Reuters Responds: Pulling the Wool Over Our Eyes?

The disingenious, absolutely llame response speaks even more of an organization which is supposed to portray the the truth is actually a slimy cesspool of doublespeak not worthy of anyone's trust.
How can they otherwise hide their blatantly biased agenda?
Any publication that uses Reuters has to realize they are jeopardizing their own credibility.

Posted by: Ricardo at Jan 4, 2007 4:59:05 PM

Reuters' bias against Israel is breathtaking.They are deceitful and clever in their method of hiding and framing a hateful message amidst beautiful immages.
Where are the immages of terrorist murders of innocent Israelis?

Posted by: Jerrold Terdiman at Jan 4, 2007 5:14:03 PM

Reuters Responds: Pulling the Wool Over Our Eyes? As always media bias!

Posted by: Scc at Jan 4, 2007 5:16:26 PM

This is the email I just sent to Reuters:

Dear Ms. (Mrs? Miss?) Murray -

What a bunch of hokum! Here's why your response is either a deliberation fabrication or the psychotic meanderings of a mentally deranged "professional journalist: Reuters has a LONG, FULL and MUCH CHALLENGED history of coming up with similar meager defenses for it's "reporting".

IF (for example) you were a news media channel with a history of more objectivity (and far less controversy) you might be able to make the same point as you asserted, but unless you are so completely out of touch with what your organization has done (and continues to do), you should share some of your hallucinegenic drugs with others desiring a out of the real world high.

I never thought I would end any letter this way, but you deserve it:

Dispectfully yours,

Jeffrey Ullman

Posted by: Jeff Ullman at Jan 4, 2007 5:51:22 PM

While the calendar is beautiful visually it is insensitive to the polictical situation in the middle east. After just returning from Israel and seeing how the situation is clearly not black and white, there had to be a million more pictures to chose that would not prove to be divisive. One of the things that impressed me was while given special private access to the ER in Haddasah hospital, it was clear that the Arab and Jewish patients were together in the ER with equal access to medical care. Something you don't see on the news!

Posted by: Michelle Diamond at Jan 4, 2007 6:27:58 PM

Sirs:

The obviously, "militantly" chosen photo of the so-called mourner in Gaza (in the red mask, to remind you) can only offend fairminded people who see Reuters again aquiescing to Palestinian pressure by the inclusion of this highly prejudicial photo in its' 2007 calendar. Where are images from war torn Iraq, tragic Darfur or the citizens of New orleans struggling to get back a semblance of normalcy...?!

Posted by: sharon Pinsey at Jan 4, 2007 6:40:38 PM

There is a Reuters advertisement that plays on the radio regularly here in the U.S. that ends with the tag line, "Before it's news, it's Reuters."

I'm not sure what the author of that advertisement meant, but it is so telling as to what Reuters is actually about.

Posted by: Shlomo Katz at Jan 4, 2007 7:07:23 PM

Reuters-
Your July photograph with message re: the Palestinians, clearly an anti-Israeli political message amidst the 11 months of neutral "cultural" events- is greatly disturbing.
You plant seeds of hatred and violence with your gesture.

You lose credibility and contribure to the problem.

Posted by: Robby Heisler at Jan 4, 2007 8:07:11 PM

We at Reuters will focus next year on hearing the world and have pictures concentrating on Ears . . . only 3 of our pictures will have ears in them and of course only one will have a commentary about listening to the Palestinians greivenses against the vile Israeli Oppressors who savagely rule the world.

Posted by: shawn at Jan 4, 2007 9:52:51 PM

Reuters

I have no comment in regards to your calendar. The "militantly" chosen photo of a terrorist among mostly artful calendar pages says it all. Where did you get a red mask, at a Brasilian masquarade?
I have a rhetorical question for you: who pays your bills that you are so blantly biased

Posted by: Laura Fast at Jan 4, 2007 9:55:04 PM

Even had Reuters been able to justify their horrendous selection of this photo, the caption makes it obvious of their devious intent to backhandedly malign Israel by unnecessarily describing that the eyes belonged to someone who was mourning a militiant killed by Israeli soldiers. In none of the other pictures is verbose background description detailed. Reuters enjoys bending over backwards to (not so subtlely) practice anti-semitism.

Posted by: Marc at Jan 4, 2007 11:43:03 PM

There is one other angle to Reuters' bias in their July terrorist pin-up photo: All the other photos were positive and uplifting. Maybe terrorism is the most positive aspect of Palestinian life that Reuters can identify.

Posted by: Gary Katz at Jan 4, 2007 11:55:44 PM

You have the right to print as you see fit; however, you are the one who has to look in the mirror at the end of the day. You might be able to do so now without any pangs of guilt, but one day, sooner than later, you will realize the full ramifications of your dirty deeds, and you will not like what is looking back through the mirror. Try putting that picture in your next calendar; maybe your viewers will see the controversy in that! Remember to be careful though, you would not want to be too blatant or obvious; Reuters is much more suited to using subtlety or innuendo.
Just in case you were unsure, that was sarcasm!

Posted by: DLT at Jan 5, 2007 12:23:31 AM

"Eyes on the World" clearly means photos OF the world, and not as Honest Reporting implies, that the photos should all be photos of eyes. Yes, I agree that Reuters has engaged in political partisanship in producing a Palestinian photo with the inappropriate political caption, but Honest Reporting needs to be careful in their criticism if they wish to guard their integrity when making their criticisms.

Posted by: Ruth Campbell at Jan 5, 2007 12:34:03 AM

July is the only month that is really political and so bias at that. You speak from a forked tongue...

Posted by: shirley kantor-behr at Jan 5, 2007 12:41:35 AM

Congratulations to Reuters. By inserting the political image of a Palestinian mourner, you reaffirmed your stance and political agenda to those who where somehow supporting your claim to evenhandedness. I look forward to next years calendar depicting 11 months of peace and serenity in the world along with the one Jew with horns. Thanks again for officially coming out of the closet.

Posted by: Scott Sherwin at Jan 5, 2007 1:40:20 AM

You wrote back to my first comment about the imbalance of the palestinian terrorist and commentary in contrast to the rest of the calendar. There are many pictures in the calendar that have nothing to do with eyes. Do you think that we cannot see? Wouldn't it have been better to put in a positive picture from the Middle East. They do exist. Such as Israeli and palestinian patients getting equal treatment in Israeli hospitals.

Posted by: esther at Jan 5, 2007 4:40:36 AM

The first 2 photos show Arabs clothed in traditional attire, setting the tone of the calendar's bias: it's largely for them and about them, as 20% of the pictures feature Arabs. Ironically, July 2006, the month in which Israel responded to having its international borders violated and its citizens kidnapped from its own soil, is also the month in which Reuters chose to honour Palestinian "militants" and thus parade its own anti-Semitic leanings. They're slick and devious, I'll give them that.

Posted by: Jill at Jan 5, 2007 5:09:11 PM

My suggestion for Reuters? For your next trick, I mean next calendar, publish this picture, with the corresponding commentary: an Israeli woman, from northern Galilee, her eyes brimming with tears, her face a painful expression of the grief she’s suffering over the death of her husband and her children’s father, killed by the rockets intentionally rained down on Israeli towns, civilian targets, rockets shot by terrorists hiding in Lebanese apartment buildings, hiding amongst mostly supportive Lebanese civilians.
Take that image and caption and call it representative of “events or issues that marked 2006, concentrating on pictures with eyes.” Then tell HonestReporting it’s not a political choice with a political message. Then share with us the uproar it will have caused you amongst your influential Arab clients. Then respond to their complaints with the same nonsense you presented to HonestReporting and its supporters.
Sounds absurd when the tables are turned, doesn't it? Why is it that blatant anti-Semitism is so unrecognizable to those who perpetuate it?

Posted by: Bonnie at Jan 5, 2007 5:19:48 PM

The undeniably beautiful photo, which would not disgrace Vogue, is an incredibly disingenuous piece of propoganda. The sad-eyed Palestinian in the dramatic red mask, the seemingly simple description which without a single emotive adjective still manages to put Israel entirely in the wrong...who's their copywriter, a Mr Goebbels ?

This has the potential to do a great deal of damage; let us pray for discernment among the recipients.

Posted by: Anna at Jan 5, 2007 11:15:09 PM

Eyes of the world should be on Dafur- this is the real tragedy of our time. The calendar would have been perfect for this instead Reuters has reached the hight of media bias.

Posted by: Dee Sender at Jan 6, 2007 6:05:35 AM

I agree with Ruth. All news is edited - if they had to choose a picture, why not this one? Is it not reality? Both sides can find many pictures supporting their conflict, so let's not blow this out of proportion. It may not be right to everyone, but it is certainly not uncommon.

Posted by: Scott at Jan 6, 2007 7:49:09 AM

Oh, how quickly we forget. Has everyone forgotten the Wall Street Journal article (several years ago) that spelled out the purchase of Reuters by an all Arab group? What did you expect? Putting pressure on a window dressing Jew in the PR Department will not achieve much more than going after PR personnel at NPR (National Propaganda Radio)Stations that " . . . have a psydo "duty" to present an on-going program of Pro-Islamic and Pro-Palestinian education. NPR, who hand picks their Board Members from narrow lists of well-heeled ancient matrons with solid WASP credentials or from collections of "Liberals" dedicated to the new, "Final Solution, of the Middle East problem.

Posted by: Ross at Jan 6, 2007 8:24:26 AM

Same old Reuters! Will there be a difference in 2007? -- probably not.

Posted by: Ralph at Jan 6, 2007 3:08:01 PM

It is not unusual to Reuters to have no spine. they have been doing that for years. I my mind Reuters is like the old whore standing in the street corner...out of touch with reality and NO BODY wants her

Posted by: tomas at Jan 7, 2007 5:18:57 PM