Dear Editor,
From it's headline to the closing paragraph, Mike Corder's AP article in the February 20th issue of the Times Union could be a useful teaching tool in any college's journalism class. Students can see how, by writing a report setting forth factual information but omitting salient points, reporters can lead readers to arrive at misinformed conclusions.
The article's headline, "Palestinian foreign minister accuses Israel of apartheid..." is accurate. However, the words of the South African Ambassador, who described the policies and practices of the Israeli government as "an even more extreme form of the apartheid that was institutionalized against Black people in my country", are certainly more newsworthy than the to-be-expected accusation of a Palestinian foreign minister.
While he reported accurately that "Israelis were not scheduled to speak" at the hearings, Mr. Corder neglected to report that the reason they were not scheduled to speak was because of "Israel's decision not to send a delegation to the International Court of Justice this week to defend itself...".
Mr. Corder called readers' attention to the "146 settlements across the West Bank" that have been built by Israel but failed to mention that those settlements/colonies are for Israelis only and are illegal under International Law.
In his closing paragraph, Mr. Corder writes that Israel controls Gaza's "airspace, coastline and population registry" but fails to mention Israel's control of Gaza's 37 mile land border with Israel.
A more thorough report would have fulfilled journalism's critical role of informing the public.
Sincerely,
Paul Rehm