Wednesday, February 4 2004

Star Trib apologizes

Yesterday's HR communique addressed the Minneapolis Star Tribune's anti-Israel double standard in applying the term 'terrorism'

HonestReporting heard today from the Minnesota JCRC that the Star Tribune admitted that they were in error in both instances noted by the communique:

- Regarding the January 21 article in which the Kach movement was described as a terrorist organization, but Hezbollah was not, Star Trib deputy managing editor Roger Buoen said:

Thank your for your recent email about the article and photo caption we published on January 21. As you noted, the Kach movement is described in the photo caption as a group on the U.S. State Department's list of terror organizations, while Hezbollah, which is also on the State Department's list, is referred to in the story as a guerilla organization. I agree with your point that referring to the organizations in this way gave readers and unfair and unbalanced description of the two groups.

The editor who worked on the photo caption added the information about Kahane's group to give background about an organization that is unknown to many of our readers. However, the article was trimmed back for space reasons, and similar background about Hezbollah was left out.

That was a mistake because it created an imbalance in the portrayal of the two organizations. We have talked to the editor involved, and she understands the balance and fairness problem that the editing created.

- Regarding the January 31 story which referred to "Zionist Terrorists," the editor of the Faith and Values section of the paper, Paul Walsh, said:

Quite simply, that was an oversight. A sharp-eyed editor should have changed that word.

Kudos to media monitors at Minnesotans Against Terrorism and the JCRC.

It's our sincere hope that the Star Tribune will not require further critique regarding a double standard in Mideast reporting.

Posted at 01:26 PM

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b7869e200e5503438a18834

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Star Trib apologizes: