If the headline to Iqbal Jassat’s “The media must not be held hostage by the pro-Israel lobby” were a true reflection of reality, one would gather that “the media” in this country took its orders from the mere 69,000 who constitute the local Jewish community.

In Hebrew there is an expression, “alevai” which, loosely translated means, “were it only so”. The fact that no local major newspaper has a Jewish editor nor owner is clearly and conveniently overlooked.

The essence of Jassat’s article is an op-ed by David Saks in “a local Jewish weekly” (The Jewish Report) which deals with a meeting between members of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and the SA Zionist Federation with Iqbal Surve’, the owner of Independent News and Media which prints both the The Star and Cape Times. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the mounting anti-Israel bias within the stable of Independent papers and specifically in the two aforementioned.

Those of us who have religiously read either of these publications over the decades are well aware of this hostile, anti-Israel / pro-Palestinian shift, familiar as we are of the daily dynamics that emanate from Israel and the Middle East.

When Surve’ emphasised that Independent Media did not have a policy of being either pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian and, indeed, actively guarded against this occurring, it was agreed that an external media analysis of the two papers be undertaken by the independent, researched-based organization, BaseMedia to examine all coverage retrospectively and for the following six months.

Almost from the outset, a systematic bias against Israel within The Star and Cape Times specifically, was clearly identified. The report went so far as to state that “negativity on Israel in each newspaper emerged in opinion/editorial pieces” with the only counter opinion coming from letters to the editor. In reality, the newspapers themselves were thus “a key in driving negativity on Israel.” It stated further, “In order to strive for some balance, there is a need for editorial/opinion coverage that is not so one-sided but more constructive in terms of framing issues.”

Another important criticism was that the actual sources of information quoted within the articles were often themselves negative and biased against Israel, which inevitably “reinforced the overall criticism directed towards Israel (by Independent News journalists). No attempt was made to achieve a balanced view.”

While the delegation stressed that there was no anticipation on their behalf that Independent News adopt a permanently pro-Israel stance, an expectation existed that the dynamics within the Israel/Palestinian conflict would be presented fairly and with a clear sense of balance.

Earlier this month The Star’s current opinion page editor spoke at a “Reporting Racism” conference at which he openly acknowledged that that both papers were committed to expressing a view “in favour of Palestinian liberation and against (what he termed) the settler colonialism that Israel practices.”

Which brings me to Iqbal Jassat’s article.

Other than referring in three lines to David Saks’ “gripe” about the “hostile manner in which Israel was being portrayed (in The Star and Cape Times), he failed to mention a single aspect of the points discussed above. Instead he attempted to divert attention away from the deliberately biased and misleading reports within The Star and Cape Times and castigated the SAJBD and SAZF for not going instead to the Press Ombudsman with their complaint! While the Press Ombudsman is empowered to deal with individual articles he is not empowered to take on matters of editorial policy.

One can only imagine Jassat’s reaction should two major newspapers adopt so negative a policy towards the Palestinians or The Media Review Network.

After reminding us that we live in a country that boasts a free press, Jassat forgets that within that freedom comes the responsibility to serve the public in a quest for truth, journalistic integrity and honesty. But for that dedication, we would all still be blissfully unaware of Nkandla, State Capture or Guptagate, with all their ramifications.

Victor Gordon