Some have suggested that Americans are watching a different war in Lebanon than much of the world. We’re joined by three panelists -- Peter Hart of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) in New York, Middle East Broadcasters editor Habib Battah in Beirut and Ha'aretz reporter Gideon Levy in Tel Aviv. [includes rush transcript]
We continue our coverage of the situation in the Middle East by examining how the U.S. press has been reporting on Lebanon, Israel and Gaza. Some have suggested that America is watching a different war than much of the world. The British journalist Julian Borger came to that conclusion after watching the news in Washington and London.

The British press, he said, overwhelmingly emphasized the civilian casualties in Lebanon. Meanwhile the U.S. media has focused on the situation in Israeli cities like Haifa. Meanwhile some journalists from the Middle East are now refusing to work with American news outlets.

Earlier this week, two producers working for Fox News in Amman Jordan resigned in protest. In their resignation letter, Serene Sabbagh and Jomana Karadsheh wrote "We can no longer work with a news organization that claims to be fair and balanced when you are so far from that."

They went on to write “Not only are you an instrument of the Bush White House, and Israeli propaganda, you are war mongers with no sense of decency, nor professionalism.”

We speak with a panel of media analysts and journalists here in New York as well as in Lebanon and Israel.

We are joined by Peter Hart in our New York studio as well as Habib Battah in Lebanon and Gideon Levy in Israel. Peter Hart is a media analyst with Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Habib Battah is managing editor of Middle East Broadcasters Journal. He is a former correspondent for The Daily Star and al Jazeera. Gideon Levy is a journalist working for the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz.

Gideon Levy. Journalist working for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.
Habib Battah. Managing editor of Middle East Broadcasters Journal.
Peter Hart. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

 http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/03/1359222