Have we started a mini-earthquake that’s headed straight for the Grey Lady’s department of propaganda? Adbusters ran my piece critiquing Bronner and Kershner’s pro-Israel bias (also in print, Aug/Sept. issue):
In June of 2010, a year and a half after the Israeli military launched what a United Nations investigation described as “a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population,” the New York Times sent a photographer into Gaza to capture a slice of daily life. Ethan Bronner, the Times Jerusalem bureau chief, wrote the narrative for the photo essay entitled “Gaza, Through Fresh Eyes,” in which he gushes about “jazzy cellphone stores and pricey restaurants … endless beaches with children whooping it up … the staggering quality of the very ordinary.”…
The impression left by Bronner? Gaza is an OK place; nothing remarkable to see there, least of all evidence of Israeli war crimes; move along, move along.
Kudos to Adbusters for the concluding call to action––jump on this, folks!
Send a letter to the times letters editor thomas feyer at letters@nytimes.com or tweet him @tomfeyer.
This piece was inspired by several past critiques of the NYT, here here here and here - we are having an influence.
