;.cCNN 10/31/96
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;.l2,15,75,192,2,20,25,127,15,0,
;.l3,20,75,192,2,25,127,20,0,
MEDIA BIAS
TO:    David Bedein, Israel Resource, Bet Agron Press Center
       37 Hillel St., Jerusalem 94581
       Tel:  02--236-368;  FAX:  02--6255-119 Att: DB
       E-Mail:  media@actcom.co.il
FROM:  Steve Amdur, Kibbutz Haon, Jordan Valley, 15170 Israel.
       Telephone:  972-6-6656-572; FAX:  972-6-6656-554
DATE:  
RE:    
REF:   CNN News Thursday 10/31/96 20:00 METV
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I failed to note the details, but concluded that CNN has departedfrom its pro-USA anti-Israel bias, and has now taken a proEuropean anti-Israel bias.  The European position isstraightforward, by European standards:  be more pro-Arab/ antiIsrael 
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(with just enough dash of discreetly veiled anti-Semitism 
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[viz., snub the Jews & patronize the Arabs] 
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to be politically chic without being politically incorrect)  
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than the USA, in order to get the Arab military contracts, keepArab terrorism NIMBY, and forestall the Arabs from sayingpublically that they will repay their European debts whenBeelzebub hosts the figure-skating Olympics. 

This CNN script introduced two slants, both as if reporting facts: (1) That the USA is not presently serving as a "mediator" in theIsrael/PLO quagmire, because the USA is paralyzed by thePresidential election [ie, Clinton is afraid of losing the Jewishvote']; so therefore it's up to Europe to fill the breach.  

(2)  That the European nations and Russia are in some senselegitimate concerned parties in the Israel/PLO dispute.  
	That is: that having been invited to the Madrid Conference insome sense makes them co-signers of a multi-party treaty.  
	This is the deliberate misconception that Tom E. Friedman etal. repeatedly invoke on behalf of our Best Buddy Big Bill -- thathaving signed the Oslo accords as a witness somehow gives himstanding as a concerned party in a multi-nation treaty, and hencethe right to impose his nation's interests on a final settlement 
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-- which of course is what what the USA and Europe arescrambling to do.  
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A nation suffering from diplomatic isolation can alwaysalleviate the lonliness by committing incrementalsuicide, then lots of solicitious  vultures some by toask your health. 
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So all CNN has done is to deal Europe in on this fiction.

One phrase of truth snuck into that script, because villains can'tresist cheap puns:  "Russian and European demands for a piece ofthe action"

.p
MEDIA BIAS
TO:    David Bedein, Israel Resource, Bet Agron Press Center
       37 Hillel St., Jerusalem 94581
       Tel:  02--236-368;  FAX:  02--6255-119 Att: DB
       E-Mail:  media@actcom.co.il
FROM:  Steve Amdur, Kibbutz Haon, Jordan Valley, 15170 Israel.
       Telephone:  972-6-6656-572; FAX:  972-6-6656-554
DATE:  1 Nov 96
RE:    DISCONTIUATION OF MOST HARD-COPY
REF:   
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If you have a specific concern, and want a specific focus andspecific tone (and length), let me know.  

Otherwise, in general, I won't send you hardcopy of my ramblingson media bias; I'll periodically send you material on a disc; orby E-mail if/when I get hooked up.

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MEDIA BIAS
TO:    David Bedein, Israel Resource, Bet Agron Press Center
       37 Hillel St., Jerusalem 94581
       Tel:  02--236-368;  FAX:  02--6255-119 Att: DB
       E-Mail:  media@actcom.co.il
FROM:  Steve Amdur, Kibbutz Haon, Jordan Valley, 15170 Israel.
       Telephone:  972-6-6656-572; FAX:  972-6-6656-554
DATE:  
RE:    
REF:   TIME 4 Nov 96 [Thomas Sancton/Beirut]
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I don't know what the Beirut dateline means here.  He spent anhour in the duty-free shop?

"Chirac was nonly voicing principles tht most Middle East analystsbelieve must be the essential elements of an eventual settlement."
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COMMENT:  The Dr. Marcus Wellby M.D. ploy:  Be there or besquare.  All the Experts agree, in sober tones, so why areyou hesitating like a dumb little kid?

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"French officials claim they can help restore the confidence ofthe Arabs, who consider the U.S. too tilted toward Israel."
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COMMENT:  To rationalize its campaign to out-suck the USA,France must define the USA as "tilted" -- or here, addinginsult to falsehood, "too tilted" .

"restore the confidence of the USA"  - as if the Arabs wereinnocent traumatized children who want to make peace buthestitate to do so because they lack confidence due to abattered self-image.  Again, the fallacy of personalizationof national politics.  
	In this case you've got a small clique of professionalterrorist extortionists with a manipulatable base of cannonfire, supported by western powers that want some of theirmoney, and fear assassination and terrorism.
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"the rough treatment he [Chirac] received from the security forcesthat accompanied his party on a walking tour of old Jerusalem."
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COMMENT:  A self-perpetuating falsehood; Chirac did theshoving, and staged the incident by making an unscheduledchange in route.  The security forces, most properly,prevented unidentified Palestinians -- described by the pressas "well-wishers" [ offering cups of hot tea?] -- from coming up to Chirac.  
	Given the Rabin assassination, which occurred when anunidentified individual who looked as if he posed no problemcame within physical proximity of his target, any securityofficer who did otherwise would risk or lose his job.

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And now, a dash of truth:  "The goodwill he [Chirac] generated maypay off in future contracts for French businesses -- notablyincluding arms exporters."
		
.p
MEDIA BIAS
TO:    David Bedein, Israel Resource, Bet Agron Press Center
       37 Hillel St., Jerusalem 94581
       Tel:  02--236-368;  FAX:  02--6255-119 Att: DB
       E-Mail:  media@actcom.co.il
FROM:  Steve Amdur, Kibbutz Haon, Jordan Valley, 15170 Israel.
       Telephone:  972-6-6656-572; FAX:  972-6-6656-554
DATE:  
RE:    
REF:   Newsweek 14 Oct 96 (Russell Watson & Tara Sonenshine; withreporting by Mark Dennis, Jerusalem.)
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Poopoohead as Abe Lincoln, contemplating the gathering clouds:

[Poopoohead] "left Washington empty-handed and tight-lipped,plainly concerned about the potnetial for a new round of violencein the tense streets and refugee camps of his beleagured ministate."
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COMMENT:  
Yup, he is always concerned about the potential for violence.
And it ain't a state.
Why not talk about Castro's beleagured mini-state?
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"an archeolotgical tunnel near the Muslim holy places inJerusalem"

"Hosni Murbarak, an American friend"

"And as if it needed to be said, Republical presidential candidateBob Dole pointe dout that it would be impolitic to pur pressurefor condessions  on "our friend, Israel"."
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COMMENT:  The `pivotal word' here, which tilts the passage tobias, is 'impolitic'.
A hint that it is the  pivotal word comes from acknowlging,rather than brushing past, the perception that the worddoesn't quite fit here (even if one can't readily sayprecisely why it doesn't fit, nor quickly find a better term-- though sometimes the whole sentence is so far from truththat no more precise word is possible, because there's nofact to be designated).

    So again:  assuming that an international news-magazinehas first-rate editors, ask:  why would they use a word thatdoesn't quite fit.   
  
	The sub-text is:  the Jews are buying the elections, asusual.  
	I'm not sure how I'd prove that that is the  sub-text.
	For starters, it's an insinuation, not an allegation.
An insinuation is by definition equivocable, retractable, notclear-cut.  One can't precisely prove that someone has madean insinuation, because  insinuations are the sort of thingthat are never  made precisely.   

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That's what made Iago the archetypal villain; hisrevenge was perfect because in the last analysis it wasthe dumb but honest Moor Othello, not the establishmentcourtier Iago, who accused Othello's wife of infidelity.
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Actually here the proof is pretty easy.  `Impolitic' is anuncommon word; it would seem to a sub-average reader (and whoelse would read the pandered pap of newsmagazines) to referto politics;  but actually means only something like'inappropriate' or `tactless' [I have to go to the dictionaryhere, which shows the word ain't common.  Websters gives'impolite'; Oxford Concise gives 'inexpeditent' 'unwise'.
	I don't know what to do methodologically with dictionarydefinitiions.  For starters, they're not prescriptive (exceptfor technical terms); they're descriptive, and oftenimprecisely so.
	On some definitions,  the literal meaning of the term`impolitic' simply makes no sense ("impolite") or is false("inappropriate" ) in the sentence in which it is used; thatwould prove that the term, assuming it was used knowingly andintentionally, was used for its insinuation-force, not itsdenotative nor connotative force.  
	That is:  Interpersonal politeness was not at issuehere; and it is appropriate for heads of state to criticizethe policies of states with which they consider themselvesallied.
	If one takes a definition that does fit -- eg"inexpedient" -- then one is left with a simple duplicity: the literal meaning is true but trivial; the insinuation isfalse but significant. 
	ONE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW  WHICH DICTIONARY TIME & NEWSWEEKKEEP ON-LINE, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE THEIR CYA DEFENSE AGAINSTCHARGES OF MEDIA-BIAS.

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"He [Netanyahu] doesn't quite know how to to go about making aconcession," says one of  Clinton's top aides.  "He's stilllearning."
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COMMENT:  Sounds like a line from the Elder Statesman of theBuggers Club. 
Message seems to be:  He can be had, but give us time.
Again:  That would fit the theory  of media-bias that takesthe mass-media  as a postal service between officials headsof state,  with the readership as  props.  A vehicle  forsaying  what's true (or for what one wants to make someonethink is  true) but which it would be impolitic to saythrough  the highly formalized, even  ritualized,  officialchannels.

The mass-media have  tried many theories about Netayahu: he's Max Headroom, Plastic King of  the Sound-Bite; he's theReincarnation of  the Trojan Horse; he's  Incompetent; he's aGood Boy but needs time to learn.  
	The  only theory that's not considered is that he knowsthe risks Israel faces and is steering his policyaccordingly, within the constraints of pressures from foreign powers.  
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"The danger is that Israel's hard line  has already  enragd somany Arabs that the issue may be settled in the streets and  notat the negotiating table."
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COMMENT:  Again, a threat disguised as political analysis andprediction.  And again,  the fallacy of personalization ofnational movements.
	Fact is that Poopoohead  turns the violence  on and offaccording to his own calculations.

