions are critical to shaping popular opinion. They promote efforts to portray Israel in a positive light and they go to considerable lengths to marginalize anyone who questions Israel's past or present conduct or seeks to cast doubt on the merits of unconditional US backing. Pro-Israel forces are well aware that dominating discussions about the Jewish state is essential to their agenda. These efforts do not always succeed, of course, but are still remarkably effective." (The Israel Lobby & US Foreign Policy, Mearsheimer & Walt, p 168)

As above, so below. In its annual review of the Australian media, The best (& worst) of the year awards (The Australian Jewish News, 3/10/08), the Israel lobby's pointy end, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), tells us who it believes has been singing in (and out) of tune. There are, of course, NO surprises:

SBS TV has won the MOST IMPROVED category. "Its news service has ... shown greater fairness on Middle East issues this year, with reports generally including more of the necessary context and fewer factual errors and omissions, and interviewees evenly reflecting relevant viewpoints. Its documentaries on the Middle East have also been much more balanced." In the black-is-white world of AIJAC, this means that efforts to pressure SBS TV to toe the Israeli line have been largely successful. "There is, however, still enough room for improvement - especially in Dateline - for SBS to again be a contender next year." Which is AIJAC's way of saying, 'Listen up, SBS! We may be giving you a pat on the head now, but don't let it go to your head (if you know what we mean). Here's the dice: If you don't shape up further, we won't even consider you as a contender for next year's MOST IMPROVED award. Now there's a good boy - go and do something about Dateline!

AIJAC's BEST FIRST YEAR PLAYER was "shared by ABC Radio correspondent Ben Knight and Fairfax correspondent Jason Koutsoukis" who "brought to their often problematic outlets a refreshingly objective approach, simply reporting on the news and attempting to give both sides of the story." Worthy recipients indeed! Maybe Ben's riveting, in-depth piece on that room in his newly-rented Jerusalem house for Correspondents Report (14/9/08) was what did it for him: "I've been in this room more times than I can remember... And I was never quite sure what it was supposed to be. There's no window, it's very bare. It's just concrete walls, a strange shelf running along one wall, also made of concrete, tiled floors [sic], and not much else... But I finally worked out what it was; this is the house's safe room." And, while outside in the real world Israel is literally wiping Palestine off the map, Ben gets the drum from a nice young Israeli soldier who initiates him in the use of gas masks, presumably because those Iranian rockets with their chemical payloads are fairly straining at their moorings to wipe Jerusalem off the map. But doesn't that include Palestinians? Don't ask! And Ben doesn't -neither about the supposed threat nor its unlikelihood. Yep, I can see why Ben got the gong.

Ben's undoubted promise was again in evidence on today's AM program (Israeli settler violence on the rise), where, having emerged from his Jerusalem bunker, he ventured into the wild West Bank to do a cameo on rampaging Israeli settlers, fell in with a right charmer by name of Hillel Ben Shlomo who had God on his side and wanted the Palestinians to hit the road faster than you can say pogrom. In fact, so charmed was Ben by Hillel that he lapsed into settlerspeak, referring to "Arabs/Arab villages" 6 times.

And Jason - what's swung it for him? Could it have been the fearless objectivity of his reporting on the decidedly non-vibrant (try "ramshacle and unkempt") Syria (Slow road for Damascus, SMH 27/9/08), a country which "does not recognise Israel's right to exist*," has had "few foreign or domestic policy successes over the past 4 decades**," and is "host of armed and dangerous groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad." Could it have been that penetrating insight into the mysterious Syrian psyche provided by a "mobile phone dealer" who reckons You Don't Mess with the Zohan is "the best film of the year"? Who knows? Fortunately, Jason's most recent despatch from the front lines of the world's most intractable conflict - on hummus (that's right, hummus, not Hamas!) - (Tasty object of worship for Muslims and Jews, 4/10/08) should make him a shoo-in for next year's award.

[* Tres naughty!]
[** No occupied territories to speak of! No stranglehold over the US Congress! Too busy hosting Palestinian and Iraqi refugees I guess.]

BEST & FAIREST - no! - goes to Greg (Jerusalem Prize) Sheridan, The Australian's foreign editor, for "consistently showing a superior understanding of Israel's situation and the obstacles to Middle East peace." IOW, he's not only with us. Hell, he's practically one of us!

WORST & UNFAIREST - boo! hiss! - goes to Jason's predecessor at Fairfax, Ed O'Loughlin, for "his consistent use of various forms of often subtle but real journalistic malfeasance," including "the use of biased language, factual misrepresentation and half-truths, editorialising in news stories, and one-sided selection of news subjects and interviewees." IOW, try as we might, we couldn't turn him. Oh, and SMH columnist Alan Ramsey gets a "mention" for "his rants about the supposed* power of the Jewish lobby to suppress criticism of Israel." We can't confuse Joe Sixpack & the Hockey Mums with the bleeding obvious, now can we?

[*See my posts Storms Forecast (22/9/08), Hurricane Herzl (23/9/08) & Hurricane Herzl Fallout (25/9/08)]

AND THE WINNER IS... - you guessed it, clever boy! - The Australian for "its consistently good coverage of the Middle East... led by the best and fairest winner, the excellent Greg Sheridan, [and including] many fine editorials showing a keen understanding of Israel's various predicaments, its right to defend itself and the true obstacles to Middle East peace represented by Palestinian recalcitrance and terrorism." IOW, The Australian's Middle East coverage is sooo good we could've written it ourselves.

Keep up the good work, AIJAC.