Just Journalism

phil

what will he do with the independent and guardian ?hope he doesnt call in galloway or fisk to help

Ian G

Phil, if you explore the site you will find the answers to your questions. Let's not be too cynical. Holding up core journalistic principles is something that is desperately needed in all aspects of journalism. This is a venture that should be welcomed and encouraged.

Ravi

I read their report on a R4 interview by Rita Chakrabarti following Israel targetting a Hamas building and killing/injuring bystanders. Chakrabarti gets onto the subject of proportional responses:- RC Would you say that your attacks are proportionate to the provocation?

AM: Of course. Hamas has decided that they will continue to target civilians. Today, in fact, one of the rockets hit a nursery school and again, one of these miracles, if you will, prevented a terrible disaster. And we have to react.

RC: But the death toll is very unequal. Over thirty Palestinians have died in the last few days. Israelis have been injured but there haven't been deaths Hence would Chakrabarti be happy if Israel fired 600 rounds at a madrassa to make up for the 600 fired in a Jewish school? How about simply firing back the same number of rockets? Or would you STILL see that as disproportional. I would love to challenge ANY commentator who uses the word 'proportionality'. I hope to hear Melanie have her chance with this on QT or Moral Maze.

Jack R

Yes, Melanie, 'Islam: What The West Needs To Know' is an excellent educational VIDEO (over 1 hr. 30 mins duration); it deserves to be bookmarked by all your commenters.

D Gray

The very fact such an organization has to be established at all is a total disgrace.

Ujima

Rita Chakrabarti is like every other Al-Beebzera reporter.

phil

Ian G hope you are right but I have become cynical and I do not want to be -force of circumstance ,maybe i am naive but the press on the whole have turned full circle since 1972 and much of the population seems to have followed them

KateA

This is a welcome and much needed initiative. Take heart Phil ... there ARE some well-informed media people with integrity out there. The names listed (as advisers) are familiar to me. All have honourable histories of intelligent, balanced journalistic analysis.

phil

thank you kate -i will try -its good to hear from decent people as we are quite a mixed bunch here(lol)

Douglas

That looks interesting. I find it amusing that Phillips highlights the 'core journalistic principles' of the initiative - factual accuracy; impartiality; use of sources and quotes; balance; some concepts she would do well to take more notice of I think.

Max Kaye

As the photo is of the BBC's Broadcasting House, it might be appropriate to raise the subject of the Balen Report.

As the BBC refuse to publish this report - and enquiry into BBC Bias regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict - Is there no honest [sic] person within the BBC who can find and publish a copy for us poor taxpayers who funded it in the first place?

BJ

The idea that Israel gets a bad press because of media "bias" has a long vintage. I recommend chapter 12 of Robert Fisk's seminal work on Lebanon "Pity the Nation". The same old arguments were being churned out 25 years ago, blaming the media rather than addressing the reality

Michael B

"Just Journalism," it's refreshing to merely read those words. All the luck in the world, hope it lives up to its charter and billing.

field

I hope Just Journalism addresses the Madeleine McCann case where a virtual news black out has been in place for several months to the extent that even John Humphrys, who is paid to read the newspapers, got confused in a recent interview and thought that the McCanns' status as criminal suspects (arguidos) had been lifted. It had not.

Ian G

Phil. there is a place for realism(cynicism), but here is also a place for hope.

Field - troll.

phil

BJ you bring a little reality to every blog ,consistent of course,if it wasnt for bloggers like you it would be pointless to come here I suppose, as most of us think in a similar way .but your intelligence shines out as you are the only one who has picked out that it is an Israeli propoganda weapon.you do continue to keep us informed on a regular basis from blog to blog and were it not for your extraordinary acumen we would all be in the dark ,thank you again

Geoff Miller

But we have the marvelously impartial and proactive BBC Trust and OfCom to do this.

...............Only joking!

field

Ian G. -

That's your idea of debate is it? To call someone a "troll"?
Says it all.

This thread is about good, objective journalism. You can hardly have good, objective journalism if you have an organised news black out on a case happening outside UK jurisdiction which has important implications about what we consider acceptable parenting.

It is a disturbing case because our Prime Minister when he was Chancellor (hardly a relevant post) intervened in this case and expressed concern about the Portugese Police investigation - an outrageous piece of interference. And now we have this interference with the way the story is being reported.

phil

i didnt know what a troll was so for the amusement of all you can judge now whether field is a troll -as defined by ian G ---SMILE FIELD YOU ARE A SERIOUS OLD BUGGER ----A troll is a fearsome member of a mythical race from Norse mythology. Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England (also called Trolls at times, see Troller's Gill) – to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground in hills, caves or mounds. In the Faroe islands, Orkney and Shetland tales, trolls are called trows, adopted from the Norse language when these islands were settled by Vikings.

Nordic literature, art and music from the romantic era and onwards has adapted trolls in various manners – often in the form of an aboriginal race, endowed with oversized ears and noses. From here, as well as from Scandinavian fairy tales such as Three Billy Goats Gruff, trolls have achieved international recognition, and in modern fantasy literature and role-playing games, trolls are featured to the extent of being stock characters--definitions from wikipedia (lol)--well the jury,s out

Ann

"The idea that Israel gets a bad press because of media "bias" has a long vintage. I recommend chapter 12 of Robert Fisk's seminal work on Lebanon "Pity the Nation"." --- Read Fisk on the subject of balanced ME journalism??! LOL. That's like reading Goebbels on the rights of the Jews.

Soreofhing

Adel Darwish the director of Just Journalism.....isn't he the chap who, according to Melanie, recently published in the Jerusalem Post that he regards British journalism as "anti semitic"?
Seems he is biased to start with and does not possess the objective stance required to make a reasonable assessment of the job in hand.
Sounds to me, like hiring President Bush to fight for the Democratic party.
I'm not surprised Melanie backs him.