Sunday, August 24, 2008

A Note and Request to My Readers who Receive My Posts in Their Email

The email version of my posts is generated around a day after I write it. So when I wrote in my post below that the US media had not covered the story of the boats that arrived in Gaza, that was true when I looked at Google News. Apparently I checked a bit early because there was an article later in the New York Times here, as well as in a few other papers.

The lag may have something to do with deadlines, but the fact remains that there were more pieces in the European media about the boats, and at earlier times, than in the US media. And I don't think that is explained merely by American parochialism and time-zones. US newspapers rarely write about Israeli human rights violations; occasionally you will see an article about the settlements or the security fence; less frequently, something about Gaza. In my message below I said "ask Walt and Mearsheimer" but what I really meant to say is that the the US media is anchored deeply in the Zionist consensus; on this you can see my post here.

Don't get me wrong; some of my best friends and family are political Zionists. But until people know what really goes on over here, the suffering will continue.

And now my request -- if you get my posts via email, can you just drop me a line telling me so at jeremiah.haber@gmail.com. For reasons that baffle me I cannot determine how many people subscribe via email.

Thanks.

3 comments:

pm said...

Jerry,

You say it pretty matter-of-factly, with no undue surprise, as this is the way we talk about facts.

"And I don't think that is explained merely by American parochialism and time-zones. US newspapers rarely write about Israeli human rights violations; occasionally you will see an article about the settlements or the security fence; less frequently, something about Gaza. In my message below I said "ask Walt and Mearsheimer" but what I really meant to say is that the the US media is anchored deeply in the Zionist consensus"

Getting past the fact that Abe Foxman would certainly use the word "canard" in his criticism of your criticism, I suggest that you and your readers who haven't done so watch

"Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land"

on youtube or google video. There is a detailed description of the "filters" that come into play when news of I/P is reported in the American media. These "filters" resemble those of Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model, but go even further in order to demonstrate how a single issue can be so bent and framed in the way it is presented to the American public.

I thought about it when I saw a newspaper photo of a young Palestinian protester with an angry look on his face, hefting a piece of broken concrete. The caption said "Youth gone wild", the description went on to say how the young man was throwing stones, etc. at Israeli military. The message is "the Palestinians act out violently, and the Israelis reluctantly react (or overreact). The truth however, is that the Palestinians are the ones who are reacting: they are reacting to an illegal occupation, which is peculiar in its abscence in most reporting on the I/P conflict in the US.

PM

LeaNder said...

Maybe for Google the people that receive new articles via email is not such a significant number now that many subscribe to a the feed via Google Reader or other aggregators?

Not that you asked but Google Reader is how I read it.;) Very comfortable and easy to see, if there's is a new article

The more important number for you would be: How many of your readers share your articles with friends via "Shared Items" on Google Reader, Friends Feed et al?

Religion and State in Israel said...

"For reasons that baffle me I cannot determine how many people subscribe via email."

Does your Feedburner account show the "Feed Stats Dashboard" under the "Analyze" section? That should show all your email subscribers.

If not, check out "Publicize" section - and click the "Email Subscriptions" and then "Total Subscribers" at bottom.

hope this helps a bit.

Joel
Religion and State in Israel