When first published about ten years ago the Associated Press, The New York Times and scores of other newspapers identified the bloodied young man as a Palestinian brutalized by the Israeli soldier wielding the truncheon. The truth was somewhat different. The young man is named Tuvia Grossman, a yeshiva student from Chicago. The Israeli soldier is rescuing Tuvia from a mob of Arabs who were trying to murder him.
Our son Ariel, ZT'L saw the picture and incorrect caption in the New York Times and was shocked that his friend Tuvia was identified as an Arab victim of Israeli brutality. This was a defining moment in Ariel's life. He realized that the mainstream media was not just unreliable but deeply biased against Israel. A few days later, the New York Times printed a correction. Several days after that Robert D. McFadden published a story in the NY Times setting the record straight. Ariel pinned the correct story to the bulletin board above his desk where it remains to this day. Ariel would be overjoyed to see Tuvia's reunion with Gidon Tzefadi, the Israeli soldier who saved his friend's life.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
9 Comments
I use the Tuvia Grossman photograph in my one of my courses to demonstrate Agenda-Setting Theory, because it is such a stark example of how the media got every single detail of the story wrong in their caption, and how particularly powerful these errors were because they accompanied a photograph–after all, seeing is believing. It is an eye-opening experience for my students as they begin to realize that not only do the gatekeepers choose which stories to tell, but the way they tell them may be deeply flawed. When I am able to provide an hour’s worth of examples of what is being told incorrectly, or not being told at all, students recognize that traditional media is not a solid foundation for knowledge about anything. I also end up contradicting other professors’ propaganda with facts, but that’s another story.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Where were you when I was going to school?!
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I’m more popular among students than faculty.
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Nice video. I happen to know Tuvia’s younger brother. We were just talking about the incident a few weeks ago.
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Let us be charitable to the incompetent hacks, and keep in mind Heinlein’s Razor (“do not attribute to malice what is adequately explained by stupidity”). A bloody guy right by a soldier with a truncheon—they’ve done studies, humans’ brains are hardwired to read a story into that.
But, doesn’t being professional journalists mean you ask? At least one of the people involved (soldier, bleeding guy, photographer, probably lots of other people) must’ve been available for comment. It’s a gross dereliction of one’s professional obligations to just assume you’re reading the picture right.
I wouldn’t necessarily assert that this is bias on the reporters’ part, since I wasn’t privy to the decision-making process when they ran the picture, but it absolutely is professional negligence. Probably that negligence is not unrelated to the reporters’ worldview—in science it’s called “confirmation bias”—but I wouldn’t want to have to prove it.
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It could be professional negligence (though that’s hardly a vote of confidence for the reporters when that’s their best defense) but wouldn’t you see a 50/50 split if it were? When my teams benefits from a mistake by the umpire I can always remember calls that went against us and chalk it up to human imperfection.
Now maybe I’m more aware of mistakes perpetuated against my point of view but it sure seems the mistakes don’t even out. I think it’s more of the same problem CBS had with Dan Rather. Everyone at CBS knew the Bush TANG story was true and the idea that the memos were false never occurred to anyone. I would posit that a lot of miniature Bush stories go out every day that never get questioned because it fits with the bias’s in the newsrooms.
So a picture of an Israeli soldier standing over a bloody boy just has to be evidence of the occupier’s brutality. It’s gold Jerry! Gold I tell ya! Pulitzer Prize here we come. With all the high-fiving and back slapping in the newsroom a little detail like the truth is a distraction from their fun.
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I used to wonder if the media bias was a deliberate, well-thought-out attempt to discredit and demonize groups like Israel and conservatives, or just a result of shoddy journalism and the propensity to promote headline-grabbing sensationalism. I think there is still plenty of the latter to go around, but as I approach 50, I see that the press has both become a tool for the terrorists and a willing ally for the Leftists (which of which are the result of academic indoctrination, of course).
Now I’m curious as to how much of the Leftist mentality is geared towards sympathy for the perceived “underdog” — that is, every bleeding heart seems to see Arab terrorists as the new Che Guevara and Israel as the mighty oppressor (next to America) — and how much of it is true elite liberalism which sees themselves as the heroes and the only ones capable of making the “right decision” for everyone else.
Time will tell, I guess… Walk softly and carry a big stick.
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That is why the newspapers have lost so much credibility. I i8hnk almost everyone has had their “wake up” moment with them.
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A lie travels around the world before the NYT prints the truth. The hit and run media hasn’t improved since Ariel’s experience. Pam Geller has a nice roundup of the shots the media has taken at her and Robert Spencer and others over the Norway killings. Nice to see there was a happy ending for Tuvia and that he got to meet Gidon.
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