Love of the Land: NPR's Self-Examination

NPR's Self-Examination

Honest Reporting
Media Critiques
02 February '10

According to National Public Radio's statement of principles: "Our coverage must be fair, unbiased, accurate, complete and honest. At NPR we are expected to conduct ourselves in a manner that leaves no question about our independence and fairness."

This is not always the case concerning NPR's coverage of Israel and the Mideast. Commendably, however, NPR allows for independent quarterly critiques. Amongst some of the latest observations and criticisms is the issue of reporting Palestinian casualty figures from Operation Cast Lead:

Rob Gifford's piece for ATC on December 15 reported on a threat by British authorities to arrest former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni. It failed to attribute Palestinian casualty figures during the Israeli-Gaza war. Gifford said "more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the offensive, 13 Israelis lost their lives." There is no question about the Israeli casualties. But Palestinian and Israeli sources dispute the number of Palestinians who died (as well as how many were civilians).

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Love of the Land: NPR's Self-Examination