10 ways the Israeli media screwed up war coverage

Yair Lapid, in a strikingly honest column at Ynet News, acknowledges a string of media gaffes, errors of commission and omission, falsity, stupidity and even duplicity by Israel reporters, commentators, pundits and the media circus overall in covering the war:

We screwed up. All of us. Me too. The Israeli media failed in this war. No one will appoint an investigating committee to judge us – we are the ones who reserve the right to judge others – but it doesn’t change the fact that we have screwed up. It may be the only failure that isn’t being discussed in the media but that doesn’t mean it did not occur.

Even in the most vibrant democracy in the world, freedom isn’t just a privilege it is also a responsibility. We have to realize that if the rules change for the entire country, then they change for us journalists as well.

Now when the smoke settles, we need to demand from ourselves what we demand from others – to acknowledge that something is definitely wrong and to try and fix it. Or as Prime Minister Olmert said in his Knesset speech last week: “Mistakes were made that require investigation. We will not hide them nor brush them under the carpet.”

Now, how about some healthy introspection from the Anglo blogging community here in Israel and the Jewish world - and I include myself in here as well - not to mention Lebanese and Palestinian bloggers (Yeah - right...)

(HT: Allison)