(Photo: MediaBistro.com)
You would think that after the controversies involving New York Times reporter Ethan Bronner, the former Jerusalem bureau chief, the paper would be extra-careful about its Israel/Palestine coverage. But you would be wrong.
There is no disclosure to readers of the New York Times that Isabel Kershner, a Jerusalem correspondent for the Times, is married to Hirsh Goodman, who works for a government-linked Israeli think tank called the Institute for National Security Studies. Specifically, Goodman is the senior research fellow and director of the Charles and Andrea Bronfman Program on Information Strategy, tasked with shaping a positive image of Israel in the media.
(Readers of Mondoweiss will be familiar with this story–see posts on Goodman and Kershner here, here, and here.)
That’s the subject of a new report I authored that appears in the latest issue of Extra!, a magazine published by the media watchdog group FAIR.
Here are some excerpts:
The Institute for National Security Studies is well-connected to both the Israeli government and its military. Many of its associates come from government or military careers; its website boasts of the group’s “strong association with the political and military establishment.” In 2010, according to INSS financial documents, the Israeli government gave the institute about $72,000.
The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz (10/5/08) identified INSS-produced papers as backing the “Dahiyah doctrine,” an Israeli military doctrine that calls for disproportionate force to be used on civilian infrastructure in Gaza and Lebanon during operations against Hamas and Hezbollah. The doctrine was applied in 2008–09 during Israel’s invasion of Gaza, and was cited, along with the INSS papers, in the UN Goldstone report, which accused Israel of committing possible war crimes (9/25/09).
Goodman’s job within that context is spin. “The media is of strategic importance in a political and military conflict, since it has a formative influence on the degree of legitimacy that each side enjoys,” he writes in an explanation of the Bronfman Program on the INSS website. “Israel must devise a strategy to impact positively on international and Arab public opinion and overall disseminate its message more effectively.”
The INSS is certainly disseminating its message effectively in the Times. From 2009–12, there were 17 articles Kershner wrote or contributed to where officials from the INSS were quoted
[…]
It’s normal, of course, for Kershner to have sources in a well-connected and respected institution like the INSS, and she has never used her husband as a source. But it’s extraordinary to report on Israel/Palestine without ever disclosing to readers the tie Kershner has to someone in the heart of Israel’s security establishment whose job is precisely to make sure that Israel receives favorable media coverage.
Media ethics expert Kevin Smith, the chair of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Ethics Committee and an instructor at James Madison University, says that Kershner’s case is a “basic ethics 101 lesson.” In an email, Smith explained: “Repeatedly going to that agency for information still raises serious questions…. The relationship that develops here is not healthy for unbiased news coverage. It’s too awash with personal connections.”
He added that, “at the very least, disclosure is demanded…. You cannot expect trust or to maintain credibility from the public when, before they read a word of your copy, you have engaged in an act of deception by not disclosing your potential conflicts.”
The New York Times did not return requests for comment on this story.
Read the whole article at FAIR’s website here, and check out Max Blumenthal’s take here.
I am embarrassed to confess that I once believed that the New York Times was the greatest newspaper on the planet and didn’t understand that it was a crude propaganda platform for a foreign government. Live and learn. Many Americans are now much more savvy about the New York Times than they were before the Iraq War.
For Semantic Web enthusiasts:
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1. category; Hirsh Goodman affiliation; INSS (Institute for National Security Studies)
2. category; Hirsh Goodman wife; Isabel Kershner
3. category; Isabel Kershner affiliation; New York Times
4. category; Isabel Kershner husband; Hirsh Goodman
5. vector; Israel > INSS (Institute for National Security Studies) > Hirsh Goodman > Isabel Kershner > New York Times
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As McBride suggests, who goes to bed with a pro-Likud propagandist wakes up with pro-Likud fleas. Hope the NYT itches a bit.
killer alex, you so rock.
An examination of articles that Kershner has written or contributed to since 2009 reveals that she overwhelmingly relies on the INSS for think tank analysis about events in the region.
just pillow talk no doubt eh Isabel?
from fair
It’s normal, of course,for Kershner to have sources in a well-connected and respected institution like the INSS, and she has never used her husband as a source.
she doesn’t have to, he can feed her his sources directly during the lube job.
Fellow Mondoweiss users Isabel Kershners Husband has urged the Government of Israel to treat threats to its image as acts of war, and to respond in kind. Max Blumenthal http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/gadfly/another-major-conflict-interest-ny-times-jerusalem-bureau. What does that mean? So tone it down, for myself I will not post another comment, did you hear that Herr Lieberman.