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Last update - 07:44 02/02/2008
Bloggers try to counter anti-Israel media bias with bad news on other states
By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: blog, Israel, media bias 

What began six months ago as a brazen attempt to counter a perceived anti-Israel slant in the Dutch media has evolved into a network monitoring the media in eight countries across the world. The idea is simple: Beat press bias at its own game by advertising only bad news about one place.

Over the past months, seven activists from Israel and elsewhere have been exposing online readers to scandalous yet accurate reports from media in Britain (violent drunk teens), France (high homeless mortality), Norway (serial child molesters), Finland (sexual harassment in parliament), Sweden (soaring suicide rates), The Netherlands (menacing Muslim unrest), Mexico (rampaging flood victims) and Los Angeles (drive-by killings).

The seven bad-news activists visit one another's online blogs and have incorporated links referring the dozens of surfers who visit their pages every day to sister-sites. Though they all act out of a desire to counter what they see as media bias against Israel, they operate independently and have little communication with one another. Some of them rely on friends to send them interesting bits of bad news.
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"This project demonstrates how media coverage can degrade any country's image by using selective news without context," explains media analyst Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld from Jerusalem. His seminar last summer, entitled "Bad News about the Netherlands," became the kernel of his blog.

Gerstenfeld told Anglo File at the time that by maligning Dutch society he was "merely employing the methods of some in the Dutch media." Those parties, he said, habitually report only about Israeli aggression while omitting any reference to Palestinian violence, among other tactics.

The Netherlands' former ambassador to Israel, Bob Hiensch, indicated he found the project "simplistic and naive" - which hasn't stopped Gerstenfeld from updating the site every day. His blog attracts up to 300 readers a day.

Dr. Genevieve Benezra cites a sense of deep frustration in explaining what made her launch her bilingual Bad News from France blog two months ago. "For years I'd fume over bias in French papers and television," she says. Benezra, a retired jurist from Kfar Hayam near Hadera and veteran French immigrant, heard about the initiative from Gerstenfeld last year at a conference for child survivors of the Holocaust.

It was around that period the British blogger, who preferred to remain anonymous, joined the Bad News club. John (not his real name), who immigrated to Israel from Britain 12 years ago, heard about Gerstenfeld's pet project at a lecture. "We agreed we could make a very good one on Britain," he recalls. "I realize this can be seen as unpatriotic, but the truth is British society never fully accepted me. I was always a Jew there," says the 69-year-old academic. "You could say I have a chip on my shoulder, even though I love British culture in general."

David Silon, a Los Angeles are Jew from birth, runs Bad News from L.A. He says defaming his hometown - which enjoys some degree of glitz in foreign media - is only a means to demonstrate how easily media reports can be manipulated.

Appearing patriotic seems to be of little concern to Kenneth Sikorski, a Finnish non-Jew who runs both Bad News from Finland and Bad News from Sweden. "Even harsh criticism does not generally register as unpatriotic in Scandinavia," says the 48-year-old retired paper industry machinist. Sikorski, who was born in the U.S. and immigrated to Finland 20 years ago, has been monitoring the media for years. "I observed egregious errors in the reports about Israel. One major newspaper said the Separation Fence was electric instead of electronic," he says.

"I have written countless letters to editors," says Leif Knutsen, 48, who runs Bad News from Norway. "I usually received no response and my letters weren't published." Knutsen, a management consultant who converted to Judaism and immigrated from Norway to New Jersey 15 years ago, says the Norwegian press is particularly hostile to Israel. Part of this, he says, draws from Norway's strong peacenik tradition of the 1960s, which Knutsen thinks has resulted in "a simplistic world view where Israel is seen as the one remaining imperialist client state of the U.S."

Gerstenfeld would most like to see a bad news blog covering Belgium. "If it faced Israel's difficult position, Belgium would have disappeared long ago," he says. Benezra would especially like to cover the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec. "I may include it, though I don't know how helpful my blog is," she says. "At least it relieves some of my frustration."

The Bad News Blogs:
  • Bad News from Los Angeles
  • Bad News from The Netherlands
  • Bad News from Mexico
  • Bad News from Britain
  • Bad News from Sweden
  • Bad News from Finland
  • Bad News from France
  • Bad News from Norway

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  • Nobel laureate cancels trip to 'anti-Israel' U.K.
  • Of polls and prejudice
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      1.   300 readers a day? pshaw 13:27  |  Rowan Berkeley 01/02/08
      2.   Well I rather live in a country 13:46  |  Stig Nilsson 01/02/08
      3.   These guys have the right idea... 14:01  |  Awake 01/02/08
      4.   More honest blogs welcomed 14:03  |  Petra 01/02/08
      5.   @Stig 14:27  |  Matze 01/02/08
      6.   Israeli are so proud of their occupation + ethnic cleansing 14:35  |  POP 01/02/08
      7.   They Don`t Just Omit But They Also Exonerate Arabs War Crimes 14:38  |  Joseph . E 01/02/08
      8.   Israel can still do no wrong in the American media, which is all 14:57  |  Apartheid 01/02/08
      9.   waste of time 14:58  |  realism 01/02/08
      10.   Gerstenfeld is a great defender of Israel and the Jewish people 15:10  |  Shalom Freedman 01/02/08
      11.   I`d rather discuss Swedens` collaboration .. 15:24  |  Henryk 01/02/08
      12.   23 2 Nils, Join the trend in your Sweden,Eat 5kg of sweet Swidish 15:27  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 01/02/08
      13.   The Difference Being 15:28  |  Yaakov Sullivan 01/02/08
      14.   Israel and the Big Bad Europeans 15:33  |  Yaakov Sullivan 01/02/08
      15.   Hi Stig 15:33  |  Yossi Saar 01/02/08
      16.   Exposing other peoples dirt? 15:39  |  Natallie Durson 01/02/08
      17.   Killing yourself 15:40  |  metsuyanuk 01/02/08
      18.   bad news blogs 15:56  |  odf 01/02/08
      19.   Good for them, keep up the good work. 15:59  |  Avraham 01/02/08
      20.   Spinograd 16:03  |  Joseph . E 01/02/08
      21.   Soon, probably very soon, you and other sanctimonious 16:14  |  comon sense 01/02/08
      22.   Infantile and off the mark 16:26  |  Michael N 01/02/08
      23.   thanks for your work 16:32  |  laila 01/02/08
      24.   They need a bad news blog about Palestinians 16:37  |  Ben 01/02/08
      25.   19: No, Michael, you`re wrong 16:41  |  David Teich 01/02/08
      26.   Bad news bloggers 16:52  |  Tom 01/02/08
      27.   Israel and its occupation are the bad news 16:53  |  Umm Einav 01/02/08
      28.   #11 16:54  |  Lorenz 01/02/08
      29.   media spin to hide immorality of makings arabs pay for holocaust 17:00  |  Kenneth Christian 01/02/08
      30.   It works already 17:03  |  Yossi Saar 01/02/08
      31.   AND THEN YPU COMPLAIN WHEN PEOPLE CALL YOU CONSPIRATORS 17:12  |  JACKAL 01/02/08
      32.   Stig Nillsen: prove it. please. 17:17  |  Richard S 01/02/08
      33.   The seven bloggers are fighting Euro hypocrisy 17:18  |  Sam 01/02/08
      34.   As a Muslim living in Europe 17:27  |  A Muslim 01/02/08
      35.   Sullivan # 13 17:33  |  ChanahS 01/02/08
      36.   Stig Nilsson I would rather live in a different countr 17:35  |  Genuine Tosefta 01/02/08
      37.   belgium? 17:39  |  FalluJah 01/02/08
      38.   Bloggers 17:46  |  Abby 01/02/08
      39.   You go Laila girl, go! You rock! To add a few more..... 17:47  |  Genuine Tosefta 01/02/08
      40.   So Nutty doesn`t like exposing the dirt in her hometown 17:48  |  Genuine Tosefta 01/02/08
      41.   blogger try to counter... 17:51  |  balakirev 01/02/08
      42.   Take a BBC Course 18:00  |  Fish 01/02/08
      43.   Naches fun Kinder 18:01  |  Danite 01/02/08
      44.   Yaakov Sullivan 18:03  |  Danite 01/02/08
      45.   Of course it`s childish, tis why it mirrors foreign media so well 18:04  |  Allon 01/02/08
      46.   Thank you for all your replies 18:05  |  Stig Nilsson 01/02/08
      47.   Those infantile "good attempts" 18:06  |  Canderra 01/02/08
      48.   israel in the media 18:07  |  linda herzberg 01/02/08
      49.   BAD NEWS FROM BRITAIN 18:07  |  john 01/02/08
      50.   to Laila 18:26  |  Guta 01/02/08
      51.   Maybe Should Stick To Islamic/Jihadist News 18:29  |  Steve 01/02/08
      52.   typical Israeli moral relativism 18:35  |  Jeff 01/02/08
      53.   Apartheid is a joke, Occupation is a lie 18:43  |  GZLives 01/02/08
      54.   It`s about context 18:46  |  john 01/02/08
      55.   Great Idea!!!!!!! And to Stig: please do!!! 19:06  |  AA 01/02/08
      56.   keep it going 19:14  |  al 01/02/08
      57.   This is you, Natallie 19:23  |  utagawa 01/02/08
      58.   It is all about credibility 19:30  |  Kris 01/02/08
      59.   Natalie house cleaning 19:36  |  Marc 01/02/08
      60.   We need to expose the Arabs, especially their racism in schools 20:03  |  David 01/02/08
      61.   Al #25 .... 20:16  |  Tom 01/02/08
      62.   Natallie Durson #16 20:18  |  Gee 01/02/08
      63.   What more needs to be said? 20:24  |  Colin Wright 01/02/08
      64.   Bring others down..not raise ourselves up 20:26  |  Tim 01/02/08
      65.   Bad news blogs 20:29  |  Helen 01/02/08
      66.   Where do they get the news from? 20:38  |  AF 01/02/08
      67.   #2 and #15 (haaretz why dont u publish me?) 20:39  |  Lorenz 01/02/08
      68.   David of Boston on CAMERA 20:52  |  Yaakov Sullivan 01/02/08
      69.   as the old saying goes .... 21:01  |  ajewfaraway 01/02/08
      70.   I just saw this tactic used by my 8 year old 21:07  |  Nordy 01/02/08
      71.   Brilliant 21:10  |  Eldar 01/02/08
      72.   Michael N 21:14  |  Eldar 01/02/08
      73.   What about pro-israel biais in Canada 21:15  |  from Canada 01/02/08
      74.   What a slimy tactic... 21:22  |  POP 01/02/08
      75.   Most unrest in the Netherlands 21:55  |  John 01/02/08
      76.   #2 You mean PaliArabs who purposely kill Israeli children, right? 22:56  |  Tee Gee 01/02/08
      77.   Whatever Israel does, good or `bad`, is maligned by world media 23:13  |  Tee Gee 01/02/08
      78.   what they should be doing... 23:15  |  lib media 01/02/08
      79.   SMEAR CAMPAIGN WILL BACKFIRE 23:21  |  Arik Silverman 01/02/08
      80.   It ain`t the same 23:41  |  Don 01/02/08
      81.   Sullivan and CAMERA 00:04  |  ChanahS 02/02/08
      82.   Spin to hide immorality of makings arabs pay for German crimes 00:14  |  Kenneth Christian 02/02/08
      83.   Tee Gee Israeli cluster bombs are "puposely" killing Lebanese 00:18  |  Apartheid 02/02/08
      84.   Arik reading too much into it 00:20  |  Eldar 02/02/08
      85.   GENIUS 00:37  |  I Killed Farfur 02/02/08
      86.   Don`t forget Chechnya 01:13  |  Zalel 02/02/08
      87.   The aim of the bloggers 01:54  |  ChanahS 02/02/08
      88.   no israeli can expose anything 02:23  |  magic carpet 02/02/08
      89.   I don`t get it 02:34  |  Dan 02/02/08
      90.   Half a dozen zionists 02:41  |  David King 02/02/08
      91.   # 13 Yaakov Sullivan...speaking of balloons 02:45  |  Lynn 02/02/08
      92.   Just zions propagation of hate sites 02:46  |  David King 02/02/08
      93.   Trying to look better by tearing others down 05:29  |  Jhoffa_ 02/02/08
      94.   re #70 `I just saw this tactic used by my eight year old` 06:33  |  Colin Wright 02/02/08
      95.   At the end truth will prevail 08:23  |  pal 02/02/08
      96.   LOL What a waste of time! 11:51  |  Michael 02/02/08
      97.   Fight fire with fire, well done! 11:59  |  Citizen of the world 02/02/08
      98.   Natalie that`s what you try to do all the time 12:39  |  Iz Ray Leigh 02/02/08
      99.   Belgium? never mind Belgium. We need Bad news from South Africa! 12:58  |  Silwaaaan 02/02/08
      100.   UH, WHY ARE THE BLOGGERS ADMITTING THIS IN A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE? 13:02  |  Steve Randolph 02/02/08
      101.   Not as much of a statement as they think? 13:04  |  Guy 02/02/08
      102.   Arabs Propaganda War 13:13  |  Joseph E . post 1 02/02/08
      103.   Arabs Propaganda War 13:14  |  Joseph E . post 2 02/02/08
      104.   re: Steve Randolph: The answer in one word: Integrity. 14:22  |  bad news defender 02/02/08
      105.   This won`t fool anyone 14:38  |  janet 02/02/08
      106.   #102 JospehE 16:05  |  stamped 02/02/08
      107.   does haaretz have the balls? 16:20  |  peter 02/02/08
      108.   ANYONE WHO THINKS THE INTERNET IS NOT WORLD WIDE AND GOES VIRAL 17:25  |  Elizabeth 02/02/08
      109.   I doubt any country can match Israel for awful things on a daily 17:57  |  james 02/02/08
      110.   This is GREAT!!!!! 18:41  |  Debbie 02/02/08
      111.   109: I doubt anyone is as ignorant as james 19:00  |  David Teich 02/02/08
      112.   Natalie Durson (Right on...) 22:28  |  David 02/02/08
      113.   Norway? Laughing my ass off! 22:58  |  Andrew Holden 02/02/08
      114.   DavidT attempts his own version bad news diversion 07:15  |  james 03/02/08
      115.   TERRIFIC COMMENTARY JOSEPH E. THANKS, VERY WELL SAID. 07:25  |  Elizabeth 03/02/08
      116.   response to Jackal 14:22  |  Guta 03/02/08
      117.   to POP about being proud of occupation +ethnic cleansing 14:49  |  Guta 03/02/08
      118.   Anti-Israel bias 17:59  |  Cheryl 03/02/08
      119.   114: Poor james, he can`t even address the facts 22:23  |  David Teich 03/02/08
      120.   Stig 00:53  |  North American Vikin 08/02/08
      121.   120: Come on, Viking, "get started" 16:48  |  David Teich 10/02/08
      122.   One Thing I missed... 21:40  |  Teddy 22/02/08
      123.   There really is Bad News from Belgium 00:01  |  John O`Connor 19/04/08
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