Netanyahu’s Speech: Redlining the New York Times

We all need an editor sometimes, but come on now ...

“All the news that’s fit to print.”

The New York Times provided live coverage of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress. As is so often the case, a lot of the phrasing reflected longstanding media biases against Palestine and in favor of the Israeli military.

To be fair, the reporters who contributed to this coverage had to work fast. (Don’t we all, sometimes?) These edited excerpts from their coverage (edited by me, that is) should be seen as friendly criticism. (I guess I wouldn’t see it that way if I were them, but hopefully they’re better people than I am.)

And to its credit, the Times did eventually publish a fact-check of Netanyahu’s speech—although it overlooked many falsehoods and bloopers, including its own. But even that modest effort would have been unthinkable until recently, so I guess it’s progress.

I’ve been doing research for some explainers on Israel/Palestine and trying to decide whether to publish them. The coverage of Netanyahu’s visit has convinced me to go ahead. In the meantime, here are some friendly suggestions for the Times, using marked-up excerpts from its reporting. Each update was bylined, so I have included the bylines below. (It’s probably best read on a tablet or computer.)

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That’s all I’ve got—for now. And hey, this was a rush job, too, so revenge-seekers should feel free to get out their red pens. Links are below.

As old-school reporters used to type, back in the days when the word was “reporter” and not “journalist”: -30-

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Forensic analysis of ‘babies’ claim: link

Israeli soldiers boast of unlawful actions on social media: link

Kinky Friedman’s admittedly controversial assertion: link

On fake charges of antisemitism: link

Meaning of “GTFO” for the oldsters among us: link

Meaning of “-30-”: link